Queens are marked with a colored dot on their thorax indicating the year they were mated.  In the case of young wintered queens for early nuc sales, the mark is a bit misleading because the dot would be the color of the previous year even though the queen has not been through a full spring buildup so the queen is  younger than the dot would suggest.  There is no charge for marking queens and if you would prefer an unmarked queen please let us know in advance.