In following this thread I've noted that no one mentioned the problem caused
by marking more than one queen consecutively.  If you use your bare fingers
as Tom Elliott and I do, you will pick her up by the wings, then set her
feet on the forefinger of your other hand and hold all three legs on one
side between your forefinger and thumb.  Then paint her.

You must wash your fingers with alcohol between picking up queens.  In the
early days I watched people pick up queens without doing this and saw
several queens attacked by their nest mates.  Wash your fingers and this
doesn't happen.  Presumably you transfer the odor of one queen to the next
on your bare fingers.

I sometimes use a screen device which you can use to press her against the
comb and paint her thorax through the screen.  This works well in nasty
hives.  It works well for persons who are nervous about picking up a queen
by her wings.  You might also want to wash the device with alcohol between
queens to be marked.

James C. Bach
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