Hello all,
A recent post asked about working her bees at night to avoid stings and
bothering her neighbors working her bees.
Bees crawl at night. They will crawl up your arms when picking up a hive. Up
your pants leggs if removing frames and sitting the frames by the hive. I
have worked bees both because i had a hive with a problem or a hive which
hit the ground off a skid. Both fairly common with beekeepers which move
bees at night.
Lights in the area of the bees will cause flight even at night. Truck lights
,street lights or fork lift lights. A red colored light does not cause
flight and can be used. Bees are harder to remove from clothing at night
before getting back into truck. A bee brush helps.
Bees have been split for years in the dark in huge warehouses. A semi load
of bees are placed in the warehouse in the dark. Skids are placed next to
the skids to be split. Only brood and sealed honey are looked at to
determine splitting. Later all are given queen cells. A huge screen opening
is at a end of the building letting in a certain amount of light. The bees
which fly to the opening are used to make packages to sell to northern
beekeepers. The bees are easily removed from the beekeepers when they walk
from the building into the light. Bee cough is common in those warehouses.
Bee cough for those not familier is a cough you get when around a huge
amount of bees. The cough goes away after a few hours. The roar of bees can
also effect your hearing like a trip to the local speedway.
I will add a couple observations. One of the worst stinging events i went
thru happened at night. I was digging thru hives trying to give brood to
several hives as i knew i wouldn't be back in the area for a couple weeks.
My pants leggs were not shut and the bees were stinging my ankles. I was
busy working and not giving the bees thought. I was tired and the sun was
comming up and i wanted to get on the road. As i drove the bee truck back to
the main road i felt light headed. I stopped the truck as i felt i was going
to pass out. I stepped from the truck and passed out. I woke up about twenty
minutes later to the sound of birds chirping and bright sunlight. No
anaphylaxis shock or side effects but did have to get two stiches in my head
from when my head hit the pavement. The only time i ever passed out in my
life. My doctor thought the cold medicene i had been taking added to the
problem. I pulled a huge number of stingers from my ankles. I had worn
tennis shoes with elastic around the pants for years but now wear boots with
elastic. Any similar events?
I prefer moving bees at night but working bees in the daylight!
Bob Harrison
Odessa,Missouri