To wear the suit or not??

[WantToBeeLady]

How is it that some of us have to suit up and others do not?  I'm getting stung WITH the suit on. They are climbing up my sleeves if there is any little gap and all other kinds of creative stuff. 

[iddee]

You are still nervous around them and they can sense it. Dress as comfortably as you can and as confidently as you can. As time goes by and you can relax more around them, they will relax more around you. I only have a hooded jacket and put it on 2 or 3 times a season when they get rowdy. Of course, I don't pay much attention to a sting when I do get one. After 40 years of stings, they hurt less than a mosquito.

[Chip Euliss]

Also good to pick your times to visit.  Cloudy or rainy or other weather conditions that make for poor foraging make for poor times to visit your hive(s).  When few bees are flying, there will be more bees in the hive, especially the older bees that tend to be more grumpy than the younger bees that are in the hive most of the time.  As odd as it seems, the more bees you see in the air, the easier it will be to get along with the bees in the hive.  Busy bees are happy bees that tolerate disturbance very well.  Early in the morning and late in the afternoon aren't good times to visit as a rule nor are times when some disaster (like hail) has trashed the flowers the bees were working the days before.  Use a little smoke, not much, and give the bees a little warning before you open the hive.  Smoke a little, slowly take off the lid and work through the frames slowly and deliberately.  As you get experience, you can speed up a little but that's comes with the confidence Iddee mentioned.  Don't be afraid to stop when the bees smack your vail with force; you can always try again a little later when conditions are better.  This should be fun

[WantToBeeLady]

Ok...I'll be going to visit the girls in a few, so I will keep these things in mind.  It's been kind of rainy the last few days, so not much activity outside the hive.  Today is sunny though and not too hot yet so it should be a good day for this.

Thanks so much. I feel more confident with the information you all have provided.

[apisbees]

Bees will not know where to forage till the scouts get back and tell them. also it takes a few hours of sunshine and warm weather to get the plants producing nectar as well. so they may still be a little testy do to the weather. I would hold of on going into them till the afternoon or the following day after a few days of rain

[brooksbeefarm]

I'm not afraid of the girls, but the last three weeks they have put in a lot of time trying to make me afraid. Been stung more in the last three weeks than i usually get stung all year, they like my left ear? i'm thinking they are saying, CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW, They also don't like to be cussed loud at either?but it makes me feel better though. Jack

[Chip Euliss]

It's okay to call them bad names like "%$%$&^*" but you should avoid calling them "little %$%$&^*".  It's the little part that seems to strike them the wrong way

[G3farms]

I found out long ago that one of hardest things to get accustomed to was a bee landing on you, they are very curious creatures and like to explore you just as much as you like to look at them. Slow deliberate movements will cause less of a commotion. Rough handling them will also get them stirred up pretty quick.

As Stated above weather and time of day plays a big part, and yep working bees are happy bees!

[brooksbeefarm]

Like G3 said they are curious, many times working the hoe in the truck patch next to the beeyard i'll have bees light on my arms and start licking sweat, i'll lean on the hoe handle and watch them When i start working  again they don't pay me no never mind and keep licking. Jack

[lazy shooter]

WantToBeeLady:

Small colonies, packages and nucs, are often more domestic than large mature hives.  As the colony prospers, it has more brood and stores to protect and the population of guard bees increases.  Five years ago I started with three packages of bees, and the first year they were real sweethearts.  The next year they were large colonies.  One day I was looking into the hives with only a veil and a long sleeve shirt.  There wasn't a sting one on the first two hive inspections.  On the third hive inspection I dropped frame of bees onto the topmost super.  (I have some problems with neuroptathy in my left hand, and occasionally it just turns loose of something.)  My docile bees stung me 27 times on my hands and arms before I could put the hive back together and get away from them. 

Bees can sometimes turn on you pretty quick.  Continue to wear your jacket, and if you do not wear gloves, keep them handy.  Once they start stinging your hand the pheromone is in the air and they will continue to sting your hands.  If stung on the hand, apply smoke immediately.  The smoke will somewhat mask the pheromone. 

You're going to get stung so learn how to lessen stings and doctor stings.  I find liquid benadryl works the best on my family.  I'm like Iddee, bee stings do not make me swell.

lazy

[brooksbeefarm]

Really Scott? then what makes mine, perry's, and iddee's belly swell up like they do. Jack

[iddee]

Jack, that's good wives and good cookin'. Not bee stings.

PS. Wrong Lazy. That's Don. The other Lazy is Scott.

[efmesch]

I can't disagree with any of the various bits of advice everyone has given ---all of it is true and valuable.  But I'd like to add a bit of emphasis to what G3 said in post #7.  It's hard to have the bees crawling all over you yet still ignore them.  That ability comes with confidence and experience.  Too many of us are raised on the thought that any time a bee lands on you it wants to sting and that just ain't so.  When you reach the stage where your confidence allows you to ignore their presence as they roam all over you, including on any spaces between your gloves and sleeves, you'll find yourself getting a lot fewer stings. 
I found that when I stopped wearing gloves, my hands were more sensitive to the presence of the bees and I irritated them less, resulting in far fewer stings. 

[Chip Euliss]

I had a thought about your question today while feeding bees.  Which side of the hive do you stand on when you work your bees?  Mine are on 4-way pallets and I left the entire pallet with a forklift so they are a comfortable height for my old back.  That helps since it gets the bees above where they are used to be but I think a more important factor is that I work the bees from the side of the hive versus the front where are the bees are coming and going.  If you're working them from the front, try working them from the side and see if that helps

[WantToBeeLady]

I usually stand on a side opposite to the opening.  Try not to be too rude when going in.  But lately it doesn't seem to matter where I stand, what time of day or anything else. They've been pretty hostile, like "Hey!!! Can't you see we are busy??? We don't have time for these interruptions".  So I've been keeping my visits short and sweet....with sugar water.  I'm not about bribery at this point.

[Chip Euliss]

Sometimes you just have a grumpy hive.  You can always requeen with  a line with a better disposition.

[apisbees]

What chip posted You have gone in enough times with the knowledge of weather time of day to eliminate the their having a dad day. Some queens raise grumpy mean defensive bees. If they are bad at this time of year when they should be at their happiest you will not be wanting to go into them in late August\September when there is a dearth. I would think about requeening.

[LazyBkpr]

   Want to add,...    when you do get a sting, SMOKE it with your smoker heavily.. It is an imperfect cover for the alarm pheromone, but it does help.
   If your bees are aggressive enough to seek out the openings in your suit, it may be a good idea to requeen them..   
   I use an ultrabreeze when forced to wear a suit, and it has velcro around the wrists to keep bees out. If your doesnt a bit of duct tape might help.  I always take my jacket wherever I go when checking hives, but seldom use it, and I have leather gloves as well, but use them even less...  Not because I am trying to be macho, ort becuase I think someone that uses a suit is a sissy.. its because I can see better with no hood, and FEEL better with no gloves..  The ultra breeze is a NICE bee suit, but wearing anything when its 95+ degrees and there is NO breeze is miserable.. I'll deal with a few stings before putting that stuff on.. But, Once I do start to get stung I WILL put my gear on to finish the job.
   Usually finishing the job entails discovering WHY they are angry..  no queen? Mites? Something like a branch rubbing against the hive?  Etc...     

[riverbee]

lots of good posts here! weather and other things do affect the bees temperament. also, if the hive is queenless, they will not be happy.  no nectar/pollen coming in, cranky.  many variables as to why a hive is snarky. 

like g3 said bees are curious, and they will crawl wherever and explore, and they do find the crevice to get in the veil, up the sleeve, up the pants legs, etc....
but if you have bees nailing your veil or your hands/gloves when you open (use a smoker) this would indicate something else going on. 

also, as iddee said, when we are new beeks, the bees can 'sense' so dress comfortably as you can to work them. 

it's possible as chip mentioned that you have a queen that needs to be replaced. 

i wear full gear, only because i am allergic, makes it hard when handling frames with gloves on, but i manage. whether i was allergic or not, i have always worn a veil and used the smoker.  don't like the stings to the face.

i am sort of wondering about your queen. when you open the hive, do they immediately fly and start nailing your veil and hands?

[neillsayers]

For what it's worth,I wear my jacket when I do inspection because my bees are bad to head bump when disturbed. Nothing more irritating when trying to look for eggs and larvae while bees are ramming into your face. I often don't suit up to feed but I do give em a shot or two of smoke. I have a habit of at least once a day sitting in the yard out of the flyway and observing them. I believe it gets them accustomed to my smell. Sometimes I miss a day or two but if one misses for a couple of weeks you are a complete stranger to them.
An old beekeeper told me years ago (long before I ever seriously considered beekeeping) to hang a sweaty shirt in the bee yard or on the fence nearby and the bees would become accustomed to your smell as part of the yard. I did this at first, can't say with any certainty that it helped but they've never been very aggressive to me.