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Bee Stings

4K views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  checotah 
#1 ·
Why do bees sting some people and not others. I am a mechanic by trade and I have 2 hives. I have opened them up and so far I have not been stung. Now I had a couple of beekeepers helping me look for a queen. I have not used smoke on this hive and did not this time. The interesting part we all had vales on and no other protection. I did not receive a sting, Joe got stung once and Denise got stung 3 times and had bees buzzing him the whole time. He had to put on all his protection gear on to keep from getting more stings. So I guess my question is why would on person trigger the bees sting and others don't?
 
#2 ·
Thank you for asking one of the greatest question of all time. Personally, I believe it has to do with smells. Could it possibly adrenaline levels? I don't know but believe that it does have to do with smells.

Can bees smell fear?

I've read many posts where people say they force themselves to calm down from a hectic day and that working in the bee yard helps them to calm down.

I've also read posts sharing that smoke helps the bees to remain calm and most eveyone agrees that smoke help to block the bees ability to interpret smells.
 
#5 ·
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I've also read posts sharing that smoke helps the bees to remain calm and most eveyone agrees that smoke help to block the bees ability to interpret smells.
Smoke intereferes with smells? Not sure on that one. It is said that bees have an even better sense of smell than dogs. They have it down to the very molecules of scent. So perhaps smoke clouds this a bit... but not much. Same way a dog can smell a treat in the midst of a million other odors going on at the same time.

The thing that smoke realy does and why it calms the bees so well is because they think the hive is in danger of fire. So they do what any sentient being would do in the face of fire. They get their valuables and prepare to leave. To the bees that means honey. They go straight to the honey and gorge themselves. Once they are full to the gills with honey they are calm as anyone after a big meal. So they are less prone to sting.
 
#3 ·
Keep in mind once the first bee stings she leaves pheromones that draw other, defensive bees. It's not uncommon to go most of the day in the beeyards without a sting, then get one and bingo....the remainder of the day it's one sting after another. Also, if you wear gloves and those get stung then you carry those pheromones into every hive afterward...it's the first thing they smell when you open the hive.
 
#4 ·
I brought a class out to a couple colonies a few weeks ago. While I and several students crouched right over the landing boards examining pollen baskets (these have always been very gentle colonies for me), a few students at the back of the group started getting tagged all of a sudden. The students had all been camping for a week on-site for this permaculture certification, and I wondered if it had to do with odor. But no way to tell... the odd part was it was the people FARTHEST from the colonies that got hit. :scratch:.
 
#6 ·
It may have something to do with bee memory. Every human being has a different scent (perhaps based on pheromones)than anyone else, sort of like finger prints. In my experience with bees (50+ years), they have a memory for hive positions which seems to last about 2 weeks. Consequently, they may have memory for their beekeeper's human scent, somewhat like dogs and that of their masters. OMTCW
 
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