Good afternoon, Ben, Trout, Cao, and Member. I keep max 20 hives. My breeder queens are naturally marked: Cordovan. So I do not mark queens. Italian queens are support hives. I do have one solid black queen that I purchased.
The work is keeping hives under 20 and preventing swarming. I breed against swarming and my best breeder queens are 3.5 years and under.
Ben, I still have a 1 month of age, Cordovan, Thelma Lou that will be evaluated next spring.
Van