Hi Bob,
Thanks for your observations!
I am the woman in the videos with Dee. That visit to her beeyards in 2008 was my first experience in a commercial apiary. Since then I have been back three times (just got back last night from over a week at her place...we were able to go through all her yards while I was there).
Working with Dee's bees can be very intense but I have never felt afraid. The intensity is very physical; pinging bees feeling like tiny hailstones, mucous pouring from nose due to alarm pheremone (lots of blowing my nose through the veil), lots of bees in the air and deafening roar. I have read previous posts from you, Bob, describing the deafening roar in a commercial apiary so I know this is not unique to Dee!
In all the times I have been with her bees (this last time without gloves as we were just checking for deadouts - hardly any!) I have barely been stung. Most stings happened when I got the veil too close to my face (the nose blowing thing) and a stinger would nip my cheek or nose.
I take care to tuck my jacket into my pants, wear a pair of white thermals under painter's pants (the bees love to cling to women's inner thighs - I've used the smoker more between my legs so I wouldn't squish bees while walking than we ever used on the hives), use ankle wraps and duct tape sleeves to gloves (if I'm wearing them) as my jacket wrists are too big.
This last time we lit the smoker the first of the day but it almost never made it off the truck. If bees weren't obviously leaving/entering a hive I would pop the top (no smoke) to check for life. Strong colonies with bees to the top sometimes flew out (again, no gloves) but sometimes I saw the bees and they didn't react. Gentle treatment of the equipment keeps the bees more gentle but we spent the first day in the yards with a film crew and about 15 people, Dee was doing her thing and the atmosphere was calm (both people and bees) but exciting as the bees were vibrant and alive!
Each year after the Organic Beekeeping Conference, many of us make the pilgrimage to Dee's place. Almost none have ever been around yards of more than a few hives and for some it is their first experience with live bees at all! In four years I have never seen any kind of "incident" and folks are always able to remain calm and centered. Granted, we aren't doing intense work at those times like shown in the video but if the bees were truly "scary" I don't think those "touring" visits would be possible.
I am very uncomfortable with heights, do not engage in such feats as bungee jumping or skydiving or other, what to me would be, terrifying, risky pursuits. I've never been in the military, done boot camp or combat, or anything that could win me any kind of medal for bravery. I'm less than 5' 5" tall and am not athletic by any stretch of the imagination. I LOVE that I'm able to work with Dee's bees (to her satisfaction, no less!) and prove to myself that I possess a certain kind of special ability :)
I'll be returning to Arizona this summer for at least two weeks to work the full size hives and help in the harvesting and extracting...another test for me! I'll keep you posted...
Again, thanks for your words...I do read this list and enjoy many of your posts though I seldom post myself.
Ramona
***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm
|
