Queen Management Basics

The queen is the most important individual in the colony. Effective queen management directly impacts colony productivity and winter survival.

Queen assessment:

A good queen produces a solid, compact brood pattern with few empty cells

Queen age matters — most queens perform best in their first 2 years

Check for eggs (confirms queen present within 3 days) rather than finding the queen every visit

When to requeen:

Queen older than 2 years with declining performance

Spotty brood pattern not caused by disease

Consistently poor temperament

Colony underperforming compared to other hives

Queen marking colors (international system):

White: years ending in 1 or 6

Yellow: years ending in 2 or 7

Red: years ending in 3 or 8

Green: years ending in 4 or 9

Blue: years ending in 5 or 0

Introduction methods:

Candy cage: standard method, 3-5 day release

Push-in cage: higher acceptance in difficult situations

Direct introduction: risky, best for queenless-for-days colonies