Queen Management¶
Queens are the heart of your colony. Bifolk helps you track your queens, their lineage, and manage replacements, transfers, and hive assignments.
Target Audience: Beekeepers tracking queen bees
Queen List¶
Navigate to Queens in the sidebar to see all your queens. The list shows queen details including identification number, breed, marking color, organization, assigned hive, date introduced, and active status.
At the top of the list, you will see summary statistics:
- Total queens across your organizations
- Active queens currently in service
- Unassigned queens not yet assigned to a hive
Searching¶
Use the Search field to find queens by identification number, breed, breeder name, or notes.
Filtering¶
Filter queens by:
- Organization: A specific organization
- Hive: Queens assigned to a specific hive
- Breed: Breed line (text search, e.g., Carniolan, Italian, Buckfast)
- Marking Color: White, yellow, red, green, blue, or unmarked
- Origin: How the queen was obtained
- Status: Active or inactive queens
- Hive Assignment: Assigned to a hive, or unassigned
- Date Range: Date introduced from/to
Sorting¶
Click on any column header in the queen list to sort by that column. You can sort by identification number, breed, organization, hive, date introduced, marking color, active status, or creation date.
Creating a Queen¶
- Click Add Queen from the queen list
- Fill in the form:
Basic Information¶
| Field | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Organization | Which organization owns this queen | Yes |
| Hive | Assign to a hive (optional, queen can exist without a hive) | No |
| Breed | Breed line (e.g., Carniolan, Italian, Buckfast) | No |
| Date Introduced | When the queen was introduced | Yes |
| Identification Number | Unique identifier or registry number | No |
Marking and Physical Traits¶
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Marking Color | Color dot on the queen following the international beekeeping standard: White, Yellow, Red, Green, Blue, or Unmarked |
| Is Clipped | Whether the queen's wings are clipped |
Tip
The international marking color system follows a 5-year cycle: white (years ending in ⅙), yellow (2/7), red (⅜), green (4/9), blue (5/0). These colors are fixed standard values.
Origin and Lineage¶
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Origin | How the queen was obtained (see origin choices below) |
| Mother Queen | Parent queen for lineage tracking (must be in same organization) |
| Breeder Name | External breeder name (if purchased) |
| Drone Source | Source of drones for mating |
Origin choices:
| Origin | Description |
|---|---|
| Bred Here | Raised in your own breeding program |
| Purchased | Bought from an external breeder |
| Swarm | Captured from a swarm |
| Supersedure | Natural replacement by the colony |
| Emergency | Emergency queen cell |
| Unknown | Origin not known |
Note
Origin choices are configurable by your organization administrator through System Configuration. Your organization may have additional or different options. Marking color is a fixed set of standard international colors and cannot be customized.
Breeder Registry (BeeBreed.eu)¶
These fields allow Bifolk to generate direct links to the BeeBreed.eu breeding database for this queen.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Country Code | ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code of the breeder (e.g., DE, AT) |
| Association ID | State or regional beekeeping association number |
| Breeder ID | Breeder's number within their association |
| Stud Book Year | Birth year of the queen (4 digits) |
Tip
Fill in your personal registry credentials once in your Profile & Settings. Bifolk will then pre-fill the Country Code, Association ID, and Breeder ID when creating a new queen.
When all five fields are present — Country Code, Association ID, Breeder ID, Identification Number, and Stud Book Year — the queen detail page shows two direct links to BeeBreed.eu:
- Breeding Values — opens the queen's estimated breeding values
- Pedigree — opens the queen's pedigree in the registry
Additional Fields¶
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Notes | Free-text notes about this queen |
- Click Save
Editing a Queen¶
- Go to the queen's detail page
- Click Edit
- Update any fields as needed
When editing, you can change all fields except:
- Organization: Cannot be changed after creation (use Transfer instead)
- Health Status: Can only be updated through inspections
The edit form also includes the Active checkbox, which lets you deactivate a queen.
Queen Detail Page¶
The queen detail page shows all information about a single queen, including:
- Basic information (breed, marking color, identification number)
- Origin and lineage details (breeder name, drone source, mother queen)
- Current hive assignment and health status
- Notes
The detail page also displays:
- Ancestors: Up to 3 generations of maternal ancestors
- Daughters: Queens that have this queen as their mother
When all five BeeBreed.eu fields are filled in (Country Code, Association ID, Breeder ID, Identification Number, and Stud Book Year), two direct links appear below the Genetics & Breeding table:
- Breeding Values — open the queen's estimated breeding values on BeeBreed.eu
- Pedigree — open the queen's pedigree on BeeBreed.eu
Depending on your permissions, you will see action buttons for editing, deleting, and transferring the queen.
Queen Lineage¶
One of Bifolk's key features is queen lineage tracking. You can trace maternal lineage across generations.
Viewing a Queen's Lineage¶
- Go to a queen's detail page
- Click Lineage to see a dedicated lineage view showing:
- Ancestors: Up to 5 generations of maternal ancestors
- Daughters: All queens that have this queen as their mother
- Lineage Depth: How many generations can be traced back
- Total Daughters: Number of direct daughter queens
Lineage Overview¶
Navigate to the Lineage Overview page to see all queens with lineage statistics. This page shows:
- Each queen with her lineage depth (how many generations can be traced)
- Number of daughters per queen
- Overall statistics: total queens, queens with known mothers, queens with daughters, and average age
Lineage overview filters:
- Organization: A specific organization
- Origin: How the queen was obtained
- Lineage: Queens with a known mother, or without
- Marking Color: Filter by marking color
Lineage Graph¶
The Lineage Graph provides an interactive visual network graph showing the queen family tree.
- Each queen is represented as a node, colored by marking color
- Nodes are connected by arrows from mother to daughter
- Node size increases with the number of daughters
- Hover over a node to see details: hive name, identification number, breed, age, origin, and daughter count
The graph displays summary statistics: total queens, queens with known mothers, and queens with daughters.
Queen Assignment¶
Queen assignment and replacement are managed from the hive context.
Assigning a Queen to a Hive¶
If a hive currently has no queen:
- Go to the hive's detail page
- Click Assign Queen
- Select a queen from the list of available queens (only unassigned, active queens from the same organization are shown)
- Click Save
Note
If there are no unassigned queens available in the organization, you will need to create a new queen first.
Replacing a Queen¶
To replace the current queen in a hive with a different queen:
- Go to the hive's detail page
- Click Replace Queen
- Select the new queen from the list of available queens
- Confirm the replacement by checking the confirmation box
- Click Save
The old queen is unassigned from the hive (but remains in the system), and the new queen takes its place.
Queen Transfer¶
To move a queen to a different organization:
- Go to the queen's detail page or click the Transfer button in the queen list
- Select the destination organization
- Confirm the transfer by checking the confirmation box
- Click Save
If the queen is assigned to a hive, the hive will automatically be transferred together with the queen.
Warning
You must be an Admin or Owner in both the source and the destination organization to transfer a queen.
Note
If you are not an Admin or Owner in any other organization, you will not be able to transfer queens.
Deactivating a Queen¶
When a queen is no longer alive or in use:
- Go to the queen's detail page
- Click Edit
- Uncheck Active
- Click Save
Inactive queens are preserved for lineage tracking but excluded from active queen lists and are not available for hive assignment.
Deleting a Queen¶
To delete a queen:
- Go to the queen's detail page
- Click Delete
- Review the deletion confirmation page
Warning
A queen cannot be deleted if she has daughter queens or is currently assigned to a hive. You must first reassign or remove these connections. Consider deactivating the queen instead.
Health Status¶
A queen's health status is initially set during creation and can only be updated through hive inspections. This ensures an accurate health history tied to inspection records.
To update a queen's health status:
- Create or edit an inspection for the hive the queen is assigned to
- Set the Queen Health Status field in the inspection
- When the inspection is saved as completed, the queen's health status is automatically updated
Health status changes are tracked in the queen's health status history.
What's Next¶
- Hive Management - Manage your hives
- Inspections - Record inspections and update queen health
- Breeding - Queen breeding programs
- Beekeeping Operations - Record queen replacements as operations