A palace fit for a queen

In terms of good beekeeping advice, Ted Hooper's book (Guide to Bees and Honey) takes some beating. It was first published almost three decades ago. My copy, the fourth edition, dates back to 2008. The illustrations (line drawings, or B&W images) make it look dated, but the text remains relevant and is better than many of the 'up-to-date' publications.My copy is well-thumbed, has been read cover-to-cover several times, and is still regularly used to check some detail I've either forgotten, or (more likely) never knew in the first place.Most recently, I was looking up Hooper's advice on choosing which queen cells to keep and which to cull.I still remember being amazed when I first read this section, as he describes opening and resealing a cell to check it's occupied:If you wish, you can gently open up a flap on its side towards the base [and] take a look at the queen pupa and then push the flap back and carefully repair the cut.I've never done this, at least not successfully…