Hello All
 
Perhaps as a relatively newcomer to the craft (this is my second year), I
can give my short experience of bee stings to date, and what I do to try to
minimise them.
 
I work the bees without gloves unless they are in a vicious mood, and it is
necessary to keep on working them, in which case I will wear gloves (at that
stage usually on well stung hands!, and possibly with a few bees trapped
inside the gloves to add to my woes!).
 
The stings hurt no less than on my first day, but the swelling is certainly
less. I am of the opinion that the mental attitude of the beekeeper has a
lot of influence on this particular aspect of beekeeping. I believe that
each time I handle a hive there is a good possibility that I will be stung,
but I normally behave so as to minimise this possibility. However, I
sometimes like to obtain a few stings for what I believe has therapeutic
benefit, but this belief is not shared by many of my beekeeping friends,
many of whom who see bee stings as something to be assiduously avoided.
 
I use vaseline liberally on all hive surfaces which touch. This has a
marvellous effect, since it makes it so easy to open up the hive without
causing vibration which really antagonises the bees. (I will liberally apply
vaseline to all of my hives again next spring). Sometimes the vaseline
allows me to get in and get out quickly without the bees being aware of my
presence.
 
When the hive is open, work quickly and with attention. Pay attention to
where your fingers are touching the hive parts and the bees. This will save
bees from being crushed. Ignore any bees which crawl on your hands or
fingers, except to avoid crushing them. If a bee is on your hand for a few
seconds and has not stung you, chances are that it won't, unless it is in
danger of being crushed. Avoid moving your hands quickly over the supers or
brood boxes. Rapid movement really annoys them. And do not cause any
vibration, no banging crown boards or roofs against the hive, or tramping
around the hives, they cannot hear, but they certainly respond badly to
vibration. I once asked an experienced beekeeper how to avoid crushing bees
and he replied - 'Move your hands more slowly than the bees move'. Someone
once described the correct movement of a beekeeper as like the slow motion
we sometimes see on TV broadcasts.
 
If things get too hectic, I try to recognise that the bees are just not in
form for my intrusion, and unless it is absolutely necessary, (such as at a
distant apiary etc.), I just close up shop, consider discretion as the
better part of valour, and come back another day.
 
 
Sincerely
 
Tom Barrett
49 South Park
Foxrock
Dublin 18
Ireland
 
e mail [log in to unmask]
Tel + 353 1 289 5269
Fax + 353 1 289 9940
 
Latitude  53 Degrees 16' North
Longitude  6 Degrees  9' West of Greenwich