Getting Grumpy in my old age

[Lburou]

.... Sometimes my BeeWeaver's sting you when you are 20 feet from the hive.....

Its just your magnanimous personality Lazy   

[Jen]

AND! How about the sting that is unexpected such as having your arms up holding a frame, checking the frame out, lowering your arms to gently return the frame, and WHAM! you get it in the arm pit because YOU mushed the bee, not because the bee was aggrivated ~ 

[brooksbeefarm]

I learned to respect bees at an early age, robbing bee trees in the winter along the river with my dad and uncles. The bees i learned later was the German Black bees (i don't need to say more). My protective gear was a straw hat, mosquito net from army surplus,flannel shirt, overalls, combat boots, and brown cotton gloves. The Devil bees had a field day, grandad keep some in hives also, when my barber told me how gentle his bees were i didn't believe him,he took and showed me and got me to order some from Sears & Roebuck, they were the Midnight bees (tec said he may have been the one who filled my order?), i've had bees since from 1965 till now, i have never worked bees without a veil, but have raised lids without a veil for a quick peek when i thought something was wrong. Now that i'm older and smarter (never laid a super up side down) .i wear a veil, jacket and goat skin gloves and always have a lit smoker, there have been times i never took a hit for weeks at a time working bees. My thought is, why take a chance getting stung when you can prevent it (most of the time) Jack

[riverbee]

I learned to respect bees at an early age...........I have never worked bees without a veil, but have raised lids without a veil for a quick peek when i thought something was wrong. Now that i'm older and smarter (never laid a super up side down) .i wear a veil, jacket and goat skin gloves and always have a lit smoker, there have been times i never took a hit for weeks at a time working bees. My thought is, why take a chance getting stung when you can prevent it (most of the time)

........
never laid a super upside down jack?!......................

[Marbees]

Yes Jack, always practice a safe beekeeping 

[LazyBkpr]

   I think someone said comfort level somewhere here...  Thats a big thing..  If you DREAD going out to the hives how can you stay interested?  A new beekeeper that gets stung half a dozen times is NOT going to be happy about opening the hive again.. then of course, you have the folks that dont have enough brains to be afeared of gettin stung...





   Getting stung was a normal thing for me. I never considered going to work for my one day a week job as a kid that I would go home without being stung..  I will freely admit, that when I started looking at bee magazines, I was astonished by the stuff available..  I ordered Ultra Breeze suits, because of the protection they offered. CONFIDENCE is a good thing to have.  No, I still dont put the hood up very often, but I have it there if I need it, and that IS a comforting feeling..   A new beekeeper needs to have that confidence..  Let them try to be macho if they wish, so long as they have the gear, because the bees will teach them sooner or later!

[Jen]

See how Scott smokes himself before and probably during his inspections? It works! This is what I do and it works for me ~

I start out and usually finish my inspections in a tank top with a ball cap and head veil that is pulled taut an the base of my neck. Before I put the veil on I buff my arms, chest and neck with my homemake propolis tincture. When I open the hive I smell exactly like the hive. The bees are curious about me and land on my arms and chest and groom themselves and are peaceful. I love when they land on me and stay for awhile, it's the greatest compliment the bee's can give me. Usually about 1/4 of the way thru the inspection I curl the veil up onto my ball cap and don't need it. Buuut once in awhile I get a bee that is too curious around my face and I can pull the veil right back down.

However, this summer during a drought and dearth, the bees were agitated, once I take 3 or more stings I go get my bee shirt on so I'm comfortable finishing the inspection.

[efmesch]

Well, Jack, while I slept the night through on this side of the pond, the "votes" seem to have come in unanimous agreement in your favor.
Perhaps you should print out the responses to this thread and bring them to the next meeting of your club.  They just might carry enough counter weight to overpower the opinion of your club's current president.  In the very least, the newbies will realize that there are good reasons not to start with bees unprotected.

BTW, Scott, that is a great picture.

[tecumseh]

a snip...
One of the above posters speaks of people that think they are bee "whisperers."  I think that is true, and I think those people are a danger to beginning beekeepers.

tecumseh...
absolutely correct Jack.  on numerous occasion I have warned folks here to not get complacent when they work bees and to 1) always light your smoker and 2) to put on and check what ever bee protective gear they think is necessary.  for me gloves can be optional but a veil and the smoker are both essential tool of the trade.  we have even had some of the so called bee whisperers here tell folks (after taking their money) that they don't need a smoker and that using a smoker is cruel to the bees.   I try to drill into people's thick head here that even the most docile of bees can become very defensive at times and that they do need to act like this sort of thing can and will happen.  One down side of very docile bees is they can and often do lull folks into lazy and complacent behavior.  < my own narrow self interest here is that I would like folks that come to beekeeping to stay for a while and pretty much know that their first ugly encounter with the bees stands a good chance of also being their last.

I like Jack was raised around german black bees and the idea of even approaching those without a smoker or protective gear just sounds like insanity.  I would very much like to have a yard of those to introduce to some of the local 'bee whisperers'.

Lastly to Jack.... if you value your bee club and want it to continue to grow then I would suggest as one of your club's elder statesmen it is your duty to make comments when you see things not being done properly or even to shout at the top of your voice when you see bad habits are being consistently reinforced.

[Bakersdozen]

< my own narrow self interest here is that I would like folks that come to beekeeping to stay for a while and pretty much know that their first ugly encounter with the bees stands a good chance of also being their last.

Lastly to Jack.... if you value your bee club and want it to continue to grow then I would suggest as one of your club's elder statesmen it is your duty to make comments when you see things not being done properly or even to shout at the top of your voice when you see bad habits are being consistently reinforced.

All true Tec!
To  me, the future of beekeeping rests in the hands of the beginning beekeepers.  We want to see them succeed. 

An often heard comment at my local bee club: "Ask 10 beekeepers the same question and you will get 9 different answers."
Jack, you would probably be surprised how many novice beekeepers are just waiting to hear your opinions.

[brooksbeefarm]

I've had many bee club outings at my farm for hands on working bees for new and older members (as many as 80 at a time), i ask them to bring there protective wear and smoker. I would ask them not to stand in front of the hives, that if their in there flight path they may get stung (to no avail?), they would circle the hives and some didn't wear protective wear. In all the outings at my bee yards there was only one person that got stung,( that i know of, he didn't have his gear on) and that was because a frame was dropped I would say that's some kind of record .What really set me off was the speaker at our last club meeting, he stated that if the news media comes to your bee yard to make a broadcast on beekeeping (they have at my farm 3 different times), that he thought it was a good idea to work your bees without protection to show people that they don't have to be afraid of bees. I never challenged him, just set and bit my tongue. (other than that, i enjoyed his presentation). Like my buddy perry that brags on me all the time says, getting stung hurts, and they all hurt, i agree (sadly ) Jack

[Perry]

Like my buddy perry that brags on me all the time

Awh jeez, don't go gettin all soft on me, it won't make the payback you got comin feel as good!

[iddee]

""he thought it was a good idea to work your bees without protection to show people that they don't have to be afraid of bees.""

I have to agree with the speaker on that one. That's why I don't wear PPG when doing a cutout. It relaxes the neighbors.

Perry doesn't wear it so the photographer can get better picks of his pretty face.

[Perry]

""he thought it was a good idea to work your bees without protection to show people that they don't have to be afraid of bees.""

I have to agree with the speaker on that one. That's why I don't wear PPG when doing a cutout. It relaxes the neighbors.

Perry blah blah blah blah blah his pretty face.

Finally Iddee, we can agree on somethin!

[riverbee]

"Perry doesn't wear it so the photographer can get better picks of his pretty face."

................

"What really set me off was the speaker at our last club meeting, he stated that if the news media comes to your bee yard to make a broadcast on beekeeping (they have at my farm 3 different times), that he thought it was a good idea to work your bees without protection to show people that they don't have to be afraid of bees. I never challenged him, just set and bit my tongue."

challenge jack, just playing the flip side.... and what if the news media shows up to your beeyard making a broadcast on beekeeping and on the off chance someone gets stung without a veil on, or the bees come rolling out of hive just teed off, what do you suppose the news media might report?   
maybe, maybe not, they might edit it out, but my guess is they might go for frills and thrills..........

we all have approached swarms, without any protective equipment on, and 'wooed' bystanders by how calm the bees are, touched them, taken pics for them or let them take pix, etc, dumped them into whatever container and left making eveybody wonder why we weren't stung........BUT we know the secret to a swarm of bees!.......

[Woody Roberts]

When I started I had a veil,gloves etc but my first small hive seemed very docil and I soon quit wearing any protective gear.
Then one day I guess I caught them in a bad mood.

I only know about my bees. Some hives on some days could be worked buck nekid. Other days you would still get a couple stings thru a space suit.

Nowadays I suit up regardless. Stings don't bother me much but I don't enjoy them either.

[ledifni]

Lol on the topic of this whole thread -- there's an old man who lives a few houses down from me.  He's the kind of guy that if you told him it's dangerous to stick your tongue in a rattlesnake's mouth, he would do it just to prove he wasn't scared.  I mean that literally.  I don't know how he's managed to not get killed for this long.

Anyway, whenever I open my hive and he's happens to pass by, he just *has* to come running up and stick his face into the hive to see what I'm doing until I chase him away.  One of these days they're gonna be in a bad mood and he'll get covered in stings...it actually kinda worries me, especially since he's not in the greatest health to begin with.  I would buy him a bee suit but he definitely wouldn't wear it.

[Jen]

Woody - "Some hives on some days could be worked buck nekid

    Um yaaah.... I'll stick to my jammies at my age thank you very much   

[lazy shooter]

I am a  novice, so don't pay much attention to what I post.  Lborou on the other hand, is a long time beekeeper with lots of experience with bees from Alaska to Central Texas.  He, like me, keeps BeeWeaver bees.  Their claim to fame is that they are resistant to varroa mites.  The owner BeeWeaver will replace your queen it you thing they are too hostile.  One will not be working these bees without a veiled jacket, unless he/she is willing to take multiple stings.  They will get on your hands if the hive is open more than a few minutes.  These are the only bees that I have kept.  I keep thinking how nice it would be to have very tame bees.  Then again the BeeWeavers have the varroa resistance and they are great producers.  Since they are my only experience with bees, I just love the mean girls.

Sidebar:  Louis Grizzard, humorist and writer of Souther lore, said: "if you don't have any clothes on you are naked, If you don't have clothes on and up to something, you are nekid."  I was reminded of that when Jen used the term "nekid."