For my first job, Bill said I had to check if the queen had come out of the cage. I was on my own. I could not skip out and ask for help. I had to get in there and check whether she had come out in each of the two hives.

I open up the outer cover and there are bees all over the sirup. Luckily, in one hive the wire of the queen cage was easily reachable. I pulled it up: She was still in there. I followed Bill's advice: "Take the cage out, remove any bees on the outside. Make sure the queen is on the far end of the opening. Remove the sugar plug. Put the cage back into the hive." He gave actually longer instructions. But this is the essence.

In my second hive, I can't see the wire of the queen cage. I go inside and this is what I see. No queen cage. I close up and go to call Bill. He says, "Push the frames aside and get in there. You MUST find the cage." I say, "Okay," and knowing what I have to do think "Why does this have to happen?" I do as Bill says, push the frames apart and get in there till I have the cage and do what has to be done. I also learned my first big lesson: Wear something with sleeves where the bees can't get in and then begin to sting you. I had my first couple of stings. I removed the stinger with the back of my knife blade, striking away toward the remaining body (and poison).