This paper deals with the drainage of liquid foams. The liquid velocity is known to be related to viscous dissipation occurring within the elements of the liquid network, i.e. the channels and the nodes. When compared together, available values for the hydrodynamic resistance of a foam node appear to span over more than one order of magnitude. To clarify this point, we propose an alternative experimental method to estimate the value of this parameter. In contrast to previous experimental work performed on the foam scale, the node resistance is not treated as a fitting parameter, but instead it is measured directly on the microscopic scale. The results allow a consistent range of values to emerge for this parameter. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.