On Sun, 14 May 1995, Dave Green, Eastern Pollinator Newsletter wrote:
 
> In a message dated 95-05-13 22:21:32 EDT, Allen Dick wrote:
>
> >If you can't work bees NAKED, then you really don't measure up.
> >
> >Now some of you might think I'm joking, but, as usual,  I'm not.
> >Usually I'm not (quite) naked, but put a few dollars down and . . .
 
>    Awwww....c'mon Allen.....this isn't a contest is it?   If it is .....YOU
> WIN!
 
No, just tomfoolery :)
 
>    I didn't think this was a matter of measuring up, but of enjoying the bees,
>  which I sure can't do very well when my glasses are steamed up and sliding
> down to my chin, can't feel what I touch, and I'm soaked with sweat.
 
Exactly.
 
A good tip for those who wear glasses is to take a bandana, roll it into a
1 inch strip and tie it around your head and over your brow.  It works
better and lasts longer than those sponge things they sell. And it looks
rugged, not silly.
 
A ball cap is too hot for me under a veil.  We use the Sherriff veils,
but I am having second thoughts because they allow too much sun on the
face, even with the special panels I had put in on the top for me by
the late Mrs. Sherriff.
 
>    I don't know what I'll do when the African bees get here.  Maybe an inflata
> ble astronaut suit, with a portable air conditioner?  Or ice in my pockets?
>  Or retirement?    Face that when it comes. Maybe they won't be all that bad.
 
I have a friend who just came back from Mexico.  It's a long story, but
at eighty he is down to 24 hives.  He says that they are all now
Africanised and although a bit crosser, they make much more honey (twice)
and are much more prolific -- forming bigger colonies.  There is no
disease problem anymore.  He says they are a bit more aggressive, but not
unmanageable.  His Mexican home is at 8,000 feet altitude.
 
He likes them and feels that they are the real honeybees.
 
He is not convinced that they will not eventually move as far north as we
presently keep bees.
 
He thinks the (government) swarm traps hanging in the trees all over Mexico
are a joke.
 
Curiously enough for this thread, I met him first when he came for a jar
of bees to use on his arthritis, which was acting up last time he came
north to visit.
 
So, I guess he doesn't mind the stings.  And I guess he believes that
they work for his arthritis.
 
Allen
 
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are not mine.  They are those
of my employer.
 
W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper                        VE6CFK
Rural Route One   Swalwell   Alberta   Canada  T0M 1Y0
Email:   [log in to unmask]    or   [log in to unmask]
Futures, Art & Honey:http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/~dicka