I am an beekeeper for about 13 years and as a qualified beekeeping teacher
ive beekeeping courses for about 6 years. We mostly work with 2
broodchambers, on top of that an queen excluder and then 1 or 2
honeychambers depending on the honey flow.

For finding the queen use (little) smoke from below, for example through the
hive entrance. Wait a little, then put the 2 broodchambers apart. The best
change of finding your queen is in the top broodchamber.  The queen tempts
to walk away from the smoke. When you remove the first frame we put that one
aside (we hang it temporary in a small 3 frame hive). Then take the second
one out. while you take the frame out look sideways on the next frame, which
is still hanging in the broodchamber. Often you see the queen walk away on
that frame to the dark. Check the frame you have taken out if the queen is
on it, then put it on the place where the first frame has been. Then take
the mext frame out, look , check and put the frame back. In that way you
check the whole broodchamber.

After the initial use of smoke we use water in order:
    - To quiet the bees down when they become restless again. We spray then
only on top of the chambers
       with frames. We do not spray the the broodframes itself. Especially
because in cool weather this
      can cool down the brood fast.
    - to spray a little water on the top-arms of the frames so you do not
squeeze so many bees while handling.
      We often work with bare hands on the Apiary where I teach. We smear
Linseed oil on our hands.
    - When you put the brood and honey chambers back on each other we spray
water over edges of the
      chambers. the bees walk away from the edges of the chambers into the
combs. This prevents
      squeezing a lot of bees.

    -During queenrearing we do not use smoke but only water to check the
frames with Queencells
     on acceptance, to cage the queencells and to take the queencells out.


I find using water very helpfull. I always have a plantspray-container with
me.


Greetings:   Hans van der Meijs
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