Getting stung.

[psisk]

Two questions: I am allergic to bee/wasp stings. I find the stings very painful. I have wondered if the allergy makes them hurt worse for those of that are allergic. I have varying degrees of reaction based on where I get stung, ranging from anaphalactic shock to severe swelling. I used to be allergic to yellow flys and swelled profusely as well as being painful. I am just this year no longer allergic to them and now the bites dont hurt or itch. Took fifty years to out grow yellow flys so maybe I will out grow bees one day.

Today I went into my hives to make some splits. I didnt smoke them as I wasnt going to be in them long. Bad move. I have five hives. Four are very gentle and I never smoke them. One is mean with usually fifty to a hundred bees head butting me soon after lifting the top cover even with smoke. Today when I pulled the lid a very large number starting immediately stinging me everywhere. By the time I pulled the two supers off I was in a cloud of angry bees. I had bees stinging from my tennis shoes to the top of my veil. I had hundreds if not thousands stinging me. Due to my allergy I was in a full jacket and a thick pair of jeans and had put bands around my ankles. I only got one full sting but suffered a half dozen of what I call secondary stings when a shift in clothing causes a stinger to touch the skin. I just barely got the frame out and put the hive back together before having to abandon the bee yard. I walked a couple of hundred yards all the while brushing bees off with the bee brush and walking through shrubbery and tree to try and dislodge the attackers. It took about ten minutes of doing this until I could get inside and get benedryl and then I still had eight or ten on me that I just killed. Then when I sat down to take off my pants full of stingers I got a dozen more stings in the back of my legs and rear end. Needless to say that didnt go well. I have made up my mind to requeen them asap. But if they react that bad when I hunt the old queen I will have to just poison the whole hive. Only had a little tightness of the throat and breathing problems before the benedryl kicked in and I do have epipens just in case. How would be the best way to destroy them if I cant find or stand to find the queen? Is this indicative of the possibility of AHB? This hive has become progressively hostile as they grow but are great producers. I just dont need to deal with a hive that mean.

Thanks
Psisk

[NasalSponge]

I feel for you but quite frankly if you are not using smoke then they acted just like a strong hive of bees should act. Not smoking a strong hive in most cases is a no-no in my books. Before you label them AHB or kill them try a little smoke, wait a minute or so and see how they respond, and from my experience with AHB if you only had 50 to 100 come out then I would say they are not.....4 or 5 thousand is what I had.

[Kazzandra]

One is mean with usually fifty to a hundred bees head butting me soon after lifting the top cover even with smoke.

My "mean" Russians only got to this point when I was holding their last frame of brood with queen cells in my hand and the smoker had went out.

Huh. I would at least think they may be a percentage AHB, but I agree that it was your mistake not to smoke, not theirs. You might want to requeen, but I can't think poisoning your hive would EVER be a good idea.

At that point, you might as well put up a post here that says "FREE: MEAN BEES!" I bet you they wouldn't be in your hands for long, even with that moniker.

[bejay]

use smoke and you might want to invest in a full bee suit also, alot of those stings could of been prevented with a full suit given your reaction to stings not sure I would go back in there without wearing one, jeans are ok but they usually are not a loose fit plus they are usually not white so may attract more attention.

[BiG T]

Watch this guy to how to requeen that nasty hive....usually hot hives AHB smoke makes them more pissed. Good luck been there done it..

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheOhioC...63/DmmtjFgdqz8

[Adam Foster Collins]

Psisk,

With all due respect, I don't know what you're thinking.

You know you are allergic to stings, and you've got five hives, which you don't usually use smoke on, and you don't wear a full suit.

One thing I worry about with people is a lack of respect for the fact that honeybees can cause a human being a great deal of harm - even death. And you're a high-risk person.

Beekeepers and bee-lovers everywhere are working against misunderstanding and irrational fear in the general public when it comes to bees. We all need to act responsibly with our bees, and that means taking care of our own health and safety as well as that of the bees.

The last thing we all need is more "death from killer bees" stories which could easily have been prevented with proper handling.

Get a full suit - a good one. Light your smoker every time you open your hives, put your benedryl in your bee gear and have an epi-pen in a place you can get to fast.

Then worry about whether your bees are too hot and need to be requeened.

Again, not to be disrespectful. I'm sure you're a fine person. I just think you're endangering yourself. And that is bad for everyone in bees.

Adam

[Nabber86]

If I knew that I was truely allergic to bees (as in A-Shock), I think that I would start considering a new hobbie. Pain and swelling is one thing, risking your life aint worth it.

[beyondthesidewalks]

I agree with the previous posts that you need to start smoking on a regular basis and get a bee suit. The white cloth makes you less threatening to the bees and they are less likely to alarm on you. Smoke yourself before opening the hive. Avoid strong cologne and soap smells before handling the bees. Bathe with fragrantless soaps before handling the bees. I've seen them key on someones excessive body odor from lack of basic hygiene. Be careful how you breathe when handling the bees. Don't exhale out your mouth as the smell of your breath can send them into alarm. Concentrate on exhaling through your nose. Don't blow on them. Handle hive parts with slow and very deliberate motions. Try to be calm around the bees. I think they, like all other animals I've worked over the years, key on your emotions and attitude.

If you are truly allergic to bees, unless beekeeping is your lifes passion, you might do well to find another hobby. I love and enjoy keeping bees but I don't it's worth death.

[af_newbie]

Psisk
You have to respect the bees. I worked without smoke with my Buckfasts until last week when I got a "full" sting on a forehead through my suit and took 5 "secondary" stingers through the leather gloves. The reaction was very unpleasent.

I will use smoke and take every precausion I can from now on. I'm not alergic, just normal reaction I guess, but being stung on your head is very scary and can lead to dead even if you are not allergic. They have earned my attention and respect.

If I were alergic to stings like you, I would destroy this hive by burning it and take two suits while working with the other ones. Smoke them all the time!!! Period.
Plastic helmet under your suit! No excuses!

I would seriously consider giving up beekeeping if I were you.

BTW, they are mean because something is wrong with that hive. Queen lost, no room, sick etc . or just protecting the honey.

[Hokie Bee Daddy]

Agree with the above posters on gear and smoking. Also, on the breathing. I've had a cough due to allergies for a few months now and have found nothing sets them off like coughing in their hive.

If you decide to re-queen please check this site:

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesrequeeninghot.htm

This divide and conquer method makes a lot of sense to me though I haven't had to use it yet. All of those bees coming at you, "head butting", and buzzing your face can be unnerving.

PS: Thank you Michael Bush for putting all of this information out on the web.

[Katharina]

You don't have to stop having bees just because you are allergic. I would talk to an allergy specialist and start allergy shots. That way you don't have to worry about a really bad or possible deadly reaction. You will still react, but in a normal matter. My husband is getting shots for grass allergies and the insurance pays for most of it. He ends up paying like 10 dollars per month, which is worse the money. He used to pay that much on allergy drugs, which didn't even work half as good and had side effects. Our local clinic does the shots without insurance for 100 bucks per shot. Some say it is expensive, but it is also expensive to get the allergen separated and ready for for injections. The start up for allergy shots is expensive, because you need lots of shots in the beginning until you hit the maintenance phase.

[Michael Bush]

I'm not allergic and I don't open a hive without a smoker, gloves and a jacket with a zip on veil even if I might not use the smoke if I'm trying to find a queen or I might take the gloves off to catch a queen.

[applebwoi]

I opened a hive without first smoking early spring this year just for a quick look and the bees poured out and chased me around in a similar fashion as you discribed. I was convinced they were extremely aggressive. However, I went out the next day and smoked them before opening up and they behaved as perfect ladies. Ended up being one of the best hives I've had this year so like others say use smoke and suit up everytime.

[fish_stix]

psisk; AHB are a possibility but the current maps don't show your location as having them yet. If you're not going to requeen the hive then kill them. Get some drum liner bags from Home Depot and cover the entire hive, duct taping any seams. You'll need a helper because you have to pull one up from the bottom, then another down from the top. In a few hours the bees will be dead, but I leave them overnight to make sure. If you poison them or use gasoline you won't ever be able to use the equipment again. Of course, if you're not worried about using the equipment again a cup of gasoline poured in the top will solve your problem in about 30 seconds.

[Capricorn]

I hear soapy water does the trick too..

[Intheswamp]

psisk; AHB are a possibility but the current maps don't show your location as having them yet. If you're not going to requeen the hive then kill them. Get some drum liner bags from Home Depot and cover the entire hive, duct taping any seams. You'll need a helper because you have to pull one up from the bottom, then another down from the top. In a few hours the bees will be dead, but I leave them overnight to make sure. If you poison them or use gasoline you won't ever be able to use the equipment again. Of course, if you're not worried about using the equipment again a cup of gasoline poured in the top will solve your problem in about 30 seconds.

...and since you won't be using the equipment anymore if you use gasoline you might as well throw a lit match in there, too.

[beekeeper_sd]

Psisk,

With all due respect, I don't know what you're thinking.

You know you are allergic to stings, and you've got five hives, which you don't usually use smoke on, and you don't wear a full suit.

One thing I worry about with people is a lack of respect for the fact that honeybees can cause a human being a great deal of harm - even death. And you're a high-risk person.

Beekeepers and bee-lovers everywhere are working against misunderstanding and irrational fear in the general public when it comes to bees. We all need to act responsibly with our bees, and that means taking care of our own health and safety as well as that of the bees.

The last thing we all need is more "death from killer bees" stories which could easily have been prevented with proper handling.

Get a full suit - a good one. Light your smoker every time you open your hives, put your benedryl in your bee gear and have an epi-pen in a place you can get to fast.

Then worry about whether your bees are too hot and need to be requeened.

Again, not to be disrespectful. I'm sure you're a fine person. I just think you're endangering yourself. And that is bad for everyone in bees.

Adam

AMEN. Again, not to be disrepectfut but, this forum is full of people who go into a hive without smoke and then as soon as they get stung the first thing they think of is "africanized, africanized, I have to immediately requeen"! There is a reason smokers were invented and, believe it or not, they really do work without harming the bees. Come on people, use some common sense please.

[ShrekVa]

smoke helps alot ive used some tobacco on hot hives and found it helps considerably

[psisk]

This wasnt the first time this hive has exhibited hostile intent. They have gotten progressively worse since April. Just never like yesterday. They were pretty rough when I robbed them but I attributed it to defensive behaviour, but still a lot meaner than the others being robbed.

I choose to keep bees because I want to. I am also allergic to wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets and snakebite antivenom. Only time I was hospitalized was from a wasp and a snake. I refuse to live in a bubble. As long as I dont get stung too many times or get stung on the head or torso I will be fine. I carry epipens and benadryl with me at all times even when I am not working bees.

This hive came from a beek that has bees in S. Florida so the possibility exists that they do have AHB genetics.

There are no other beehives/beekeepers anywhere near me and few if any ferals due to aerial spraying for West Nile Virus. My concern is if these do have African genetics that if my bees supercede or I make splits I am propagating the genes with these drones. I am going to requeen if I can deal with finding/killing the queen. I will get a friend to help me with that.

FWIW the sting on the ankle helped my arthritis emensely.