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James Stafford
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2025
Works as it should
Jane Deaux
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2024
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Seven Kitties
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2023
When I began beekeeping, I noticed how hard it was to find just, you know, basic information about a lot of equipment. Everyone just assumed you knew things like...how to catch a queen or mark them, how to bait a hive beetle trap, etc.It was really frustrating because I need to know!! Anyway, I joined my local beekeepking club (you should, too!!!) and everyone raved about this one handed queen catcher thing and said it was an absolute must have, even if you didn't want to raise queens.So you operate it with one hand. You slide the flexible gate back, place the opening (What is the top in the picture) over your queen, and then slide the gate (carefully!) back in place, so that the queen 'steps up' onto the gate.You depress the spongy thing to pin the queen (gently) against the top, so you can mark her. There are plastic stops, so you can't press too hard and squish her--an issue that happens with some queen catchers. While she's there, she's got plenty of air, she's just gently pressed into the sponge.My club recommended that you practice with other bees first, if going for the queen makes you nervous, so you can build confidence in your ability to do this without hurting your queen. You can practice on drones or worker bees, to build your skill!I had the old simple queen catcher and it was way too confusing for me, but this? You'll figure it out in less than a minute. Must have!
Menachem Husarsky
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2023
this was worth every penny!Pros:1) no more plunger! no more worrying about pressure on the queen2) no more worrying about other bees going in with the queen. they come right out because the cover is slats instead of lattice, with gaps the thickness of a queen excluder.3) making the queen became so much easier. her thorax positions much easier on the gaps as compared to the older lattice setup of the typical queen tool.4) this was the BIG BIG bonus: when you get the queen parallel to the slats in the cover - which is common and easy - her wings will stick through the gap making it easy to clip her wings!!! no more picking her up nervously by one hand at the thorax worrying about injuring her to do the wing clipping.we've already used this on two queens and had them both marked and wings clipped within one minute or less.Cons:1) as everyone stated, the safety mechanism makes it so you can't squish a queen to death. however the tradeoff is that skinny/smaller queens can wiggle out and move. This was a minor issue, but easily solved by gently pressing on the slats downward to apply a little extra pressure.Overall:this saved time, reduced anxiety when handling/ making/clipping queens, is well designed/built.Do not buy the cheaper stuff out there. this was worth every penny.
umlaval7
Reviewed in Canada on July 6, 2021
It works as it should, but gums up really quickly.Also, it is not Mann Lake brand. It is a knock-off.
Content in Colorado
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2021
The Mann Lake One Handed Queen Catcher works as easily and effectively as advertised. A very useful tool for anyone wishing to catch, isolate, and mark their queens. Well worth the money.
S Perry
Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2020
At first I thought I had been scammed because the box arrived and says "Yasaeng beekeeping supplies" on it instead of Mann Lake and is clearly foreign. Made in Korea. But I went to Mann Lake's website and the catcher shown on their website also says Yasaeng on the side of it, so I'm pretty sure it's actually legit. Maybe a bit overpriced since the assumption is that you're getting a "Mann Lake" queen catcher, not a foreign one, but it looks like it will work well. The stopper seems to be placed well, so the queen won't get squished, but also won't be able to walk around while her paint is drying. Overall I'm satisfied.
Rainy Day Runner
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2020
The best features about this plunger are the one handed operation, the smooth action closing lever, and the ability for the workers to escape. I also am amazed that the plunger has a stop on it, so you don't accidentally squish the queen when plunger her against the grate. I have marked two queens with it and both when very smoothly. I look forward to using this on my other two hives.
DJ
Reviewed in Canada on October 16, 2019
You will still have to hunt for your precious queens for days, but once you do this is a superb tool for catching and painting her if you so desire. Unfortunately in my circumstance I used it to catch my queen to kill her (unproductive and slow, had to combine hives or this one wouldn't have survived)....but that is besides the point.
Jeep Girl
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2015
The Mann Lake One Handed Queen Catcher is brilliant! I've been able to effortlessly capture 4 of our 6 queen bees with the purpose to mark and wing clip. The soft rubber mesh rolls down like a roll top desk across the surface of a frame to gentle pick up a queen into the catcher compartment and safety transport or capture. The plunger above the empty cavity can be reduced by slowly lowering the foamed covered surface to either press or restrict the queen from movement. Using a fine tip Posco paint marker, I put a visible paint dot through the slats in the rubber on the bees thorax and let the plunger back up to allow movement of the queen while the paint mark dries. While this gadget seems pricey, it pays for itself with the replacement of one queen honey bee, usually 30 to 40 dollars. I kept the packaging box to store the item in while not in use as the rubber mesh can be fragile. Love this product!
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