Names and numbers

[EmsE]

I name my queens and the hive records are kept under this reference. I keep meaning to put a label on the crown board with the queens name on so that I don't need to rely on memory as to which colony is which, particularly after they move sites. I just haven't got round to it yet.

The code for each queen shows the maternal line, for example the first colony I got, the queen was recorded as I, then her daughters were IA and IB. Their daughters are for example IA1 etc. 30 years down the line it could be a problem and will need to have a rethink (any ideas?) but at the moment it saves me having to keep a separate record for the family tree.

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[Neils]

I just use a relational structure

QueenID  ParentID  
-----------------
  1
  2        1
  3        1
  4        
  5        3

Anything with NULL parent ID must be an externally (or original) sourced queen.

Outside of a DB you can call the IDs whatever you want and you can record any other information you like where she came from, the year, whether she's marked etc etc. You can query it in two different ways, you can either start with Queens who don't have a parent and work down the tree or pick a queen and work up until you hit a queen without a parent who must, therefore be the original.

On paper it probably gets a bit tricky to follow after a while, but it's pretty easy (and powerful) in a DB or even a spreadsheet.

[GRIZZLY]

I get our local sign maker to cut the numbers 1 thro' 25 in vinyl for me in black ,then a set of a's thro to f in the set of year colours.My hives are marked with the black numbers and daughter queen hives are given the parent hive number suffixed by the appropriate year coloured letter.Seems complicated but works for me.My record sheets are also numbered and coloured to keep my yearly records up to date and to correspond to each colony. The letters are stuck to small squares of correx the screwed to the hive front.One of my hives is shown on Modern Beekeepings National home page.