👑 Advanced Queen Marking and Wing Clipping

About this simulation

Beekeepers mark queens with a small dot of enamel paint on the thorax so she can be found quickly during inspections, and some also clip one forewing to reduce (but not eliminate) the queen's ability to fly off with a swarm. Both techniques must be done carefully to avoid injuring the queen or impairing her normal movement around the comb.

How it works

• International colour code — the year a queen was raised determines the paint colour used on her thorax: White (1/6), Yellow (2/7), Red (3/8), Green (4/9), Blue (0/5). This lets any beekeeper instantly estimate a queen's age.
• Mark placement — the dot goes on the flat top of the thorax, between the wing bases, never on the head or abdomen, and small enough not to restrict wing movement.
• Wing clipping — typically about a third to half of one or both forewings is trimmed with fine scissors, well clear of the body and the hindwing, so the queen can still walk and balance normally but cannot sustain flight.
• Clipping does not stop swarming behaviour itself — it only prevents the old queen from leaving with the swarm, buying the beekeeper time to intervene.

Controls

• Marking year code — choose the colour for the current marking-year cycle.
• Paint dot size — adjust the size of the enamel dot applied to the thorax.
• 🖌 Apply thorax mark — dabs the selected colour onto the queen.
• Wing to clip / Clip length — choose a forewing and how much of it to trim, then apply.
• ↺ Reset queen — restores an unmarked, unclipped queen. Drag to rotate, scroll to zoom.

Did you know?

The five-colour, five-year marking cycle spells "Will You Raise Good Bees" (White, Yellow, Red, Green, Blue) — a mnemonic beekeepers have used for generations to recall the order of the international queen colour code.