Worldwide Beekeeping
Beekeeping => General Beekeeping => Topic started by: CpnObvious on June 02, 2014, 04:55:03 pm
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Well, I got my second sting today. Hopefully this will help me learn the lesson I so desperately need to learn... SLOW DOWN! Two of the biggest reasons I decided to start keeping are to SLOW DOWN and RELAX. My life is nothing but GO! GO! GO! Bees kind of force you to slow down. You can't be rushing...
Neither sting was while I was tending the hives... just observing.
1) Yesterday I saved a been from drowning in the syrup. I was letting it roam around on my hand and all was good. When it was time to let it go, I put my finger on the edge of the hive to let it walk off. She was walking off, and then turned around and started climbing back on to my finger. I got her turned around. She was half way off and just sort of stopped. I was moving my finger to encourage her to keep going and BAM!!
2) Each day when I get home from work I go over to the hive I have here and watch them for a few. Well, it was time for me to go let the dogs out. I started to turn and felt something on my arm, in my sleeve. Rather than pause to check it, I just quickly brushed at my arm... BAM!
It's not like they haven't landed on me, roamed all over me (including my balding melon, I haven't yet jumped or been skittish. Don't know what I was thinking when I brushed at my arm. UGH!
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heheh.. making the mistake of thinking bees think like we do will get you in a lot of trouble. By all means, save the drowning bee, but consider that she is probably pretty stressed and unhappy when you do it. ;D
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Also Cpn- the stinger itself is barbed like a fish hook, you don't even have to aggrevate her to to get a stinger to let loose. She may be wondering around under your shirt sleeve totally content, then the shirt sleeve gets a little tight and presses the bee bottom down and the stinger will just grab the skin. That probably happens a lot more than we think it does. I can hold a bee in my gently closed hand and as long as her bottom doesn't back up against my palm/fingers, she and me do just fine.
Don't worry... you'll get real used to the feel of a bee that lands on you and just rests for awhile. Such a compliment! ;) 8)
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For most people the first couple of stings there is little or no allergic reaction ( it hurts, but you don't get a lot of swelling and itching). Then the next few stings you will get lots of swelling and itching as your immune system learns to react to the venom. Then, as you continue to get stings once in a while, the immune response dwindles to almost nothing. In fairly rare cases the immune response just keeps getting worse, reaching life threatening levels.
For me regular stings have been a godsend. Really helps with painful joints in my fingers.
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"Hopefully this will help me learn the lesson I so desperately need to learn... SLOW DOWN! Two of the biggest reasons I decided to start keeping are to SLOW DOWN and RELAX........Bees kind of force you to slow down. You can't be rushing... "
capn, the bees do teach us some skills or refine our 'characteristics' in many ways .......mostly with the butt end...... :D
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Hi Pete, I might have to counter your comment a bit. Being a bee venom therapist my experience with my clients is that the swelling is the worst with the first 5ish stings. And then I agree with the rest of your post. When I'm introducing bvt to a client, I tell them that the two best places to sting 'to start with' are the thighs or the back. This way the hand and feet don't get as big as a baseball glove. Then when they are past the point of swelling we go direct to the problem. Even if your injury is your elbow, if we sting on the back there will still be pain relief in the elbow because the venom goes systemic.
"For me regular stings have been a godsend. Really helps with painful joints in my fingers."
Same here, bvt has kept me walking, and working as a massage/pain management therapist. I'm ever grateful for the bees.
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Jen: I kind of figured you might correct me a bit. Certainly you have more expertise. I only have my personal experience to go by. For me the fingers are the "best" place to get stung. I get virtually no reaction and very little pain. The nose is probably the worst, but I haven't experimented much. By the way, I've been stinging my elbow. Only 4 stings over the last 3 weeks, but it seems to be helping.
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Pete - ""I kind of figured you might correct me a bit. Certainly you have more expertise. I only have my personal experience to go by. For me the fingers are the "best" place to get stung. The nose is probably the worst, but I haven't experimented much. By the way, I've been stinging my elbow. Only 4 stings over the last 3 weeks, but it seems to be helping.'
That's one of the main reasons I don't wear gloves is to get a sting or two on my hands, and the fact that I'm more clumsy with gloves. Two summers ago I put a bee every three days on a suspicious 'thing' on the back of my arm. By the time summer was over the 'thing' was gone. I've also been stinging my knees for the last couple of weeks, feeling much better and getting up and down stairs easier.
Pete- "I get virtually no reaction and very little pain"
Every body is it's own universe, and reaction varies. Nice to hear that you are getting full benefit from your bees :) 8)
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Well, I don't care what anybody says!!! :laugh:
Stings hurt! Always have, always will!
During inspections yesterday I probably took 20 plus (I don't count anymore). While the pain doesn't last long, swelling is minimal (especially in my hands and fingers) and there is almost no itching, I feel each and everyone when it happens, and it ain't pleasant.
Some folks seem to think that they stop hurting after a while, but I haven't found it so. Even after the 4th or 5th one in my thumb yesterday, I still felt them all.
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I agree. I took around 50 stings in one hand and about 20 in the other a few days ago. Hive came apart while I was lifting it onto the truck. should have strapped it better. Hand swelled pretty good and lasted a day or so. Pretty painful.
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They do hurt. Depending on where they are received, some hurt worse than others. I often dont feel the sting at all when I get it on the edge of my hand opposite my thumb, but I do feel the burn shortly there after. Squishing a bee and getting it in the fingertip probably annoys me the most. I use my fingertips for everything all day long.. Having them tight and slightly numb makes life difficult.. I'd prefer to have a lump between my eyes or my nose swollen up. I'm past the vanity stage. Being so good looking has its draw backs. 8)
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Camero7, My lower brain won't let me pick up or load a hive without it being stapled together securely ;D I don't think i've ever took over 30 to 40 stings at one time, i've read that 80 bee stings is equal to a snake bite?? I can't count the times i've been stung on the stomach by rider bees when i lift a hive onto the truck bed or trailer and the swelling hasn't gone down for several years now ???. My doctor keeps trying to put me on a diet, but i know what's causing it. 8) Doctor's don't know everything. :-X Jack
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Scott- "I'm past the vanity stage. Being so good looking has its draw backs.
Mmhmm, and what size hat do you wear? ;)
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Camero7, My lower brain won't let me pick up or load a hive without it being stapled together securely ;D I don't think i've ever took over 30 to 40 stings at one time, i've read that 80 bee stings is equal to a snake bite?? I can't count the times i've been stung on the stomach by rider bees when i lift a hive onto the truck bed or trailer and the swelling hasn't gone down for several years now ???. My doctor keeps trying to put me on a diet, but i know what's causing it. 8) Doctor's don't know everything. :-X Jack
Jeez Jack, Thank you!! I was wondering what was causing that. Now I know!!
Scott- "I'm past the vanity stage. Being so good looking has its draw backs.
Mmhmm, and what size hat do you wear? ;)
Umm.. I think its a 7 1/2... Wife keeps a lot of sharp instraments laying about to stab me with if I become over inflated..
I thought I was safe here...... :'(
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Scott- "Wife keeps a lot of sharp instraments laying about to stab me with if I become over inflated.. I thought I was safe here..
Never ;)
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"Well, I don't care what anybody says!!! :laugh:
Stings hurt! Always have, always will!"
what perry said.....
"For most people the first couple of stings there is little or no allergic reaction"
pete, i know jen already posted about this.....and just to add to her post, local reactions and large local reactions to stings are normal and not allergic reactions.
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When I was going thru my first 20 stings 4 summers ago, I was stinging my wrists and my whole arm would swell up and have hives. It was uncomfortable but not unbearable by any means.
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I'm with Perry. I don't get much swelling or itching and while the pain of the sting is not bad I still don't like it.
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Well, inspecting a coworkers hives today with the state bee inspector led to a sting in my right ear in the fourth, and final, hive... This makes 5 stings this year.
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Prior to moving the hives my 2014 sting count was 0. After the move 40+. Think I am done for this year lol
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Hey Barry, I've taken that many to be sure. Other than swarm season stings which were many, usually it's cause I brush the bee accidently and the stinger is in the way. I feel like I've cheated the bee, she didn't even get to sting me, my skin just took her stinger ~
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All in a matter of hours... l lol was feeling lousy for days afterwards, but relatively pain free, itching aside. I cheated no bees that day:)
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I remember Barry, was concerned for you ~
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Thank you Jen
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Sure :) After I got home from the cut out my friend and I did, I'm sure I took 20+ stings that day. I had to lay down a lot the next day, stay near the bathroom. Fluish ~
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Lol certainly can appreciate that, different cause right hemicolectomy
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Gesundheit ~
"different cause right hemicolectomy ?
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Lost approximately 2 foot of colon....appendix ruptured
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That happened to you?
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Appendix bust, pertinitis, got septisemia, was a few hours away from no longer being a contributor to this forum. Of course rode my cycle to work the morning after night of worshipping the porcelain goddess, actually came in early for OT, came home early feeling terrible, went to dr who said was stomach virus, but ordered cat scan ( time frame Wednesday night into Thursday, became ill, went to work 4AM home 9AM dr office 1:30 PM. Friday evening my lady and I are on phone I was sooo sick I was telling her ( Bonnie is a RN ) I was seeing stick figures everytime I closed my eyes. She insisted I cal 911 or she would. I did. Was in hospital within 20 minutes, was in surgery withinn 15 minutes of arrival.
Note: doctors office attempted to call me sometime on Friday but was so sick I missed it.
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Start a new thread Barry :hijack: would like to know more, or should I pm?
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Pm please, lol what forum appropriate for this lol
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If you want to repost this on this forum I would go to 'Any and everything'
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Appendix burst when I was 13.. almost died.. was in the hospital for about two months.. Now, about every 15 to 20 years I have to have surgery to remove the scar tissue that continues to build and blocks my intestines.. TOld the wife after the last one about 5 years ago there was NO WAY I was going to go through that again.. she just glared at me.. "Wanna bet?"
Dang women!
I gave up on counting stings.. My stupidity.... err, Tenacity and dislike for protective gear usually earns me a few "rewards".. Cut outs are always a premier event for stings.. I got a call yesterday to go look at a bee tree.. Big ol tree that got pushed over by the dozer, the hive is in the BOTTOM of the tree, part of it exposed when the stump got pushed out. THinking about trimming and hauling it complete... Try to do a BLUE and set it up correctly and see if it makes the winter. Probably get a few stings during that event as well.
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Took off 6 med. supers of honey today, temp. 97F no breeze and in direct sun :sad:. I lost count of stings i've taken in the past 50 yrs. 8), but i can add 3 more from today. ;D Jack
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Scott- "Cut outs are always a premier event for stings..
HeheYeah! no poo poo sherlock!
Hopefully you will have your minion with you for pics that day Scott.'
My bees have been so completely content this last 4 weeks or so, maybe that red hummer food is making them stoned... snort :D
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Valium hummingbird feed for bees lol
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"Valium hummingbird feed for bees lol
:D on the other hand, it could be all this smoke for the last two months.. that's probably it.
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Well... 6&7 yesterday... two in my left ring finger about 3/16" apart. I removed the cover to access the syrup jars to refill them. They weren't happy from that very moment. A few rushed my face. I had already grabbed one of the jars. As I backed away (I don't know what I was thinking) I put the jar from my right to my left hand... Yeah, forgot the jar was covered in bees. I apparently grabbed a couple and they didn't like it.
Strangely, though... I typically see to get some swelling for a few days each time I get stung. Last week's ear incident left me with a rather fat & large ear for 3 days. After getting stung in the finger yesterday, I put some anti-itch, bite & sting cream on the area. I took a single allergy pill about 30 minute later. Didn't have any swelling, any itching. Pills are 1-2 every 4-6 hours. I took one 12 or so hours later. Woke up this morning with a fat, itchy finger. I took another pill this morning.
Not sure why no reaction yesterday. I did have a couple adult beverages, though. Maybe that was it! Alcohol! I found a cure!
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A program on the weather channel caught my eye last night. The show was Would You Survive This? This episode said what to do if attacked by AHB, or as they liked to call them, Killer Bees. It was informative but so misleading. Their so called "experts" kept using the term swarm in regards to AHBs attacking. They also kept using footage of actual swarms for pictures of AHB. This would certainly cause the Average Joe to panic if they encountered a true honey bee swarm. Their recommendation, should you be attacked by Africanized Honey Bees, is to run as far and as fast as you possibly can. :yes: They did have cool footage of a stinger in someone's thumb and it was pumping like a heart beat! It was still pumping venom in! That was something new to me.
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Ya Baker, a stinger can continue to pump in venom for up to 7 hours, although it will not pump as vigorously as that first intitial sting. There is a muscle on the end of the stinger, where it was attached to the bee, that keeps working the the stinger in.
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Alcohol! I found a cure!
OK... WOOT!!!!!
I am going to use this as a QUOTE, and irrefutable PROOF that Alcohol and immunity to bee venom go hand in hand.. So that my evening RUM is a NECESSARY part of LIFE!!!
So long as I keep bees, I MUST have my evening RUM!! EVERY DAY!!!!
yes, CpnO is my new Hero!
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To add to what Jen said a fresh dead bee can also sting if you come in contact with the stinger and stick yourself.
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Yep Apis :) it's because of the barbs on the stinger, so when the barbs contact the skin the stinger pulls off and even tho the bee is dead, the muscles on the end of the stinger can still work.
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"To add to what Jen said a fresh dead bee can also sting if you come in contact with the stinger and stick yourself."
not recent, but don't ask me how i do know this is true.......... :D
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I think I have been stung by everything that flies in my area, also bitten by spiders, twice, and numerous scorpions. The most painful sting was either from one of those "cow killer" ants or a bumble bee. A honey bee sting is the least painful of all for me. The sting initially burns a few minutes, and in 30 minutes there is no visible evidence that I was stung. That being said, after reading of River's and others problems with stings, I try not to get stung. I have never been able to feel any benefit to my arthritis or other pains from bee stings. As of this moment, the benefits of apitherapy are non existent. Therefore, fewer stings are my objective.
As per sting count, I have probable been stung five or six times this year.
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Another war story...
Since we are telling war stories and baring our scars, I thought I'd chime in to report one of the dumbest (beekeeping) things I've done....ever.
It was my first hive. It needed to be moved. My neighbor and I couldn't move it until after dark -in case you don't know, its a bad time to move a hive be cause bees crawl at night. Well, the bees got a little upset and with no attempt to block the entrance, they proceeded to crawl up my arms, stinging as they went. The neighbor got a sting on his wrist. I got a tweezers and pulled it out -his entire forearm swelled incredibly big for the next few days. I counted 75 stings going up my arms and neck. Luckily, most of them were through my shirt and there were not many stingers.
I get stings every day I work the bees because of working barehand. I've enjoyed some relief from arthritis in my hands, but that relief seems to be lessening.
:)
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Salute Lazy ;) I like to hear when people make a clear decision about medicine.
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I envy those of you who can still keep an accounting (even if not totally accurate) of the stings you've received.
On my first introduction to beekeeping (summer 1972) my mentor was taking off honey and I was not properly garbed for the event. I absorbed over 100 stings that day. After I had reached a rough counting of "over 10,000", I stopped even thinking about them. That was about twenty years ago.
But Perry is right---they may not last long, but they still do sting. :'(
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I agree Ef, they do still sting.
I believe in taking a ting now and then. After reading, and talking to my doctor, I believe that there is something to building up an allergic reaction if EVERY sting is avoided completely.
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1 1/2 Stings in 4 years. I either have nice bees or y'all have mean nasty bees! LOL! Both them were this year too...one installing a Package in 48 F weather and another inspecting and that's the 1/2 cause she got my rubber glove and it just nicked my hand enough to know she tried...
Man as I type I keep seeing a lot of "Insects" Buzzing my live camera feed for the Deer in the Food Plot...better go make sure my one loaded Double Nuc didn't swarm... :o
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I didn't add number 8&9 from Monday... #8 (hive #2) - I let her suffer slowly for her death... she was out for blood. I have NO IDEA what I did to deserve getting stung in my left arm. #9 (hive #1), on the other hand, I put her out of her misery quickly... She was innocent (as with most of my stings, I was at fault). I didn't know she was walking on my shirt near my belt line, and when I bent over to put a hive body on the ground, I took one in the left side of my gut. I kind of felt sorry for her.
As far as bees being mean... My hive #3 has been exceptionally testy for the past month. I even put a veil and long-sleeve cotton gloves on Monday BEFORE going into it (I never wear anything other than nitrile gloves when I go into my hives, Yeah, picture THAT and sleep on it! :D )... and it was a darn good thing I did! Must've totaled at least 15 that I watched try to repeatedly sting my gloves. What I thought was funny, though, was that a couple of them could never get their stingers to grab into the material, so that just walked around STAB! STAB! STAB!
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use your smoker on the area you have been stung......
"Smoke can also be used to mask the alarm pheromone left after a beekeeper has been stung. Because the gland that releases the alarm pheromone is at the base of the sting, some of this pheromone marks the area where you are stung. Other bees that detect this signal (pheremone) may also sting the tagged area. Therefore, hands, clothing, and bee gloves that have been stung should also be smoked to mask the alarm odor."
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Went to a outyard yesterday, thought i would have 8 med supers of honey. but only took 4 supers. Been dry here until last week, got 3 inches of rain so maybe the aster will kick in. I paid dearly for the 4 supers, it was 92F down in a woods (no breeze) and they were mean, quit counting after 16 hits through wet jeans. Jack
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Oh yeah Jack, that's a lot of stings! Take it easy and don't be surprised if you feel a little fluish tomorrow ~ check in with us would ya? :)
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No problem here Jen, my 3 brothers and nephew just left, we play pitch ( card game) every Friday from 6:00pm to 10:00pm. Mom made us promise to stay closes net so were carrying on a family tradition, family members and neighbors always got together on Saturday nights to play pitch (5 point). my brothers and 38 first cousins played kick the can, hide and seek, ect. ate home made ice cream, watermelon, and all the cool aide you could drink This was before TV 8). I have a little itching but thats about it other than being in the loser category at the card table all night. :-[ Jack
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Good to hear your feeling okay Jack. But still check in tomorrow okay?... pretty please :D
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Extracted the 4 supers of honey yesterday afternoon (two 5 gal. buckets of honey). The itching from the stings is gone, still have honey to take off. The way customers are buying 8 to 20 quarts at a time to make sure they have a winter supply? i don't know if i will have enough honey to sell at the Fair Grove festival the last weekend of this month? Hope the bees are in a better mood when i take the rest of the honey off, i'm thinking because of the dry weather and most of the bees are home and bearding that they blamed me for all there trouble, that gave me Perry's avatar look. :laugh: :laugh: Jack