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 experience to ferret out the queen from the bee-mob which seethes over the comb. The burly, big, bluntended 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 surrounded 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
