Queen marking colours
Marking your queen is one of the small habits that makes beekeeping far easier. A tiny dot of colour on her thorax turns "where is she?" from a ten-minute hunt into a quick glance, and it tells you, at a stroke, how old she is.
Beekeepers around the world use the same five-colour scheme, repeating on a five-year cycle. Once you know the rhyme, you can read any properly marked queen's age from across the apiary.
Why mark your queen
- Find her faster. A marked queen stands out against a moving frame of bees, so inspections are quicker and gentler.
- Know her age. The colour records the year she was introduced or emerged, which helps you plan re-queening before she begins to fail.
- Spot supersedure and swarming. If you suddenly find an unmarked queen, or one in the "wrong" colour, the colony has likely replaced her.
- Keep honest records. A colour you can see in the hive should match the colour in your notes.
The international colour scheme
The colour is chosen by the last digit of the year. There are only five colours, so each one comes around every five years.
| Year ends in | Colour | Recent / upcoming years |
|---|---|---|
| 1 or 6 | White | 2021, 2026, 2031 |
| 2 or 7 | Yellow | 2022, 2027, 2032 |
| 3 or 8 | Red | 2023, 2028, 2033 |
| 4 or 9 | Green | 2024, 2029, 2034 |
| 5 or 0 | Blue | 2025, 2030, 2035 |
:::tip The mnemonic A well-known rhyme keeps the order straight:
"Will You Rear Good Bees?" — White, Yellow, Red, Green, Blue.
That sequence matches years ending 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (and then 6, 7, 8, 9, 0). :::
A worked example
Say it is 2026. The year ends in 6, so this season's queens are marked white.
- A queen marked blue was raised in 2025 (or 2020) — she is in her second full season, going strong.
- A queen marked green dates from 2024 (or 2019). If she is from 2024 she is heading into her third year; keep an eye on her laying pattern and consider re-queening.
- An unexpectedly red queen in a 2026 colony almost certainly means a supersedure or a swarm you did not catch.
:::note Five-year ambiguity Because the cycle repeats every five years, the colour alone cannot tell a 2021 white queen from a 2026 white queen. In practice this is rarely a problem — queens seldom live that long — but it is another good reason to keep written records in Openbeehive alongside the dot of paint. :::
How to mark a queen
A few practical pointers:
- Use proper queen-marking pens (water-based, quick-drying) made for the purpose, in the official colours. Avoid solvent-based markers.
- Restrain her gently with a marking cage or the press-of-foam type, or hold her carefully by the thorax (never the abdomen).
- Apply a small dot to the top of the thorax, between the wing bases. Let it dry fully before releasing her.
- Mark on a calm, warm day, and return her to her own colony promptly.
:::caution Handle with care A clumsily marked or damaged queen may be rejected or "balled" by the colony. If you are new to this, practise on drones first — they cannot sting, and it costs nothing if you get it wrong. :::
Some beekeepers also clip one wing to limit a queen's flight during swarming. Clipping is a separate decision from marking; whether you choose to clip is a matter of personal preference and, in some regions, regulation or welfare guidance. Check local practice before deciding.
How Openbeehive uses the scheme
When you record a queen in Openbeehive, you set her year, and the app shows the matching international marking colour automatically. That means the colour on the frame and the colour on your screen always agree, and you never have to recite the rhyme from memory.
You can also note the actual mark you applied, her origin, and her status, then track her across inspections and re-queening events.
See Queens for how to add and manage queens, and the wider knowledge base for more reference material.
:::tip Regional note The five-colour, five-year scheme is the international standard used across most of the world. Conventions for clipping, supplier colour shades, and any record-keeping requirements can vary by country and association — when in doubt, follow your local beekeeping body's guidance. :::