A New Method of Marking Bees

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 86, Issue 6, 15 June 1953, Page 529

A New Method of Marking Bees

IT is frequently necessary to mark worker bees so that they can be identified as coming from a particular hive. Apiarists mark them so that robber colonies can be located and research workers have frequently found marking essential for their work, as it enables the activities of worker bees to be studied. Recently, investigations into the effect on bees of poisonous dusts and sprays used in agriculture have been helped by marking. In this article R. G. Nairn, Technician, Department of Agriculture Animal Research Station, Wallaceville, describes a simple device for marking worker bees. THE rough and ready method of dusting robber bees with flour suffices for the beekeeper, but the research worker has relied on more precise but more complicated means, such as individual marking of bees by hand and treating bees with a fine spray containing dye. The first of these methods is too laborious for anything but a restricted scale, and the second may cause injury to the bees or disorganise the hive. Until the device described in this article was made, no satisfactory method was known for marking all the worker bees as they left the hive. New Method Devised Attention was focused on the problem at Wallaceville in the course of the planning of an experiment to determine the effect on bees of dusting a field with -superphosphate. An experimental apiary had been placed round the field, but the presence of other apiaries in the district made it necessary to show that worker bees collected in the treated area came from the experimental hives and not from other hives. After many experiments a satisfactory method was perfected for marking the bees as they left the hive. The new method uses a wooden hopper which is attached to the front

of the hive inside the bottom board so that all field bees leaving the hive are forced to crawl underneath it horizontally or emerge vertically between the back of the attachment and the wall of the hive. The bottom and the rear side of the hopper, which contains a mixture of aluminium paint powder and talcum powder, are made of cloth net. As the bees crawl past the net sufficient powder comes through the openings to mark them, particularly on the thorax. The net is fixed along the front of the device to a piece of wood which can be raised or lowered by levers at each end. In this way the horizontal area of net, with which most bees come in contact, can be adjusted to ensure that they brush against it as they leave the hive. It is advisable to accustom the bees to crawling under the net before it is lowered in the final adjustment. After passing in and out a few times the bees will readily push their way through.

Aluminium powder proved the most satisfactory marker because it adhered to the bees for many hours and was not toxic. Mixing it with one quarter of its volume of talcum powder helped it to run through the openings in the net. Pigments such as toluidine red were also used, but did not persist on the bees as long as aluminium powder. The marking device is designed for a Langstroth-pattern hive with a standard bottom board, but it could easily be adjusted for use on any type of hive or bottom board. Most bees leave the hive horizontally under the hopper of the marker and not by the vertical opening between the back of the marker and the front super. However, this opening is very useful for ventilation. The bodies of some bees which leave the hive by the horizontal route do not come in contact with the powder-laden net because they crawl through upside down. An occasional tap on the hopper with a hive tool will ensure that sufficient powder collects on the bottom board to mark these bees. Net Material The net material is dress net or the black net commonly used for bee veils. In windy weather a double thickness of material in the bottom of the hopper is an advantage, as it prevents excess powder being blown through and wasted. It is an advantage to paint the marker the same colour as the hive so that it will not confuse the bees. After the marker has been attached to a hive for a short time all the field bees will be marked so that they can easily be identified for several days. If the bees from more than one hive are marked with aluminium powder, they can be distinguished only as a group and not as coming from individual hives. Hive identification would be possible by the use of pigments such as toluidine red or, better still, by a method of dyeing the aluminium powder different colours.