The stupidest thing I did while beeping was...

[Mike Gillmore]

Got a couple of good belly laughs watching that one Gary. Thanks!!

[cerezha]

Well
Before I learned anything about bees, swarm come and I collected it into the cardboard box since it was in the way of my car and needs to be relocated anyway. The idea of having bees was very appealing. So, I build a Kenyan hive in sort of emergency. Wait to the darkness and dump bees into the hive. No protective gear of coarse since I was busy making a hive. The place for hive was chosen with love - under gigantic deodor-tree (spell? sort of pine). I drop "empty" box on the ground and immediately discovered (surprise!), that it was not empty yet - most of the bees were still clustered in the box. When I drop the box on the ground, bees fell out and mixed with pine-needles AND ants. Complete mess, at night in the spot of the small flashlight... so,I scoop bees-needles-ants and add them to the hive, close the lid and left completely stressed out. I felt, I am a serial killer. Bees suffered for a week or so and finally left. It initiates my interest to the bees and lead to 6 mo deep study of the subject before the second attempt. It is very sad story and I still feel very bad about it. Sergey

[jadell]

Jadell, I am sure they were just miffed you didn't share the homebrew. I brew myself. You have anything going now?

Not right now, just finished off a keg of my wheat ale. Too busy and hot here in the summer to really brew much!

[cerezha]

where is sergey when we need him?

I've created a real piece of ESL writing about my first swarm experience, but somehow it disappeared (am I censored out?)... I need to get into proper mood to re-write it... --- oooo, it is appeared - see above!

Speaking about burns. I had an accident at the wedding - first we finished 40 bottles of Sonoma County Champagne and than we were working very hard to finish the keg of beer... never mind, it is unrelated to the story. The story was that 100 sparklers I hold in my hand somehow self ignited! No flame anywhere around. It happened on the grass, no fire etc. So, anyway, I just saw a ball of bright light ... and 3rd degree burn... Since it was in the middle of good time when people finally relaxed and enjoyed the life, I've pretended that nothing happened for couple of hours (secretly kept hand in the ice) before we get to our place. Than I applied a huge amount of propolis tincture on the burn. I repeat it a few times... create a bandage soaked in propolis. It looked horrible... my wife nearly lost her consciousness (mainly realizing that I had good time with it at the wedding for couple of hours...). One week later - no scars, nothing - perfect normal, not pinkish skin. Be aware: propolis is a great stuff! If you need instruction how to use propolis - let me know. In Russia, it considered to be medicinal and you could buy it in the drug-store (or made it himself). Sergey

[Batman]

Let's see:

I was so use to my smoker not staying lit long (like other people) and there wasnt a hint of smoke coming out of it, so I set it down on a friends wooden railing. 20 mins later the smoker was working GREAT, oh wait, no it wasn't, it was the railing! Oops!

Another one. I've taken pleanty of swarms down with minimal gear on. Well this one call I got, the swarm was about 35 feet up in the air, so since I was going to be so high in the air, I wanted no obstructions what so ever, so I went jacketless, which also included my veil. Ok so I was in shorts too, what's your point? The guy sees me and is like "aren't you going to put on some gear?" Straight out of a movie or perhaps a future Darwin award candidate, I said "na, I've done this like this many times before." I think the bees heard me and said "watch this!" Anyhow, I get up there, cut the branch and it lands in my bucket. Well, the bees didn't like the jolt of landing in the bucket, next thing you know, I'm under attack. I don't start climbing down the ladder, I slide down the rails of the thing like I was racing someone else! About 10 feet from the bottom, I jump off. While still under attack, I hit the ground and roll..pop back up and run out of the backyard and down the street. Ten houses later there is a guy washing his car, thankfully he was scrubbing it at this time. As I rapidly approach, I yell "I need your hose!!" He agreed and I started a shower above myself to knock down the bees and keep them at bay. After being completely drenched and not hearing anymore of the angry buzz. I head back down to the house with the bees. I got in my truck and put pants and my jacket on. It was really cramped trying to get changed in my little nissan and pants don't slide over wet shorts very easily when you don't have room to stretch. Since it was just about dark by this time, the bees had started to settle in the bucket quickly. So I sat around and talked with the people at the house while they got a good laugh, at my expense, out of everything that had just happened until it was dark and the bees were completely settled.. I went over put my screened lid on the bucket and loaded up my equipment. The nice people said they enjoyed the entertainment and gave me $50 for the "show" as they called it. I got home and tell my wife about my "adventure" and she gets a good laugh out of it and counts 22 stings in my head alone. I had more on my arms and shoulders, but it wasn't bad. I only had like 2 on my legs. I got to bed that night and EVERY joint hurt. My wife said every time I rolled over, I groaned in my sleep. The next morning, one eye is shut, and I look like Popeye except for the size of my head, maybe I was just someone that should not have climbed in the ring with Rocky for one round. The bees were successfully rehoused from the bucket into a hive, but I'm sure they are still telling bedtime stories to the brood about how they came to be in their new house.

C2

[Batman]

Oh and by the way. I don't start messing with swarms without a veil until AFTER I've got and idea of what their demeanor is. I'll go without gloves from the start, but never without a veil.

C2

[keeper]

I sure hope "beeping" isn't the new "keeping". Calling someone a "keeper" is bad enuf, but a "beeper"? lol

Umm... I kinda resent that.

[sqkcrk]

What can I say, that wouldn't further offend? lol That's a different Thread, beeper.

[keeper]

No worries.

I have read in older posts by you about your aversion to being called a "keeper". It is just a regional thing. Other parts of the world think calling ones self a "beek" is stupid too. And referring to ones self as a keeper is common practice.

[bluegrass]

Okay I give in.

About 4 years ago I was the proud father of a newborn son. We still lived in KY at the time and it was early May. I had a hive in VT that needed to be re-populated so I decided to take the opportunity of our son's first trip back to VT to also re-populate the hive with a nuc I had in KY. So I put the nucleus into a cardboard nuc box, tapped up the seams and slipped it into the trunk of the car with our luggage.

We always left KY in the middle of the night in order to arrive in VT about dinner time the next day. We did the same thing this trip so it was dark until we reached the Ohio/PA boarder. I was driving as usual, my wife in the passenger seat and our son in his rear facing car seat in the back. As the sun started to come up I noticed in the rear view a few bees walking around on the rear window.... No big deal, probably just followed us into the car.... As time past I started to notice bees climbing out of the rear defroster vents in the car and now there were maybe 50 in the rear window just walking around. No problem.

Then my wife wakes up and turns around to check on our son She looked up at the window and then at me and states. "You better find a way to contain those bees or I will make you pull over and put that nuc on the curb", "and if it comes to that you are staying there with it".

So if anybody ever finds themselves in a similar situation: It looks kinda odd when a grown man is waiting at the door of a Jo-anne's fabric at 10 am when they open... and buys 3 yards of tulle.

[dnichols]

Couldn't resist could ya. Ok now I know why...

Thanks for playing.

[bluegrass]

Couldn't resist could ya. Ok now I know why...

Thanks for playing.

The issue is trying to figure out what the stupid*ist* thing is. I have lots of stupid acts competing against each other

[bevy's honeybees]

I sure hope "beeping" isn't the new "keeping". Calling someone a "keeper" is bad enuf, but a "beeper"? lol

Personally I like when my honey calls me a "keeper".


I have another one--don't melt beeswax in microwave.

[bluegrass]

I have told this story before, but it is worth repeating. I was doing a cutout in a house which had a stone facade. When you do a lot of cutouts they begin to blur in your mind, but then every now and then something happens that makes one stick. You will remembers the Day, how hot is was, the faces of the people who were there and even the street address.

So in this particular house I was working from the inside because of the stone work. I covered their living room floor with plastic, sealed the door with plastic so the bees could not fly into the rest of the house and began removing the sheet rock. I found the colony quickly and started the removal. The woman was a house wife and had a son and daughter at home with her. They kept peaking in the frond door to see how things were going. After awhile they got more comfortable that the bees were not going to attack them and came all the way in to watch.

Anybody who has ever done a cutout from the interior knows that the bees fly into the room, bounce of off the windows for awhile and then get tired and end up walking all over the floor. So I usually tuck my pants into my socks but for what ever reason I didn't on this day. I was nearing complete and getting ready to clean up when I felt a bee climbing up my leg. I don't really worry much about a stray bee in my suit so I kept working. But then I felt the bee climbing up the inside of my thigh.

I stopped and waited for it to crawl somewhere else so as to not crush it and get stung. I contemplated smacking it, but decided against doing so because of the audience I had. They just watched as I stood perfectly still. Then the very imaginable happened and it wasn't one of those little stings that you hardly feel and just scrape out and keep going. It was one of those she got a good grip and stung you good stings, The ones that if you don't get the stinger out you are going to die.... You all know those ones.

So without a second thought I stepped out of my suit and pants and stood there in their living room in my shirt, socks and underwear scratching feverishly with a hive tool at my crouch. Trying to get the stinger out without completely exposing myself, but not really caring if I did.

My audience I am sure was horrified... but I was too busy to notice.

[lissa]

propolis is a great stuff! If you need instruction how to use propolis - let me know. In Russia, it considered to be medicinal and you could buy it in the drug-store (or made it himself). Sergey

Hi Sergey,
I am interested in knowing more about propolis and its uses and how to prepare it for use. Please post. Thanks!

[cerezha]

Hi Sergey,
I am interested in knowing more about propolis and its uses and how to prepare it for use. Please post. Thanks!

Hi Lissa
I am not sure that this thread is proper place for propolis, but, anyway... I love propolis!

Most common form of "medicinal" propolis is a tincture: 2-5% propolis in 70% alcohol (ethanol). It must be dark brown and has a distinctive odor. In order to make it - just mix small pieces of propolis with alcohol and keep it in dark place for month or so, room temperature. Decant clear solution from the debris at the bottom. Store at room temperature ... forever. Avoid direct light. Note: I noticed that American beekeepers (at least in our place) do something wrong with propolis - they sell black oily liquid, which in my opinion is anything but real propolis. In Russia, raw propolis sold in the form of "sticks". It has a consistency of thick clay and it is very sticky. It smells specifically. So, for my personal use, I would collect a real propolis from the beehive. I guess, the property of propolis depends from the trees/plants used for sap collection by bees.

Propolis normally used externally as an application on the skin. It has an antimicrobial, an anti-inflammatory properties. It reduces pain. It forms a barrier, which is breathable from one side and antimicrobial from another, it accelerates the healing process. It also reduced inflammation and helps with any kind of skin damage (abrasion, burns etc). In Russia, we often use propolis tincture to treat mosquito bites... any minor skin damage. When use propolis externally - do not place propolis directly on open fresh bleeding wound. Stop bleeding first (hydrogen peroxide is perfect for this), dry; soak small piece of gauze in propolis, let alcohol dry a little bit and apply to damaged area; fix it in place with sport tape. You could use propolis as a "glue" on small cuts. Since propolis is not solvable in water, the gauze will not stick to the wound, less pain and better healing.

My personal sunburn recipe: to 1-2 tablespoon water add 70% propolis tincture drop-by-drop until solution in cloudy-milky-yellowish; not transparent. Apply this solution on sunburn generously many times - it will prevent skin from peeling and immediately removes inflammation.

Use soaked in propolis gauze for burns - make sure that the whole affected area is covered with propolis, keep propolis application for at least 5 days (more is better), frequently change. Propolis will also reduce a pain and prevent scar tissue firmation.

I never used this way, but heard that weak propolis in vodka used internally for general "well being". Color must be yellowish, not dark, 1 teaspoon per dose. It suppose to help with digestive tract also. For this, experienced Russian beekeepers use sort of "leftovers" - small pieces of propolis, dead bees, beehive junk... more junk is better. Mix with vodka and let it sit for month. Drink for your and others health!

Disclaimer: Use propolis at your own risk. First time - use a little to make sure that you have no allergy to it. I am not a medical doctor. Propolis is recognized as a medicinal by Russian official medicine - it may be purposed in the drug store (no prescription necessary). I am not aware what is the status of propolis in US. I would imagine that it is forbidden in official medicine, since antibiotics are better than propolis (and more expensive).

Please, let me know if you have further questions. Good luck! Sergey

[RayMarler]

I was moving a pallet of 4 hives from one field to another with my tractor on the front forks. I'd not strapped the hives or pallet to the forks, and I hit a pock hole in the field. The pallet tipped and hives fell off and boxes broke apart from each other and so 4 hives of bees became irritated and airborn. My first response was to jump off the tractor and fix the problem, forgetting I was not wearing suit or veil. I got hit pretty good, and had to stop and get my suit out from the tool box under the bed of the truck and suit up. I got them all back together and moved to their new location, but got 30 stings or so before I got the suit and veil on.

Another time I was getting a swarm out of a tree, wearing safety glasses for protection. The glasses were not tight fitting enough and a bee got caught between the glasses and my eyes, she stung me. Now-a-days I wear nice tight fitting glasses they can't get under, so they go for the nose instead.

I had a 5 gallon bucket of honey in the house, in the pantry, and the honey gate failed and dumped 5 gallons of honey onto the carpet. Now there's new carpet in the pantry, and no honey bucket, just sealed jars of honey.

[BoilerJim]

WOW guys!!!

Remind me to be no where around when Mark is behind the wheel and decides to back up !

Hokie Bee Daddy, I did the exact same thing last year but was lucky my floor was hard and not carpet. Cleaned up quicker. I fed the dropped honey back to the bees.

Throrope has a wonderful way with words. "Biker Babes smoking Lucky Stikes" is great!

And I am still laughing at the mental image of Bluegrass scratching his crotch with his hive tool after being stung.

My story is from a swarm call this summer. I work as a police officer and was off duty when a buddy called and says he has a swarm in his yard. I drove my squad over to his house. I sprayed the 3 lb swarm with sugar water before "thumping" them into a cardboard box. After they were in the box I duct taped the box shut. NOT realizing the sugar water also got onto the box and the duct tape did not stick very well. At least not until I was driving home (about 20 miles in the country).

Well you guessed it. The tape came off and out come hundreds of bees and they are clinging to the back and side windows.

I pull up to some road re-paving and they had a flagman out and he flagged me to stop. After I stopped I rolled down the back passenger side window of my squad car and out flew a few hundred bees.

I will NEVER forget the look on the flagman's face! It was hot and he looked like he had had a long hard day and his back was slouched over. When he saw hundreds of bees coming out of the back window of a police car his back straightened up, his eyes got as big as silver dollars, he got on his hand held radio and within a few seconds was flagging me through. I can't even imagine what was going though his mind at what he
was seeing.

[zookeeper]

I've learned that it's not a good idea to reach into your solar melter and rearrange cappings with a bare, ungloved hand....even if the melter's only been sitting in the sun for a few minutes. They heat up FAST!!!

Don't ask me how I know.

[sqkcrk]

WOW guys!!!

Remind me to be no where around when Mark is behind the wheel and decides to back up !

Well, the Thread Title is "The stupidest thing I did while BEEPING was ..." THose bee should have gotten out of my way, but I guess they didn't hear the "beeping".