FWIW, I'm a believer in the curative value of a well placed stinger. My hands are naturally stiff and sore from osteoarthritis and a touch of gout. Both thumbs get sore at their base. A bee sting (left to pump the full dose of venom) near the base of the thumb brings relief in 36 hours and lasts nearly three weeks.
I would expect that my immune system will need more and more venom for the same anti inflammatory response in the joints as time goes by. Working bees with bare hands, I stop taking celebrex in the summer and resume again in the Winter. Just my two cents here, but there is no doubt in my mind about this.
With my bees, its is difficult to hold a bee and make them sting a certain spot. The best method I've found (for me) is to put a couple bees in a queen muff and press my target spot against a bee as if to crush it and -BANG- it is done. A lot easier than trying to hold it with unwilling digits. HTH
I recently discovered that a neighbor just a few doors down from one of my rentals keeps bees for just this reason (an interesting old couple to be sure!!!). They have a five frame hive on the side of the house just outside of their bathroom window and a double deep on the back porch. They don't even add supers and just let them swarm (don't think I agree with them on this point though).
Yes, I have swarm boxes at my rental. It hasn't worked yet, but likely will eventually...
That's another nice thing about keeping bees: If you want to keep it "a secret" it's not to hard to hide a hive in an inconspicuous spot and nobody will be the wiser. :grin:
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