At 01:09 PM 7/20/98 +0100, you wrote:
>Since then, I have been stung about 15 times (within about 3 months).
>With the first of these stings (5 to 10), the reaction was the same i.e.
>there was none.
>
>However, in the last week I have been stung 3 times (on separate days),
>once on the thigh, once on the back of my hand in the soft fleshy bit
>between finger and thumb and lastly on the arm.  On each occasion, I have
>developed inflammation and swelling which appears to be worse on each
>occasion than the one previous.
 
Bill,
 
A few comments from a 2nd year novice....
 
For keeping only three hives you are getting stung too much.  I also have
three.  Last year I was wearing gloves for "protection" and smoking my
hives heavily and I received many stings like you.  Many of them were
caused by my pinching and crushing bees.
 
This year I gave up the gloves and I smoke lightly or not at all.  I wear
long pants, a t-shirt, and usually a bee veil.  I have only had two stings
all year and both were on the same hive when I neglected to smoke it first.
 
The first was earlier this year and in the back of my hand while I was
lifting a full deep super loaded with honey off a queenless hive.  I
couldn't remove the stinger until I had carefully set the super down and
most of the poison was pumped into me.  My hand swelled up along with part
of my fingers, wrist and lower arm.  I felt like Popeye.
 
The second sting was Saturday night when I opened the same hive to add a
second honey super.  I didn't have time to smoke and had no protective
clothing on.  I saw the bees were angry as there were many guards on the
inner cover keeping earwigs away from the honey.  When I removed the inner
cover, the guards all took flight and one stung me in the back of the head
when he became tangled in my hair.  This did hurt but it did not swell up
much more than about an inch in diameter.  The swelling is mostly gone today.
 
By using less bee protection, I am now much more sensitive to bee
attitudes.  I can feel them crawling on my fingers, hands, arms, etc. and I
don't crush any.  They seem better behaved and I have lost my fear of them
except when they get tangled in my hair. :-)  And I get a lot less stings.
 
Tom - 3 hives - northern Illinois, USA.