How do you train yourself not to jolt when you're stung?

[clumsy red bear]

I am a newbee. I built a kenya top bar style hive, caught a swarm in early May. I have just gotten my first sting and now I can't find my bread knife. I was fumbling around, she got under my jacket cuff and stung me on the back of the hand. I have tried to be pretty careful but now there are tons of bees, hive doing pretty good so far and they are getting a little buzzy protecting their honey. I do NOT want to drop a bar of bees so how do you stop yourself from jerking? Just get used to it I guess? I put on my gloves for the rest of the inspection but I don't like em.

[JRG13]

Here's what I'd do... start donating blood... don't watch when they stick you and practice not flinching....

[Riskybizz]

Welcome to the world of keeping bees red bear, and getting stung from time to time is part of the business. I usually work my bees on Saturdays because I work full time during the week. Sometimes I get stung a few times, sometimes a lot more than once. Rarely do I not take any stings. I think it's all in your perception and how you approach it. I threw away my pair of leather gauntlet gloves years ago and never wore them since during routine management. I didn't like wearing them because they were restrictive, and I didn't feel natural wearing them. Not wearing them has made me a more careful beekeeper. I know lots of people wear them and cover up from head to toe and thats fine by me. Whatever works for them. For me its not a macho thing to get stung or not to get stung. We used to work our commercial operation all day every day all summer. Yes we got stung a lot and after awhile you don't really even think about it. If your not going to wear gloves think about a few things before opening up your colony. Pick a good day to inspect. Not too cold, windy, cloudy, storms approaching; or too late in the day when all the foragers have returned. Work them carefully, slowly, and use the smoker correctly. Try not to squish bees, remove frames carefully. The more you do it the better you'll become. Don't think about stings, think about why your doing your inspection. If you get strung scrape off the stinger and continue. If the hive gets too cross there is always a reason. Close them up and inspect them another day. A lot of the time when I get strung its my own fault because I wasn't being careful. You can always have a cross hive but you'll know the difference when you run across one of those. Good luck.

[Deamiter]

You've already resigned yourself to getting stung. You know it isn't that bad, and that you'll only get stung once per bee (so slapping at it won't help unless there's two in your pants and you think you can get the second one).

I got over the worst flinching by simply letting myself get stung. Go out without gloves, and work the hives calmly, and when you get stung, just calmly continue working the hives. You'll probably get stung again. Scrape of the stinger and continue as long as they're not buzzing around angrily (pick another day or another hive).

I still tend to flinch when bees crawl onto my fingers the first few times it happens in a day -- It's annoying as heck, but I just stick my hand near some calm bees, let them walk on my hand a bit, and the jerking gets less reflexive. "feeding" the girls honey on your finger is a lot of fun and similarly seems to help me stop flinching.

I think it's just a matter of practice. Your body will flinch when it feels something it doesn't like and doesn't expect. The more you get stung, the less it will surprise you, and the less you'll flinch. Unfortunately, that means you have to get stung a lot to stop flinching, but you're already used to that idea!

[wadehump]

get old and have leather skin doesnt hurt as much that way

[Beregondo]

Practice.
i.e., get stung more.

[clumsy red bear]

Here's what I'd do... start donating blood... don't watch when they stick you and practice not flinching....

Well...today I had to have a cortisone shot for a cyst in the palm side of the stung hand. That hurt way worse than the sting and I made myself sit there without flinching, so I guess I am being trained

Thanks all for experience and tips. I do think maybe my inspections take too long. Great idea about the feeding and letting em crawl on me, I haven't done that. I need to stop twitching when I feel little feet. I am the kinda girl who tends to jump and screech at spiders, especially if they hang off my hat in front of my nose. I am trying to cure it hahah. Old leather skin? I'm afraid I am tending toward the tissue paper old lady skin arrrgh!! And yeah practice, practice ....I guess I'll just keep at it :P

[rwurster]

I know its going to happen so when it does, regardless if there's a frame or a full box in my hands, I work through it until the task is done. Then, if I have to, I'll walk off and scream until it hurts no more.

[rtoney]

Just pulled some honey from a hive we bought last week that no one had been in for a couple of years. Worked without gloves until one got me in the fore finger of my left hand then the glove went on. Next one was in the soft tissue between the thumb and pointing finger and last of all was in the eye brow when one got under the net. Went home and worked a couple of top bars no gloves and no problems but I flinch everytime and say ouch ouch ouch and then keep working.

[Aerindel]

I think the flinch reflex may be built into some people. You may not be able to train it out because it doesn't occur on a conscious level and because it happens unexpectedly you can't brace yourself for it.

You could try mediating in some manner before opening your hives. Perhaps if you can enter a detached state of mind it will help. Remember that your body is just a vehicle that your mind is steering. Imagine that your sitting in your house controlling a human shaped robot that you watch on TV. The robot may get stung from time to time but since its not you there is no point in flinching.

Or there is the desensitization route. If you have kids give them paper clips and tell them you want them to stab you with them whenever you aren't looking and that if you flinch they get to do it again. Eventually you'll either lose your mind or stop flinching.

[Ben Brewcat]

You know, I probably shouldn't share this, but I'm a flincher. After years and prolly thousands of stings, I still flinch occasionally even for a hard headbutt... I'm just programmed for it. Mostly I don't, but it's just from practice. The really helpful experiences were those rare days when the girls are just hating you and you get all tagged up. The first one of the day is always the hardest .

[psfred]

I have biting flies this time of year, and house flies all the time, so I'm used to things walking on me. I find if I stop thinking about getting stung and concentrate on no squishing bees while moving frames I'm fine. I do wear gloves, but that's as much to keep the propolis off my hands as to keep me from getting stung, although I really dislike stings to the fingers.

I also spend a bit of time watching them at work instead of doing anything useful (bad habit I've never gotten rid of), and after the first dozen or so crashing into me or bouncing off the bill of a cap into my face and flying off, they don't bother me much. Quite often in a heavy flow you will get one crash into you and hold on for a bit to get up the gumption to fly the rest of the way to the hive, just like the ones that slide off the landing board. If you don't squeal and slap at them, they fly off on their own. Once you get used to the tickle of them walking on you, it's OK.

I had a spider "help" me crush grapes last weekend -- stinking thing kept trying to hide under my T-shirt collar while I was working, so I eventually went in the house and got my bee brush and flicked him off. Eight tiny feet wandering around was annoying, but I was more worried about squeezing it and getting bitten

You can also let one land on you on a really sweaty day and lick up sweat, it's fun to watch and they are quite harmless so long as you don't squeeze them. Do that, or feed them some honey on your finger, and you get used to the sensation and can ignore it.

I got stung in the belly last time I did an inspection, the super I was picking up was lighter than I thought and I think I pinched a bee with it. Never did find a stinger on the shirt, so I may have just stuck the stinger in myself rather than actually getting stung. Not a big deal, burned a bit but not as bad as last year. I'm finding that I get a slow burn rather than a sharp spike of pain these days, must be worn out nerves, eh? Nothing like a wasp sting, anyway, and those I can ignore for the most part.

Peter

[Mike Gillmore]

I guess I'm in the same category as Ben. I flinch sometimes when the sting is completely unexpected. It's in that very short period of time, between when my brain first senses the pain and I realize it's only a sting, there's that automatic split second flinch.

If I am giving myself stings for joint pain relief, and I know it's coming, there is no flinch reaction at all. It's only when I don't see it coming. I guess it's the same kind of involuntary reflex reaction that may occur when being bitten by a mosquito or horsefly.

[johng]

Knowing your going to get stung and knowing it is really not that bad helps some. The anticipation for me was worse than the sting turned out to be. But, the alternative of dropping the frame and getting several more stings will help you hold on to it.

[mhorowit]

Well...today I had to have a cortisone shot for a cyst in the palm side of the stung hand. That hurt way worse than the sting and I made myself sit there without flinching, so I guess I am being trained

Thanks all for experience and tips. I do think maybe my inspections take too long. Great idea about the feeding and letting em crawl on me, I haven't done that. I need to stop twitching when I feel little feet. I am the kinda girl who tends to jump and screech at spiders, especially if they hang off my hat in front of my nose. I am trying to cure it hahah. Old leather skin? I'm afraid I am tending toward the tissue paper old lady skin arrrgh!! And yeah practice, practice ....I guess I'll just keep at it :P

I was greatly relieved to recognize that if the girls or I was getting testy, that there was nothing keeping me from covering the hive with a sheet/drop cloth , stepping away, getting a glass of water and coming back in :10 -mike

[clumsy red bear]

Well today the knife has been found 15 feet away in the tomato patch... Next time I guess I will grin and bear it....

Gotta add I love all the new replies, thanks!

[clumsy red bear]

Knowing your going to get stung and knowing it is really not that bad helps some. The anticipation for me was worse than the sting turned out to be. But, the alternative of dropping the frame and getting several more stings will help you hold on to it.

Yeah I think the anticipation is worse too. And with my luck the one I drop would be the one with the queen on it....

[postie]

I'm a new beekeeper as well...went the entire summer without a sting. I walked out one day to do nothing other than lift the outer cover to see if my bees were drawing out any comb in a super. I accidentally put my hand down on a bee and got my first sting. I definitely flinched and I turned and walked away slowly for a few moments (to gather my thought and let the bees do the same...lol). I have a pretty sever local reaction to bee stings but not the true allergy of throat closing and dying. The bees weren't bothered at all after I stepped away a few feet and it was totally my mistake for not looking where my hand was going.

One thing I use is the kitchen type of latex gloves rather than the big, bulky standard bee gloves. The bees could sting right through these but they would have to really nail you pretty hard to do that. I have never had any problem working the bees with the lighter gloves and it gives me a better feel for doing things. They are a little hot to work in with hot weather, but that's all. Good luck

[Lburou]

I don't know whether I flinch or not, but sometimes it really hurts

With practice, you can inhibit some of those sudden flinches, but it is pretty basic to our humanity, and very normal.

I go out there to play with the bees and leave my hands bare to collect a sting now and then for arthritis relief. I know in advance that I might get stung, but I know too that I can take a sting or two in stride. I let them choose the time and place....

[mmmooretx]

I flinch some but am getting used to it, newbee this year. Probably my worse one is when I first started using the nylon "medical" gloves and got stung in two finger tips (opposite hands) as I picked up a frame without checking for bees under the ends of the top bar. I flinched, dropped the frame, 1" and got two more, one on each wrist above the gloves. I am learning fast and flinching less.