Queen Wing Clippers

Optionally used to cut or clip the wings of mated queens.

The utmost care should be taken when using queen clips.

Colour may vary

Further information from the Dave Cushman database:

Great care should be taken so that damage does not occur to the queen while she is being clipped and marked. Never handle a queen by the abdomen as it is very easy to damage this most vital part of her anatomy. When about to cut the wing or wings, with the blade of the scissors in position beneath the wings, pause for a moment and look carefully to ensure that one of her legs is not being cut off as well. If this occurs the queen will be superseded. The queen uses her forelegs as a calliper to measure the diameter of each cell before she lays in it. This determines whether a fertile female egg or an unfertilised male egg is laid, depending on whether the cell is a worker or a drone cell. The early part of the year is the best time to clip queens, but one should always be sure that the queen being clipped is a laying one. If there is any doubt as to her being mated it is safer to just mark her and leave the clipping for a later date. When just marking young queens it is safer to use the "crown of thorns" cage to imprison them as they are very liable to fly when handled. - Micheál Mac Giolla Coda. 1997.