Hello David and All,

David wrote:

> >Practice the picking up of drones by the wings.
>
> Aren't the wings too delicate to withstand this?  I
> thought the head and thorax were the better place to grasp.

Your fingers  lightly actually touch the head and thorax but aiming for the
wings is the way I was taught. Consider the wings as a big X for the
placement of your fingers. Otherwise you could damage the queen. Queens can
do great even with a damaged wing. I have picked up queens being balled any
which way I can and flicked off the  workers and most have been in great
shape. These gals are pretty rugged and will take most everything but a
squeeze with a popping sound.

To mark the queen transfer her to the other hand  and pin her legs on one
side between your thumb and finger.

There are no doubt different methods in use . This is the way I was taught
and has worked for me for many years. Worker ,drone or queen I pick up
without even thinking.

 My partner and I like to play a little game of passing worker bees back and
forth while sitting in the bee truck and see who gets stung first. Actually
the procedure has merit as we at times have to pass queen bees to each other
while working.
A worker bee will at times let you hold her  without trying to sting but NOT
if you are holding her wrong and hurting her.
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison