Worldwide Beekeeping
Beekeeping => General Beekeeping => Topic started by: barry42001 on March 01, 2014, 03:05:48 pm
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there are two things that I find most disconcerting, to hear that shrill buzz and know that it's inside the veil next to your face.
the other thing is to feel something fuzzy and buzzing crawling up the inside of your pant leg.
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LOL
Once the bee is inside, Mr. Veil is no longer your friend!
Forget whose sig line that was, but I remember it.
Disconcerting, would be... sweeping a SWARM off the underside of a big branch into a BOX, and seeing the HOLE that was the hive entrance..... yes... Disconcerting.. I can only claim 38 ish stings as thats how many stingers got removed later, but I am quite sure the amount of stings was in the neighborhood of..... 3000!!!
That wasnt as bad as the time I went to take a quick look while wearing SHORTS.......
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Summertime, no veil, just a quick peek. Lifted lid, all bees content... except ONE! which shoot towards my head and landed on my nostril. I froze. 'Jen, stay calm, breathe shallow'. Too late! Shebee deftly curled her abdomen deep inside my nostril and nailed me a good one.
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Working on pulling a frame with eggs from one of my best hives to graft from, I noticed queen cells had been started. I left the top box on it's end to get a queen clip from the truck to find and catch the queen and make up a nuc with her. When I got back and went to lift the box off I picked it up upside down and promptly dumped 10 frames of bees and brood on the ground! :o
I stood there for at least a minute in shock, thinking what have I just done?
I picked up each frame with bees and checked them over and put them in the empty box. I went thru all 10 and could not find the queen. I was feeling mighty sick about it. I still had a few queen cells that I thought might be OK. I took a deep breath and started going through the bottom deep and............there she was! :) I removed her and put her in a nuc and left some cells behind to hatch out a new queen. I also snagged a good frame for my buddy Adam to graft from.
I am hoping with the new molding head cutter to make my hand holds, this mistake won't happen again. The straight dado cut handles allow you to pick up boxes upside down as well as right side up.
Live and learn. ;D
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what you don't have black arrows this side up painted on them :o
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Just how many do you want listed. as the yellow jacket that made it all the way up my pants leg while the homeowner and his wife were watching. YES, ALL the way.
The 200 stings per day when I didn't know there were 5 hives in the same wall and was smoking only the one I was removing.
The 150 stings when I scraped off a hive when it was 46 degrees.
The time I was carrying a hive in bathing trunks when the bottom fell off.
Unloading 500 hives from a semi at night, with no veil. Countless stings.
And that's just the beginning.
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Sorry, i have never made a mistake or messed up when working bees. O:-) but i do enjoy reading about other peoples mistakes. It helps me to not do those things. :laugh: :laugh: Hey perry, i've went to cleats on all my hives, the bees don't care if there home doesn't have pretty cut out hand holds, remember, old Author is going to come see you some day and lifting 40 lbs of honey with your finger tips will become very painful. :'( Jack
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I've been stung plenty here entering my third year of mellifero-wrangling, but the most disconcerting thing was having to shake out a colony with laying workings on the ground away from their hive. There was no joy in walking away from a pile of homeless blindly-meandering bees. :sad:
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great thread barry,
for me, the most disconcerting thing was experiencing anaphylaxis, and being diagnosed with allergies to all stinging insects and going through the injection therapy, but i will get there and get back into the bees.
beyond that, i don't think any of us could probably match iddee's stories, but some funny things to be told by all for the mistakes we have made or the cirumstances we were under!
i can think of helping to 'round up' package bees and hives being spilled all over the freeway after accidents.
salvaging bee hives after bear attacks with a veil and no smoker or having a smoker and no veil...... :D
moving beehives with a friend of mine in a 4 door buick, in the backseat and the trunk, and the hives came undone. we had to put veils on. hotter than a pistol, and the air condiitoning in the vehicle was out, so speeding on the interstate to get to the destination and get stopped by the state patrol....... :D
being gassed out of a vehicle moving beehives with beego spilled in it!
dropping frames of bees? tipping over a deep box? chasing a flying/running queen a time or two that flew off the frames?
leaving your hive tool in the hive to find it propolized down?
okay how about this, checking your sprayer for some sugar syrup mix to spray frames and bees, and you spray yourself in the face with it...... :D
losing bees when we have done all the right things or done our best.....
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Really Good Stories Here. I'll just stick with two hives thank you very much... :D
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Thank you Riverbee :-)
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hey your welcome barry, a great thread! some good things to be told on ourselves!
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Yeah, it's all fun until you can't see any wrinkles on your hands any more or you get up in the morning and have to let your cap out an inch to get it on your head.
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Worked the bees and all was good but one needed a super added so went back to the shed for a super by the time i got back to placing the super on top the sun
had gone down and because the hives had been calm
never tide the veil. One side of the face normal the other eye swolen shut looked like I was wearing a tumer.
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there are two things that I find most disconcerting, to hear that shrill buzz and know that it's inside the veil next to your face.
the other thing is to feel something fuzzy and buzzing crawling up the inside of your pant leg.
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To get use to the bees being in the veil and so you don't freak out. On the first hive you open find a couple of drones and place them inside the veil. It will get you use to having the bees in the veil and if a worker makes it inside you will be less likely to freak out as you will think that it is one of your fiendly drones.
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Most disconcerting huh...
I can thing of two very short replies...
1) a bee in you veil that then decides to crawl into your ear canal. that will get get your intention and the worst part is not that it stings you on the inside of your ear canal.
2) a story not to be told in that yes on occasion people die from bee stings.
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Well Apis, that's a good bit of advice.
I don't swell or itch anymore cause I use 1 preventative sting a week. Sometimes more if I have some aching going on.
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Another disconcerting happenstance is when there's not when one bee inside your veil but three or four, because you now realize that you're veil is not sealed in any way shape or form
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Question iddee... you said moving a hive in bathing trunks and the bottom fell off....which bottom???? hive or trunks
My most disconncerting thing to date was. Had a hive with an attitude, not mean but almost. Had tipped the upper deep back on edge to look into the lower box and while holding the upper box with one hand have that hand start to cramp between the thumb and first finger, before I could do anything the box I was holding slid off the lower box and hit the ground pretty hard and upset the ladies. Lucky I had a veil on but the tee shirt didn't help much. Jim
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""Question iddee... you said moving a hive in bathing trunks and the bottom fell off....which bottom? hive or trunks""
Good Question! ;)
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suspect either could be disconcerting
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Just keep guessing. :P
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I can't think of one thing that is disconcerting for me about beekeeping except for the crime of companies charging way too much for frames....
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Whaaat? Blue? you mean you don't have even one funny story? Come on.... i know you have at least one....
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My very first package installed into my very first hive seemed to go without a hitch. Installed them about 11am. No stings. Everyone happy. Off we go about our business for the rest of the day. Then about 6pm . . . Uh oh . . . I realize that I forgot to take the cork out of the candy end of the queen cage! I'm over at my parents' house, who had invited us for dinner. I'm worrying about this all evening. Next day, back into the hive, cork taken out, and all was well from then on.
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Isn't it crazy how we worry? And the bees have no idea... :D
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what really caused me to have some serious consternation when I was much younger I've always had a fascination with social insects. there was a nest of bald faced Hornets in a tree about 20 foot. I was standing directly underneath the nest watching them go about their work. it was a very large nest, maybe 2 & half feet long and about to 2 foot around. as I was watching them work I watched a golf ball disappear into the middle of the nest. I also watched the nest change from paper mache grey two black and white and then back to grey again as the black and white cloud spread out over the neighborhood. at the same time a smaller cloud of Hornets slowly drifted down from the nest towards the ground where I was standing. I just knew I was about ready to have a really bad hair day. has a spiraling cloud of Hornets got down around my knees banging against my legs they just spread out and disappeared undoubtedly looking for something to kill.
not a single sting did I get because I froze like a statue when I saw the golf ball hit the nest. Hornets are visually oriented to their target and if you're not moving you're not getting stung.
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Wow Barry! That's a good one !! I don't know if I could have stood there like that ~
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just like bees once they sting you, then you are chemically marked and now hornets now have two points of orientation to find you
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I had a couple of oops moments last year. I bought a queen (saskatraz) and decided it would be a good idea to mark her. Practiced on a few drones, but apparently not enough. When I took the queen out of the cage I fumbled and she flew up, bounced off the ceiling light and fell to the ground. Stunned, but moving, so I figured maybe she's all right. So I went to mark her with a tooth pick and some nail polish. Well the nail polish ran between the head and the thorax. She lived through all that, but the bees did her in anyway. I guess she wasn't moving right.
The other one was leaning a frame of bees and brood on some lumber beside the hive. The frame fell over on the hot smoker, melting a smoker sized hole in the frame. I didn't get stung for that one, but I deserved it.
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Maybee not disconcerting but definitely the most disgusting thing is clearing your throat and spitting a great big gob that lands on your veil that you forgot you were wearing :o
mvh Edward :P
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This is a great thread. Some of these stories have me laughing so hard it hurts, and yet, somehow some of them seem like deja vu! :laugh:
Edward, never did that in my veil, but my truck window a time or two. ;D
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Maybee not disconcerting but definitely the most disgusting thing is clearing your throat and spitting a great big gob that lands on your veil that you forgot you were wearing :o
mvh Edward :P
So it happened to others too :D Man I was so angry at myself >:( Called myself all kinds of names :D
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Without a doubt the most disconcerting thing for me was 3 or 4 of the ladies divebombing me in the face and hitting me on the jaw. My veil had dry rotted, I found out later, and when the ladies hit hyperdrive, they came straight through the veil. Very lucky that I didn't get stung. Kept my cool though as the impact stunned them long enough for me to get away from the hive and unzip the veil
I was using one of the Dadant zip on veils on which the face guard is made of all plastic like material.
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Bamabww, thanks for reporting another reason that plastic should not be used in beekeeping. :laugh: Jack
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Ed ""Maybee not disconcerting but definitely the most disgusting thing is clearing your throat and spitting a great big gob that lands on your veil that you forgot you were wearing""
LOL LOL LOL That Cuts The Cake!
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My most unsettling experience exposed my sister, a niece and myself to the wrath of a ill tempered nuc. At the mercy of others for suitable transportation to move the nuc, one can't complain too loudly if they show up to help a little late in the day. When we finally got the nuc to their new home, it was mid morning and they were most unhappy. My sister and I were fully suited up, my poor niece only had on layers of clothing. When I sprung a corner of the #8 hardware cloth they came boiling out looking for blood. They went for my face (thank goodness for a good bee suit), my sister (thank goodness for another good bee suit) and my niece. I looked up to see my beautiful niece running across the yard, all arms and legs, long braided hair flying in the wind, and stripping as she ran. On the top, she got down to her underware before she reached a spot where they had quit chasing her. It seems a couple of bees had gotten down her shirt. She had 3 stings, but no significant reaction. I had been popped on the same ear 3 times and looked like a boxer, and my sister got stung on the same ankle 4 times. My sister had a pretty severe reaction, missed work, and gave her bee suit to my niece, thus ending her bee wrangling days.
We could have waited until later to spring the #8 hardware cloth, but being stubborn and wanting to get the job done without a second trip out to this location, I released them while still mad.
My poor niece had just recovered from running over a yellow jackets nest with the lawn mower only to be nailed again. Her husband was less than sympathetic. I went out and purchased boots and a head band to pull down over my ears to wear while working bees.
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Baker- Good story. It's one thing when you get yourself into a stinging pickle, but when you unintentionally bring others down... well that's not a good day. Glad all survived regardless
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My son had a similar experience and to this day (years later) won't come out to the bees with me unless he can stay in the truck (with the windows rolled up). :sad:
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lol, when I was married I took my ex wife out to the bee yard, had 10 hives. All deeps, 4 stories. are they took the inner and outer cover off, and making sure to give specific direction as to not stand in front of the hive, she looked down between the top bars all you could see was back to back rows of little black heads looking up. I think the quote was " ohh heck no " ( well not precisely lol )
as she fled the area. the bees were not being aggressive at all, I guess the thought that she was outnumbered 30,000 to 1
didn't appeal to her lol
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:D :laugh: ;D what a great thread ;D
thanks for sharing everybody.
The spitting thing, you only do it once >:(
mvh Edward :P
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If something gets in your mouth, your first impulse is to spit it out.
While wearing my bee bonnet, my brain knows it's a bee.
LMAO Edward!
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Baker if you didn't release the bees but had them in the sun they could have perished due to heat and lack of ventilation. Although setting them down and letting them settle from the moment for 15 minutes and a little smoke to get them turned around to To fill they honey stomachs before prying off the screen would have gone a long way in keeping the bees calmer.
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These stories remind me of an old Will Rogers quote: "some men learn by reading, some men learn by observation, the rest have to urinate on the fence."
I have one hive of very gentle bees. It was not uncommon to work these bees with no protective clothing. I was looking in their top box one day and dropped a frame. Those nice gentle girls stung me 11 times before I could get the hive back together. Note to self: Wear protective equipment when handling very domestic bees.
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the rest have to urinate on the fence.
BUT.. only when there are people watching as he yells, falls down and pees all over himself!!! Not... that.. I ever did that.. I learned from watching..........
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Just make sure the fence doesn't have an electric fencer hooked up to it.
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While working my bees one day i had my shirt come untucked and one of the sweet ladies decided to go down into the rear of my pants and as my hands were full tried to remain calm and set the frame down .I slowly lowered my pants as she made her way forward just as i was exposing the situation she stung me where no man should ever bee stung. Thankful no one was around to see the show!
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While working my bees one day i had my shirt come untucked and one of the sweet ladies decided to go down into the rear of my pants and as my hands were full tried to remain calm and set the frame down .I slowly lowered my pants as she made her way forward just as i was exposing the situation she stung me where no man should ever bee stung. Thankful no one was around to see the show!
OK, you win this thread as the most disconcerting thing to happen. Bummer dude.
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debated since i first saw this thread if i would tell that story. Had to figure a way to tell it without getting kicked off the forum.
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Rod- ""she stung me where no man should ever bee stung""
Slowly shaking my head in pure sympathy. You Win
I will refrain from comment to maintain my lady-like decorum - eh hem
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:D :laugh: :D
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Jen,
not making any assertion, but in fact you did not refrain...and you still manage to maintain your lady like decorum lol.
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rodm~
"While working my bees one day i had my shirt come untucked and one of the sweet ladies decided to go down into the rear of my pants and as my hands were full tried to remain calm and set the frame down .I slowly lowered my pants as she made her way forward just as i was exposing the situation she stung me where no man should ever bee stung. Thankful no one was around to see the show!
debated since i first saw this thread if i would tell that story. Had to figure a way to tell it without getting kicked off the forum."
well rod, this was an unfortunate experience and brave of you to share the story, but really, i think there are many more guys who have experienced the same, and i know of one or two female members having had the butt end of honey bee on an anatomical part of the body that is not pleasant. just say it the way it is my friend! sure would have loved to have seen the dance though....... :D
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No, don't wish i could have seen it, but I am pretty sure that HOWL I heard some time back was him!
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I can imagine the vocabulary!! :D
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You win Rod. Jim