From first glance at flight activity at the hive entrance or signs of telltale debris, to the heft of the super and the broodnest inspection, the careful observer gathers useful information. Such observations reveal the bees' past history, their present state of health, and their prospects for the future. Another source of information useful for tracking the genetic makeup of a colony, is the color of the queen, workers and drones.
Most beekeepers are aware of the two basic body colors of bees, yellow and black.
But there is another color variation that has long been used by bee researchers and is now becoming popular with queen breeders and their customers. This is a remarkably beautiful bee with some very practical advantages for the beekeeper. This color trait changes all the normally black body parts of the bee, like the head, thorax and tip of the abdomen, to a distinctive reddish brown color. All three castes of bees are affected. The queen's abdomen shows up yellow to the very tip, whereas the workers and drones have brown bands which would normally be black.