Queen bee marking colors are chosen alphabetically, with the most common being blue for 2025. The color guide goes by the year the queen was born, with the most common color being red for queens born in 2013 or 2018. For example, queens born in 2013 or 2018 would be marked with a red color.
Color Coding System: Beekeepers use a standardized color code based on the year the queen was born (e.g., white for years ending in 1 and 6) to quickly determine the queen's age and ensure proper record. A beekeeper needs to know how queens are labeled. The marking of queen bees in color by year will help the beekeeper not to get caught by fraudsters, who often mark queen bees as they please, or sell old queen bees together with bee packages instead of the declared young queen bees.
Learn how queen bee marking color codes have evolved over the years, from early methods to standardized systems, and discover best practices for accurate marking. Years ending in 4 or 9: green It is as simple as that, and it is a perfect way of visual record keeping. And the way it works, is if the Queen hatches during that year, that is the color you mark her with, whether you mark her that year or in the following spring.
The color refers to the year the Queen hatched in. Queen Bee Marking Pens or Markers. Queen bee marking follows a standardized color-coding system based on the last digit of the year, designed to help beekeepers track the age of queens efficiently.
The colors rotate in a five-year cycle, with each color representing two possible year endings. This system ensures consistency across beekeeping communities and simplifies record. The color guide for marking bees is based on the year the queen was born, with five traditional colors used: white, yellow, red, green, and blue.
This system helps beekeepers ensure they are dealing with the same queen over time by adhering to a standardized color scheme. Queens born in years ending with 1 and 6 use a white posca pen, while years ending with 2 and 7 use a yellow posca pen. By marking new born queens with a specific color to each calendar year, beekeepers, wherever they are in the world, can identify the age of the queen bee by the color of her mark.
As queen bees very rarely live more than 3-4 years, 5 colors are all that is needed. Around the world, apiculturists (beekeepers) employ a series of colour codes to identify queen bees and indicate their age. A smudge of harmless quick-drying paint is applied to the thorax of the bee so that it stands out within the hive's population.
It seems the origin of this colour coding derives from the work of the Nobel Prize-winning Austrian zoologist Karl Von Frisch, who researched. Essential Guide for Beekeepers Queen bee marking follows a standardized color code system based on the year's last digit, using five distinct colors in a repeating cycle. This system helps beekeepers quickly identify a queen's age and track her performance, which is vital for hive management.