Brian B. Bonner wrote:
> I am new here and want to raise Bee's, but frankly I am worried about
> being stung. How do you mess with bees and not get stung?
 
I asked the same question before I started keeping bees at a beekeepers
meeting. One old veteran  smiled and said, "If you're worried about
getting stung you shouldn't keep bees." That was the the first advice I
got from a beekeeper but not the first I have disregarded. And that was
seven years ago.
Since I was worried about getting stung, I bought a beesuit with a
zippered on veil and long leather ventilated gloves. I tucked my suit
legs into my socks so no bee could get to me. And I smoked the suit and
every place the bee might get to me. And they usually did not. I
probably got stung three or  four times a season at most.
But two years later I attended a meeting with Charlie Mraz who spoke
about bee stings and arthritis. I was suffering from the onset of it in
my right arm. When I got home, I took his advice and got a bee to sting
me on my right shoulder. That night was the first time I could sleep on
my right side in a year! So every spring and fall I sting myself on
purpose! And now, seven years later, I now go gloveless, but still
zippered up in the suit. I rub my hands with the leftover pine needle
ashes from the smoker, which works to keep the bees from stinging.
So go for it! Beekeeping is an exceptional hobby and worth persuing. And
don't be intimidated by the shirtless, gloveless and veilless beekeepers
who might give you some comments about how buttoned up you are. I
visited a "mean" hive once with one of them, and while I was still
working the hive, he was running for his truck to get a veil, gloves and
suit!
Bill Truesdell
Bath
-