Hi George & All, >You and I have perhaps had a few disagreements, mainly because I know >NOTHING >about Alaska except I know that the U.S. bought it from Russia just after >the >end >of our Civil War for only about 6-7 million dollars, and the American >public >called it Secretary of State Seward, "Sewards Folly". > Partly true, and yes the purchase of Alaska by Seward was probably a Folly but not to those who live in and love Alaska. >However, as a scientist (which you seem to discredit or have little >confidence), > Not true, I just do not believe all science just like not all people believe in God. I know this might upset a scientist (not all) that thinks all science is the gospel. What one scientist has proven correct one day could be proven wrong another day. I think for myself and prove to myself and see things for myself, because you can not believe all you read. In my previous post I stated I do not mark my queens for reasons of my own, I made this statement because I did not want to get into a debate about my reasons which would make little good. People can mark their queens if they please, I do not. In my opinion it is not something that needs to be done and does not prove you to be a better beekeeper if you do it. There are good solid reasons why a beekeeper would choose not to mark queens. Some beekeepers want a clean hive and do not put foreign substances in a hive. I can ID a queen if I wanted to without painting her or marking her with paint. As far a linage goes where I am I develop a sphere of influence where I keep bees and most drones in the area are drones from the colonies I keep. This is quit good enough for all intensive purposes. I am note going to overly concern myself with the small stuff and worry about the few drones out there that are not from the colonies I keep. Nothing in life is completely perfect and no matter how you try to make it perfect it won't be. Anyway a perfect world to me is a imperfect one. For millions of years as imperfect as the honey bee was or wasn't it survived great without man keeping them, now look how messed up they are with man trying to perfect them and keep them. Have a nice day, and MARK YOUR QUEENS only if you want or think you need to. . . .. Keith Malone, Chugiak, Alaska USA, http://www.cer.org/, c(((([ Caucasian Bee Keeper, http://takeoff.to/alaskahoney/, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ApiarianBreedersGuild/ _________________________________________________________________ Let the advanced features & services of MSN Internet Software maximize your online time. http://click.atdmt.com/AVE/go/onm00200363ave/direct/01/ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::