will find that his fingers are not so free to work as he would like, for gloves make them rather clumsy in drawing up the frames. [Footnote 29: An objection to, this is that robber bees are liable to be attracted from surrounding hives.] These must now be gently prised up from front to rear; this may be done with a small screw-driver or other stout instrument with a wedged end to go into the notches. They fit loosely so as to permit of a slight movement from back to front; a lateral or sideway movement might kill the queen, or, if not so fatal as that, might crush some of the bees and injure the brood combs, which must be carefully avoided. Of course much depends upon the nature of the operation that has to be performed, whether or no all the frames should be thus loosened. If it be for making artificial swarms, or for any purpose that requires an interview with her majesty, the whole of them must be loosened, because it may happen that all the combs have to be examined, sometimes twice over, before she can be discovered. Bees are very apt to build their combs in a slightly waving form, and in extracting one it will be needful to make room both for the comb and bees upon it to pass without scraping the next comb, and there will be a difficulty if the apiarian attempts to draw out one comb whilst the other frames are located in their appropriate places. Where a dummy frame is provided the operation becomes simple; but if there is none, let the operator gently proceed to lift, say, the third frame slightly nearer to the fourth frame (allowing it to lodge on the little block that divides the notches),[30] and the second nearer the third, so as to admit of sufficient space to lift out the end one. Very carefully and slowly he should lift the frame by taking hold, with thumb and finger, of the projecting shoulders that rest in the notch; and he must not let it touch or scrape the next frame or the sides of the hive, so as to crush, or irritate any bees. [Footnote 30: Many hives are now made without notches, so that it is necessary only to slide the frames.] After the end comb is thus removed it will be easy to extract the others, as there will now be plenty of room for drawing them out. If the bar-frame holder (page 192) is not at hand an empty hive of the same size will serve; and care should be taken that each comb occupies the same relative position that it did in the hive so that the same order may be afterwards retained when they are replaced.