There is no reason for marked queens except for your own lack of ability...... :-D
So how do you assure your prize breeder queens have not been superseded and your not just propagating an unknown quantity?
Oh, Robo, you know me....anything to rub someone... :-D
It's like saying marking queens saves the colony on stress due to beekeepers finding them sooner, yet ignoring the fact that if beekeepers knew how to "read" a brood frame, one would spend far less time looking for a marked queen, and even less stress could be seen.
My prized breeders are usually seen at least once a week on average. And swarm season is generally about an 8 week event, which I would rather control through good old fashion strategy. And a marked queen never stopped that.
As for supersedure, I have read some, that painted queens may actually promote supersedure.
I think if I did not or could tell my queens superseded in mid-season without the use of a paint spot, then I think thats the least of my concerns to my business and customers. Suggesting that controllong my genetics or as you mention "unknown quantity" certainly goes beyond whether a queen is marked.
We have gone down this path before. I'm not really opposed to marking queens. Just show me a product deemed safe, manufacturered and tested on insects. As it is now, none of them I have researched and sold by major bee suppliers have been tested, not one manufacturer will go on record it should be applied to humans let alone insects. I've heard about nail polish, modeling paint, and a host of things that some beekeepers use. And I'm not convinced that we should be using them.
When I made an effort to go chem free, I also decided not to paint my queens. And the last paint pen I bought from a bee supply company, had carcinogenic warning and health issues for any contact with the product.
a beekeeper wants to mark a queen, fine. I just think for far too long, we took things for granted, and didn't even think that this could be harming the very lifeline of the colony.
Yes, I'll continue to monitor my paint free queens. As a breeder, it is the least I can do for my customers. If they want to paint them fancy colors, I'll actually do it for them, right after I tell them what I think about it..... :-D And I'm certainly not going to promote such use, as an alternative to beekeepers desire to find the queen at every visit to the hive.