M44 goes under two different names: The Beehive Cluster and Praesepe.

The Greeks were aware of this deep sky object, and one of them, Aratos, a third-century BC poet, named it 'the manger' (Fatne, phatne). The nearby stars gamma and delta were seen as donkeys nibbling at the manger, and they still carry the names the northern donkey and the southern donkey (Asellus Borealis, Asellus Australis) respectively.

Praesepe is a direct Latin translation of phatne. Just where 'the Beehive' came from isn't certain, although many observers have commented that the stars indeed resemble a swarm of bees.

Finding the cluster is a breeze. Having found alpha Cancri, place this star at the bottom of your glasses. Omicron-1 and -2 (one over the other) are now at the centre: omicron. Place these two stars at the bottom of your field of vision and delta will be at the upper right. If you now put delta at the southeast of your field of view the cluster will be at the centre: binoculars.

The cluster contains several hundred stars, about fifteen or twenty of which are bright enough to enjoy with binoculars. The brightest star in the cluster is epsilon, 6.3 visual magnitude, 550 light years away (as is the cluster).