HIVE, AND HOW TO HANDLE IT 99 



is necessary, in order to injure the comb beneath the 

 cell as little as possible. 



HOW TO FIND THE QUEEN 



If we simply need assurance that the queen is 

 present and active, the discovery of eggs or young 

 larvae in the cells is sufficient evidence of her presence, 

 and saves the tiresome search for her majesty. But 

 if we wish to find her, she is usually present on the 

 middle frame of the hive. It is not safe to pull out 

 this middle frame from the narrow place which it 

 occupies for fear of hurting the queen and crushing 

 the other bees ; so it is best always to take out an end 

 frame, first looking at it carefully to make sure she 

 is not upon it; then shake off the bees and set it 

 beside the hive, and move the other frames along 

 in the space thus made until we are able to remove 

 the middle frame with ease. It requires some ex- 

 perience to ferret out the queen from the bee-mob 

 which seethes over the comb. The burly, big, blunt- 

 ended drones are much more readily detected. 

 However, after a little training in the devious ways 

 of royalty one becomes expert in seeing that long, 

 graceful, pointed body extending far back of the 

 wings which characterises the queen. If the bees 

 are not too much disturbed, she is likely to be sur- 

 rounded by a rosette of workers, all with their faces 

 toward her, for even in the court of the hive etiquette 

 does not permit that the ladies-in-waiting turn their 

 backs to the queen. If for any reason the queen is 

 to be lifted out, she should be seized by the wings or 



