Time and again the garden beekeeper is asked how he can find the queen among tens of thousands of bees in the beehive. This does indeed require a little practice.

The queen differs from the other bees in the following characteristics:

• larger than worker bees
• long, rather slender abdomen
• no hair on the breastplate
• tan legs

Usually the queen is accompanied by her "court". These are workers who turn to her from all directions, feeding and guiding her, nicely recognizable on the first photo. In order to recognize this characteristic pattern, it helps to look at the honeycomb as a whole and to focus more in the distance.

However, queens are also afraid of light and often hide on the shady side of the honeycomb, often on the side leg of the frame.

Once the queen is drawn with a coloured plate, the search is much easier.