>
> > I thought I was protecting the queen, until one day we re-examined our
> test colonies and found that some colonies had decided to ball their own
> queen shortly after she was release.


All one need to is to gently poke a number of queens on the tail to make
them run, and watch how often some of her own workers will exhibit
aggressive behavior towards her to see that the bees' respect for their
queen is tenuous.  That's why I use the slightly-delayed release when I
temporarily cage a queen.  This allows the colony to settle down, and for
the queen to emerge from the cage at her leisure.

>How on earth can you tell where they're looking?
Before reaching down to lift a frame, if those eyes are facing you, they
see you--see Mike's explanation.  After a whiff of smoke, all you'll see
are tails between the top bars.  The sure fire way to tell is to move your
hand, and watch to see whether the bees "turn their heads" to follow you
(anthropomorphized).

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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