THEY GOT ME!!! and I lived

[gun4hire]

Yep..I learned a lesson today. I was just going out to “look” if they were ok. It has been REAL wet and rainy and finally a sunny day. We must have had a fly hatch , because they were everywhere as I walked down to the bees. I could see a lot of small flies on the landing board, getting chased by the guard bees..it was funny to watch. I thought I would help out since my BIG hive with no entrance reducer had the fly problem. I grabbed the reducer and just placed it in front of the entrance. I “tapped” on it with a piece of wood to get it in place. I sat back and watched.
A minute later one flew straight up and NAILED ME above my right eyebrow!! I had on wrapped sunglasses. I calmly walked away and said..that was not too…OWWWWWW son of a ______ and several words I need to go to church about. I was followed by one more that landed on my head. It found hair and didn’t make it to the skin. I boxed this bee for 30 more feet hitting him away
with amazing swats each time, I think he gave up thinking I was some golden gloves boxer!! The sting did not hurt BUT it felt like battery acid burning in my skin near the sting. I scraped it out and waited for any symptoms of eminent death. :rolleyes: I got a slight bump from it. It “stung” for 20 minutes and I found it to be very unpleasant.

I lived but will suit up and resist coming to their aid when “naked”…lot of thanks I GOT :mad:

[mike haney]

and i thought mine were the only ungrateful S.O.B's:)

[Dr.Wax]

I calmly walked away and said..that was not too…OWWWWWW son of a ______

Heh. Perfect description! I have only been stung once by mine (just under right eye) and yes, there is a slight delayed effect. But it wasn't too bad. To me it was juuust over the threshold between discomfort and pain. Of course I removed the stinger quickly which helped.

I visited my mentors apiary first time today and I just knew I'd get stung. Because he had his hives (about 20) in two rows facing each other. As it turned out he got stung once and I did not. I did get one in my hair which I always heard means a sure sting but I removed it and got lucky.

[MCC]

Boy does that sound familiar. Two weeks ago, I had worked with them fully suited for about an hour, went back it, thought I was done and unsuited and than ran out to do one more thing. One guard bee flew out and got me right under the left eye. Two days later I looked like a tennis ball was growing out of my eye. I've had about 5 on my hands that are slightly swollen but nothing like my eye. From then on fully suited all them time. They are just being bees, I'm the one who should know better.

[Michael Bush]

Swatting doesn't really help. Running does. Clapping might if you're a good aim. :)

Of course the second thing to do when you get stung is to scrape out the stinger. As someone put in their signature, the first thing to do is yell. You got that part right. :)

[Fred Bee]

I don't find stings particularly pleasant anywhere...but I must confess the worst place to get stung is in the face. I have found that Benedryl Spray takes some of the burning/itching sensation away. Apply topically and be careful not to get it in your eyes. In the future when you want to adjust your entrance reducer...I bet you will wear a veil. :) Ok...Get better and learn the lessons the bees teach. :)

[Barry Digman]

My wife and I took a walk this evening down at the Riverwalk. Then we drove over to just look at some of my hives. She said she couldn't see any going in or out of one, so I stepped over and lifted the cover. Yep, there were plenty in there. Duh.

[hankdog1]

Well heck i can beat everyone got all suited up the other day to look in a few of my hives since it's hotter then heck outside i decided to suit up with just a pair of shorts on underneath. Wasn't five minutes in got nailed through my suit just below the shorts. Been itching and burning for 3 days now. Needless to say pants and a shirt are now gonna be the norm no matter how hot it is. :D

[gun4hire]

I went back down to the hives today to put another hive body on my smaller one. In my big one I forgot that my feeder was still in the bottom box..so I thought I better get it switched out to the top. I was fully dressed now of course ;)

I looked around in my smaller one before I put on the second hive body, and drawn comb thanks to my mentor. I think the queen is coming around and my concerns are unfounded. I have A LOT of capped brood and larva galore (all sizes) I have not found the queen since I got lucky and found both in one day. I have notice my small one is catching up to the big one.
I smoked the little one good and found I had only one frame left out of 9 that they were not completely drawn out. I though good enough and put on the second box with 9 nice dark combs and I remembered to move the feeder up. The bees flowed up like water into the new box.

I did not have much smoke left and gave the big one a shot and dove in since I was just moving up the feeder. I did my thing and closed it up. One pissed off bee was bouncing on my veil…..the little fart followed me 120 yards back to the house. :eek: It bounced on my veil as I stood by the garage. I walked another 50 yards down around my pine trees and it was still there. I stood there looking at it bouncing off my veil…I was getting hot and this had to come to an end. It was time for the true predator to act. With a two handed SWAP..it was over..no more buzzing. I looked down and she was crawling up my leg!!! A wing and a few legs not working too well. I gave it a flick and walked away, confident I had won the day.

Gun---who learns more everyday---

[IndianaHoney]

I found out today that even swarms will sting if you play with them enough. I was trying to remove a swarm from a tree, about 25 feet up. I though, "its a swarm, no danger here", WRONG! One nailed me center palm of my left hand.

I have to disagree with whoever said that the face was the worst place to get stung. A friend of mine told me that the worst sting he ever had was at the very end of...... I'll let you figure it out.

[rriley]

Can entrance recucers be taken out during the summer?

[mike haney]

Can entrance recucers be taken out during the summer?

the answere...depends. is the hive strong enough to defend itself,how hot the weather is, if the bees are "bearding" on the hive,is there crowding trying to get in... but an established hive in a full deep or the equivilant generally yes. good luck,mike

[deantn]

I have to disagree with whoever said that the face was the worst place to get stung. A friend of mine told me that the worst sting he ever had was at the very end of...... I'll let you figure it out.

First question is why was he running around a hive of bees NAKED?

[IndianaHoney]

He doesn't use a bee suit, just a veil. I assume one crawled up his leg and got him, but he never really did explain, thank God.

[drobbins]

this didn't happen to me but my buddy I got into beekeeping with was messing with his hives last year and removed some burr comb that was full of honey.
after he was done he removed his suit and put a chunk of the honey laden comb in his mouth and guess what was on it:rolleyes:
he said it swelled his tongue the size of a tomato so he went to the emergency room which is nearby and told the receptionist in that voice you can only make with a tongue the size of a tomato, "I have insurance, I got stung by a bee, please treat me if I pass out!"
said he sat there for an hour till he was sure he'd be ok

moral of the story, "look before you bite" :)

Dave

[hankdog1]

I found out today that even swarms will sting if you play with them enough. I was trying to remove a swarm from a tree, about 25 feet up. I though, "its a swarm, no danger here", WRONG! One nailed me center palm of my left hand.

I have to disagree with whoever said that the face was the worst place to get stung. A friend of mine told me that the worst sting he ever had was at the very end of...... I'll let you figure it out.

Makes you wonder how many nudiest beekeepers are out there maybe we need to start a thread to find out. I think that one might be hard to explain to the wife too. hahaha :)

[Beaches' Bee-Haven Apiary]

I found out today that even swarms will sting if you play with them enough. I was trying to remove a swarm from a tree, about 25 feet up. I though, "its a swarm, no danger here", WRONG! One nailed me center palm of my left hand.

I have to disagree with whoever said that the face was the worst place to get stung. A friend of mine told me that the worst sting he ever had was at the very end of...... I'll let you figure it out.

Hmmm... maybe I should add a cup (the kind baseball catchers use) to my outfit.:p

The worst spot I've been stung was right on the scalp, my lymph nodes and the works swelled up, than I got a cold and it didn't go away for about 8 days.

-Nathanael:cool:

[Barry Digman]

Makes you wonder how many nudiest beekeepers are out there maybe we need to start a thread to find out. I think that one might be hard to explain to the wife too. hahaha :)

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c285/barrydigman/beesuit3.jpg

[Michael Bush]

Went to try to get the bees out of a downed tree Sunday. Up at the top of a 30 foot ladder I got stung a lot. It's always so much fun to try to stay calm with a box full of bees in your left hand while climbing down a ladder and they are still stinging you relentlessly...

[berkshire bee]

I have to disagree with whoever said that the face was the worst place to get stung. A friend of mine told me that the worst sting he ever had was at the very end of...... I'll let you figure it out.[/QUOTE]

is it very end of......The Day?

[shylock3]

I got my first sting in my golden bee suit, bent over to pick up my hive tool, one got me on the back- Not my fault. I left a little crack between my suit and glove, one got me, but not til he got to my armpit. Wore my shoes, knew better, didn't want to take the time to put boots on wrooooong. Got several stings on both ankles, that's dumb. It hurts and I walk funny. The apitherapist need to work on painless stings, but you can keep the swelling-- just for that" End of Day Sting"