>Releasing the attendants is made more difficult with these
>JZ/BZ plastic cages for a number of reasons:

Interesting how opinions can very greatly about the same thing.  I've
actually switched to the plastic JZ/BZ cages because I like them
better.  I've found it easy to get the attendance (or queen) out and it
fits nicely between frames without removing one.   I just pop the cap, put
my finger over it, hold it up to the light so I can see the queen easily
though the cage and move my finger to let the attendants out when she isn't
near the opening.   To get the queen out without releasing the attendants
(such as for marking when I can't place the queen immediately in the
hive),  I use a second cage.  I put the two cages hole to hold, but slighly
offset to the workers can't walk into the other cage, and simply line up
the holes when the queen is near.

Of course I've had little experience with wooden cages and find them a pain
myself.  (Plus I've lost more queens with the wooden type and none with the
plastic type.  Though the wooden ones I've had trouble with were not the 3
hole type, but rather the smaller California type where you had to pry off
the screen to release the queen (no cork).

Another very useful device I use when handling queens outdoors is a box
with a screen on top and fabric on two sides so you can put your hands in
without letting the queen out.

-Tim

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