If you like to mark your queen bees according to the internationally understood colour code relating to the year in which they hatched, make sure you have a red marker in your kit.
Not only does the colour indicate the year, but it also makes it easier to find the queen during a hive inspection.
There are five queen bee marking colours that follow the recognised colour sequence – as queens do not live more than five years, the colour code starts over in the sixth year.
A common mnemonic to remember the colours is "Will you raise good bees".
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