The real problem facing beekeeping in 2014

[The Drone Ranger]

when things are going well I have even spotted an unmarked queen in a big swarm , caught her popped her in the box and watched the rest of the bees follow

On another occasion I spent more than half an hour going through a paynes nuc about 6 times didn't find the marked queen ,looked around, and she was walking about on the lid with some pals

The list of marking disasters could fill a book, so I must still be doing it because I like the process, maybe I form a connection with the queen at the time of marking.
Possible as Gavin says I am a conformist at heart

queen marking might make an amusing thread

[prakel]

The list of marking disasters could fill a book, so I must still be doing it because I like the process

That's a pretty good reason.

[Trog]

We don't mark our queens but generally have no trouble finding them. On the few occasions when we need to find a queen and she's proving hard to see, we resort to one or other trick to reduce the numbers of bees and likely places she could be. I agree it's movement, and generally preferred location, that makes it easier to spot the queen. Also far better to teach beginners to find unmarked queens as they'll need to be able to do so, if only to mark their own replacements should they wish to go down that line.

[marion.orca]

Even easier than all the sticky discs etc, is to buy a box of drawing pins - the type with the coloured tops [ not the push pins - just the standard coloured drawing pins ] - I push the appropriate queen colour to the outside of the hive, then I can see at a glance which year the queen is in the hive - without even opening it - I stick to marking the queen herself with white, as it is so much easier to spot.

[Trog]

Before reading the whole of your post, I wondered briefly if the suggestion was to stick coloured drawing pins in her maj

[The Drone Ranger]

Hi marion-orca
I thought the same, then maybe make coloured discs from the drawing pins,
the explanation came at the end
shortest suspense mystery I've ever read

[Jon]

Easy to find but lays 1000 eggs in a single cell.

[The Drone Ranger]

when I stabbed a queen to death with the crown of thornes early this year I stopped using it
That hive struggled even after they raised a queen cell the new queen didn't get back after mating
They were requeened after that and are now are Ok but you almost felt they were giving up for a while

[Trog]

when I stabbed a queen to death with the crown of thornes

Freudian typo if ever I saw one

[Jon]

Are you suggesting he purchased it from a different supplier?