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Stings?

4K views 11 replies 11 participants last post by  Laurence Hope 
#1 ·
So beekeepers how many is the most stings you took at a visit to your beeyard or taking swarms?
Mine has been 7 thats with just a jacket taking a swarm the first time.
 
#2 ·
On a good day none; On a bad day hundreds. I wear a jacket and veil so what I am counting is the stingers left in my jeans and jacket. The hives that treated me like a bear were requeened with gentler stock. I will long remember the farmer sitting on his tractor fifty yards away busting a gut while I was covered with bees - and all I had done is take the cover off the hive, and yes I was using smoke.
 
#3 ·
Glock

Your going to really open up a can of worms on this one I’m sure. From 1990-1998 we ran around 3500 colonies in two different parts of Virginia. Most of our locations at the time were in Appomattox, Va. for Sourwood. We ran small crews and did a lot of beekeeping in those days. Getting stung was hardly even discussed. Generally it was much too hot to wear any kind of bee suit so were got used to veil and no glove conditions. Gloves carry disease so we never wore them unless we were moving hives at night or something silly like that. I can remember working several hundreds hives in a day and not taking but a few stings. Other days some yards would wear you out. We used to call it being “bee venom drunk”, and over a hundred stings a day at times was probably likely. We never counted. I’m sure many others on here know what I’m referring to. Stings came with the territory.
 
#4 ·
I do not realy mind the stings i just wonderd what some seasoned beekeepers have been hit with . I'm going into my third winter with 15 strong hives i know
this year i was hit well over 70 time but most where my fault working hives with no smoke caused most the stings and trying to mess with the hives after AUG. with out my ultra breeze Just a veil but like i said i don't mind now the ear and throat shots are bad but it's the price i pay to play with bee's. Can not wait till spring .
 
#5 ·
I wear a jacket only, no gloves. Most I took at one time was 30-35 on the hands during a cut out from a tree. (Bees don't seem to like chainsaws :)) Took 5 when I had to brush a swarm off the side of a house. Most I ever got hit while working a hive was 3.
 
#6 ·
Caught over ten swarms last spring and got stung once because I caught a bee between my jacket and my stomach. This year I was stung a total of 14 times working the hives, and that was without using any smoke.

I use gloves and a veil/jacket combo, but am hoping to have a ultra breeze type suit next year.
 
#7 ·
This was my first year and started by catching swarms from trees. Wore a veil jacket combo that's paper thin with gloves. Got stung 15 times this year, 7 from collecting a swarm after dusk, learning mistake. And surprisingly only two while saving four hives from under a tree thanks to sandy. Pretty fun year though.
 
#8 ·
First year beek here. I was not aware how the temperament of bees changes after a long dearth and the rapid approach of fall can have. I was going to perform a drench on my 4 hives, so all I had to do was remove the inner cover and spray between the frames. Pretty simple and decided not to smoke. The first 2 hives were a piece of cake (Italians). As soon as I opened up the third hive they boiled out and covered me. Got 7 stings thru my suit. But that wasn't all. My son was coming out the front door of my house (75 feet away) to go to work and they came after him. He ran to the car screaming like a girl and waiving his arms and inadvertently threw his car keys in the air while swatting at the bees around his head. In the mean time, the bees are head-butting me and just not leave me alone. I walked about 100', grabbed a garden hose and sent a heavy mist into the air around me and the bees immediately left. So I spent the next hour trying to find my son's car keys and dodging the occasional rogue bee. Needles to say my son was late getting to work and then had to explain why his face was so puffy! Oh...by the way...these were my Russian girls. Lesson painfully learned.
 
#9 ·
I don't get stung to often when working the hives.I always wear a hooded jacket no gloves and always use smoke.I did a cutout a few years ago and these bees were the most aggressive bees i had ever encountered.I took five stings to the face and around thirty to the wrist area and my suit had around two hundred stingers in it.I made the mistake of taking them home,that's when the drones mated with a young queen and they turned out to be nasty as well.
 
#10 ·
I got hit a bunch doing a cutout that required 3' comb laying up my arm like a waiter, right through the suit. After completion I had a cup of coffee and immediately got sick to my stomach. No more caffeine after stings for me. Might have got one or two all told from another dozen or so cutouts. I did cutouts @ night w/ red light. In my yard I go unprotected, no stings besides a couple stepping on w/ bare feet.
Cheers,
Drew
Oh yea, I use a little cold smoke when I inspect.
 
#11 ·
Kork and I were remembering a stinging incident just the other day. Happened back in the 80s, in the Lucas yard in Perry Mills, NY. We were reversing hives at dandelion bloom...beautiful weather, good flow on, bees in a good mood. We had two trucks in the yard, sideboards and equipment spread out on the ground. We were both in tee shirts, no veils.

The yard was almost finished, when one of the first colonies in the apiary fell over. As it hit the ground, the boxes separated and the frames spilled out across the grass. Instantly, a cloud of angry bees erupted from that hive. Did you ever ride a motorcycle? Have a stone fall off a truck up ahead of you? As you and the stone approach each other, it seems to travel in slow motion...until it hits you. Then it's going full speed...wham!

Well, those bees erupted in slow motion in, a cloud that engulfed both of us. I never had a chance to take a step in any direction. They were on me like...every inch had a stinging bee. I tried to wipe them off, and they were back two fold. We looked at each other...did you ever see horse eyes when they're freaked out. Well, Kork had horse eyes. I ran for one truck, and Kork the other. Bees filled the cab of my truck, stinging everything...in my nose, in my ears, on my face and arms.

We met down the road in a turn off and pulled stingers. I could certainly never forget how my whole body buzzed...beyond pain. Eventually, I was able to drive the hour to home, but couldn't touch anything...lean back in the seat, or put my elbow on the window opening. Just my hands on the steering wheel.

We laugh about it now.
 
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