>To allay concerns expressed by more than one respondent -- no, I do not >search for queens just for fun. I only do it when I must requeen, and >this is such a time -- I have a "hot" (i.e., vicious) hive, with terrible >comb-building discipline (burr- and bridge-comb everywhere, >erratically-drawn comb on foundations), and no offsetting good qualities. > Ergo, the queen must die. Long live the queen. If the death sentence has been pronounced, there are 2 other ways to find the queen which may enable you to get away with only a token penalty. One is splitting the hive leaving the queen with only the brood and nurse bees while you requeen the other half and unite when sentence has been carried out. The other is to place another hive box in the original site and shake all combs and bees down into an empty super separated from the brood box by a queen excluder. We have a permanently attached excluder and super to enable us to cull queens in the apiary. If a few combs of brood are placed in the bottom box and the top smoked, all bees will go down below the excluder leaving drones and the queen trapped above. If you wish more detail please email me direct and I will set out the steps to enable this process to be carried out smoothly. Betty McAdam HOG BAY APIARY Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island j.h. & e. mcadam<[log in to unmask] http://kigateway.eastend.com.au/hogbay/hogbay1.htm