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stings

3K views 34 replies 13 participants last post by  dmacmtb 
#1 ·
Every beekeeper has that one thing the done wrong and the girls let them know it by having a sting fest on you. Mine happen to be when I had been keeping bees 2 years and I had a hot hive that was a honey producing machine. It was neeeding a couple more supers. I took the jeep out with the top off pulled up behind the hive got out. When I got ready to put the supers I had realized I had not brought my smoker or veil. I had on shorts and flip flops and no shirt. Did I mention there was an approaching thunder storm. ( I always try to live by the rule never take the lid of a hive when you wouldnt want the roof taken off your house) Any how i decided i could super it up real quick and be alright. I go the top off then the inner cover reached for the first super and thats when they got me. I took 30 or 40 stings. I took off thru a sunflower field to get them off me. so here I stand in the middle of a sunflower field stung up jeep parked 20 foot from a open hive of mad bees. I walked a big circle around the hive to get to jeep. I got to about the rear bumper and they found me again. I dove in the jeep took off and drove out of the bees. stopped and picked stingers again. Then I did what I should have done to begin with. Drive back into town and get my suit and smoker so I could button up the hive
 
#4 ·
Mine came my third year. I was used to Itialiaqns in my back yard 5 colonies worth. I could sit beside the hives with a cup of tea about any time of the day when it wasn't overcast and not be bothered. I could mow all around the hives and even open them for a peek, in fact a friend told me I had better get a veil for Kare before she got stung in the eye or some thing as she was taking pictures as I inspected them.

Well the chit hit the fan when we bought 7 colonies of SMR Carnies from a retireing bee keeper, It was April first. Billy gave me a box of strips and told me I should put them in the hives for the spring mite treatment.
I stoped at that yard on the way home with out any gear walked up to colony # 7 opened it up like I would at home and bees came boiling out. I got two strips in and shut them up with just a couple of stings. I went back to the truck and told Kare they were like a family of 14 living in a one room apartment with one bath room to share. I got two more strips and went to Colony #1 and opened them up. Again bees came boiling out but these were totally mad. they were on my neck, ears, hands and arms before I could walk around some pine trees to loose them. Kare scraped at least 30 stingers out of my skin, there were many in my clothing too.
I went home got the smoker and veil and finished the job.
I have not swelled up from a bee sting since that day.

A friend says the Carnies are friendler bees than the Itialians because the Carnies always come up and say hello and the Itialians are stand offish. We only have about 6 IItialian colonies left out of the 100+ we have.
That yard with the seven colonies we bought has been one off the best yards for over 10 years.
The fellow that owns the property on the other hand is a pistol, you never know when it is going off.

:mrgreen: Al
 
#5 ·
I've had many. Never disturb a swarm when it's below 50 degrees. 150 to 200 stings in about 3 seconds.

Never open a hive when there are thunder clouds on the horizon. Suited up that time, but hundreds of stingers in the coveralls.

Check a house for other colonies before doing a cutout. They all need to be smoked. About 200 stings a day for 4 days, until the 5th colony was found.

If a commercial beek with 400 hives gives you one because it is too mean for him to work, be sure you wear all your gear when working them. Another suit full of stingers about 6 times before the new queen's young started to control the temperament of the hive.

Just a few examples of some of the worst ones.
 
#7 ·
Well, I forgot my veil today. I went to check on the trapout. Specifically the queen cells. I put a hat on, to keep them out of my hair. I didn't even get to dig in that sucker. They came right out tagged me on the bicep and knuckle. No big deal. Then wham! I got it right on the nose! My eyes teared up and burned. I couldn't see for a minute or so. I pulled my shirt over my face, cussing, then buttoned it back up. I'll go back out tomorrow with my bee jacket! PPPPPPPTtttttttttttttt.
 
#11 ·
Monie said:
Well, I forgot my veil today. I went to check on the trapout. Specifically the queen cells. I put a hat on, to keep them out of my hair. I didn't even get to dig in that sucker. They came right out tagged me on the bicep and knuckle. No big deal. Then wham! I got it right on the nose! My eyes teared up and burned. I couldn't see for a minute or so. I pulled my shirt over my face, cussing, then buttoned it back up. I'll go back out tomorrow with my bee jacket! PPPPPPPTtttttttttttttt.

Ouch in the nose that hurts been there a couple of times. When they do that they have your blind undivided attention
 
#12 ·
Iddee, you crack me up! LOL! You are soooooo right.

sqkcrk, I like that. I'm still waiting to get "my fair share" of stings. Oddly, depending on the area, I kinda like it. God, I can't believe I just said that. I'm not even close to having wings...just peach fuzz on nubbins. lol
 
#13 ·
We went out one day the second summer that we had bees to check on the hives and see if they needed anything. We had absolutely no idea that the man who owns the field behind the bees had been running the discs behind his tractor for several hours earlier that morning. We opened the first hive and a black ball of VERY VERY angry bees a little larger than a basketball rose up outta that little white box and I swear I heard them call "charge!".

One boy started smoking that hive as fast as he could, the other boy watched in pure shock as me and Baby both managed to get our veils full of the mean little gals and ran for the woods...... with hair that went almost to our waists a veil full of bees was torture. It took hours to just get the bees off of us so we could go in. The kids were so miserable that I didn't think they would ever want to see another bee. Little Man managed to be the only one who didn't get stung.... even our next door neighbor got a few. I think me and Baby stopped counting around 50 or 60 each.

It was quite a few weeks before we learned what it was that was upsetting the bees. We were just about to give up working them because they had gotten so hot. We walked out into the garden a few mornings later to get some work done and even though it was quite a distance away the bees came to run us off. One of them flew up my nose and I was just sure I was gonna get it, all I could think of to do was blow....so I did. The little bee flew a little way out in front of me, kind of acted like she was gonna come back and try it again then zipped off outta sight.

For the first half of that summer we thought that those bees had become some kind of demon possessed hive that was out to do us in. Even walking to the car was sometimes a race. Thankfully we were able to figure it out and give those girls a chance to raise a better queen, now they are our most productive hive.
 
#14 ·
Inspected bee hives w/ a guy who had two hives whose bees met you aggressively 75 feet away. We had to put our veils on while still inside the truck. He kept them because of their production.

When Barbara and I moved from Wmsbg, VA to Shreve, OH we took our three hives w/ us. Actually my brother and I took them on a separate trip in the back of my pick up. Any way, after the hives had been in their new home for a while we found that we couldn't work them w/out getting fully suited w/ duct tape in crutial areas. I don't know why they changed so much.

Later on, I found out that the farmer next door had two hives in his corn field that he hadn't messed w/ for ages. Once I got the sticker bushes cut back enuf to deal w/ them I found out why. They were mean little buggers. I think that they may have been the German Black bee that one hears about. That would have been amazing. I never thought to ask my Professor if they were. This was back in 1984.
 
#15 ·
HaHa! sqkcrk! Duct tape. That was me this spring trying to accomplish my first split. The weather was lousy, my queen was in her little cage, but her attendants were in a paper sack with the queen cage! I was nervous about doing this correctly and worried I might lose my queen do to a lack of water, etc. After getting stung numerous times through my suit and mostly around the waist, I came in the house and duct taped my abdomen. I looked like Clint Eastwood in that spaghetti western where he has the cast iron wood stove grate hanging under his poncho.
Stings in the jugular hurt the worst. I swell up like a pumpkin.
 
#16 ·
srvfantexasflood said:
Stings in the jugular hurt the worst. I swell up like a pumpkin.
Yeah, they are pretty bad, especially if you have a beard and can't be sure you got the stinger out.

But, believe me, there are more painful places to be stung. But I won't tell you where. This is a family friendly site after all. Ooouuuch!! Almost put me on the ground.
 
#17 ·
Worst I ever got it was from some of those little black German bees. Had several hives of them but one was completely MEAN!! As Mark said they would come for you. I would have to suit up in the car because when you got out they were there and stinging you. I was glad to see them die out one year. They were so mean I was having a hard time even working my other bees.

Had a rope around a tree branch to shake a swarm loose, they were about ten feet off of the ground. I was holding a deep with one arm and the rope with the other. A big yank on the rope and the bees let go landing square on the top of my head, I was suited up but still received the wrath of stingers.

G3
 
#23 ·
You guys crack me up, it wasn't too funny at the time but all went well (yeah I went running like a screaming little girl to the house). Worked out a better war plan and went back, bees clustered back on the branch and for the second try I got a ladder and loppers. Things went much better, best I can remember that was my first swarm, and by myself to boot.

Never did see the queen that day.

Come on now, tell on yourselves!!

G3
 
#26 ·
Your butt. Is that all? Let me tell you about bees in your pants. I guess that will take a personal message. Sorry, didn't mean to get your hopes up.

Monie,
Ever heard of a smoker? :) Just kidding. I'm sure you have haerd of a smoker. :)

I just get the idea that maybe you don't use one correctly. What are the bees telling you? "Monie, you are using too much smoke. And stop dropping our frames on the ground. If you don't we will keep crawling up your pants legs and stinging you where it hurts."

Or, "Monie, where is your smoker? We don't come to your house and just rip the roof off w/out knocking first." Proper smoke use warns the bees that you are opening their house and they are then less defensive.

If all of this is old hat and you are still getting stung, sorry.
 
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