Age of queen

[Linda]

What color should I mark a queen from a swarm ? She most likely was last year's?

[Jacobs]

I make the assumption that primary swarms this time of year have an old (last year's) queen and mark them with last years color (white). IF I know the swarm is an afterswarm from one of my hives and I get them, that queen gets this year's color. Somewhere around mid-June I may make the arbitrary decision to mark swarm/abscond queens with this year's color. Not necessarily accurate or correct--just how I go about it.