FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 



67 



farther back and the abdomen g'ets a Httle squeeze. 



Then the thumb and finger are slid up off the thorax, 

 at the same time pressed together, and this gives me a 

 grip on the wings, when she is Hfted from the comb, 

 fairly caught (Fig. 22). 



All this is done with the right hand, generally, al- 

 though occasionally she is caught with the left hand. At 

 any rate, she is now shifted to the left hand, and held 

 between the thumb and finger, back up, head and thorax 

 between thumb and finger, head pointing to the left, ready 

 to clip (Fig. 23). 



CLIPPING THE QUEEN. 



Then one blade of the scissors is slipped under the 

 two wings of one side, and they are cut off as short as 

 they can conveniently be clipped (Fig. 24). 



Fig, 21. — Catching the Queen. 



The queen will be just as helpless about flying if only 

 the larger wing on one side is clipped, and clipping the 



