A Painful Newbie Experience

[Samurailord]

After discovering that we had inadvertantly blocked HM in the super for a week when we inspected last Monday I decided that I would try and do my wife a favour (she's the Beek) by inspecting our hive during the day whilst i was at the allotment anyway.

It was a bit windy, but warm and as the apiary is a bit sheltered I thought I would have a quick peek to make sure all was well.

Even before i had the lid off properly i was being 'pinged', but as these bees are normally a most docile lot i decided that I would continue.

Bad mistake.

The newly added super was heaving with bees, and I was attracting so much attention from them as I started to inspect that I had to retreat a couple of times to let them calm down.

The third time I returned to the hive they were waiting for me - i got stung several times on both wrists and hands as I put the hive back together again and made a hasty retreat.

Two guards even followed me back to me shed, over 100 yards away and I had to shut the door on them before I dared remove my suit.

Once the adrenalin had worn off I started to feel a strange tingle in my lower lip, so went straight to A&E to get checked over, just in case.

The junior doctor who saw me was amazed that someone in Oldham kept bees - he had always assumed that bee keepers were all countryside based.

He had had to get the textbooks out to read up on bee stings before he saw me, but at least he will know what to look for when i come back again

We counted up seven stings, three on the right wrist, one on the back of the hand, one on the back of the left wrist and two on the hand and one even got me on my leg, through my jeans!

I was sent away with some anti-histamines and told to take it easy, but depite the tablets my right hand had nearly doubled in size by the time I went to bed.

Strangely, the left, although swolen, is no where near as bad as the right.

This morning I found another had got me on my left index finger as that too has swolen a bit.

I am not certain why I was attacked quite so much.

I have several options

It was a bit windy, but not thundery, so it could be weather related.

The suit i was wearing was my wife's, when I took it out of the boot Ifound that she had wrapped some surplus brace comb in newspaper and then wrapped it up in the suit last week and forgotten to move it so the suit may have smelled of honey.

Something has hapend to the queen since last week when we removed the excluder.

Any other ideas?

Andy

 

[Davelin]

You often find bees get very defensive at this time of year; the main nectar flow will be at an end or dwindling rapidly so they will be protecting the winter stores they have brought in.

You can't really blame them.

Being windy probably didn't help

PS. The worst I ever had was 25-30 stings in each ankle, when thinking I could get away without boots. Difficulty walking the next day!!

 

[willis944]

painful

possibly just a case of bad timing!

Bad weather, perhaps they had been defending against a wasp attack, poss queen problem. It's the sort of thing you'll find difficult to get to the bottom of unless they're angry all the time.

Fingers crossed for the next visit, hope they're happier for you.

 

[enrico]

The reaction you got to the stings is normal. A big dose like that when you are not used to it will swell and cause itching. Any facial stings go straight to my lips!
Your problem now is going to be confidence, trust me, after my tipping the hives over last week I had to take a few deep breaths before I re engaged! Make sure you wear two layers!
Plastic gloves with gauntlets from p&@nes work really well for those conditions where you need to be bomb proof.
You did the right thing by checking your reactions though, now you know what to expect!
Good luck
E

 

[Samurailord]

The worst I ever had was 25-30 stings in each ankle, when thinking I could get away without boots. Difficulty walking the next day!!

Fortunately they didn't go for my ankles. i was wearing boots, but because we have never had even the slightest bit of aggression from them I hadn't bothered tucking my trousers in.

Fingers crossed for the next visit, hope they're happier for you.

Thanks Willis - I can't get back until Friday night at the earliest, but as our Mentor is back from Hols on sat we may leave it until then, apart from to put a new super on just in case they are running out of room again

Your problem now is going to be confidence, trust me, after my tipping the hives over last week I had to take a few deep breaths before I re engaged! E

Thanks Enrico

My confidence is OK, if I could handle things with my right hand I would be back in there tonight if the weather was good enough. As it is, we are making plans to add another super before weekend and then do a full inspection as weekend. My wife is making me some elasticated quilted sleves to protect my wrists as that seems to be where I got most stings.

Andy

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Others will have advice but I wonder how much of the problem could be attributed to lack of dexterity by a new beek? Smooth, calm, unhurried handling during manipulation normally gives a pleasant experience both to you and the colony.
Cracking crownboards off or bumping frames often causes disturbance which the bees take exception to.

 

[madasafish]

Did you smoke them at all? A puff or two of smoke and wait helps in windy days.
Wearing any aftershave? Maybe they did not like your smell...

 

[Davelin]

My wife is making me some elasticated quilted sleves to protect my wrists as that seems to be where I got most stings.

Andy

The gap between nitrile gloves and the cuff of the beesuit (that always seems to work up your arm) is where I used to get stung most often.

Elasticated gauntlets that cover that gap have sorted the problem for me.

I agree, a puff of smoke and gentle opening make a big difference to how the bees react.

 

[Griffo]

I made the same mistake yesterday, trying to inspect with a fairly strong wind blowing and everybody was at home with nothing much to do except attack me. I was stung on the arm, through the suit. As soon as I saw what sort of mood they were in I made a hasty retreat. Double layers next time.

 

[enrico]

Begs the question what were you inspecting for? What was you reason for going in? Just wondered!
E

 

[Erichalfbee]

Me too. Not looking in my broods any more till I quickly check stores for winter and do a couple of unites, maybe in a fortnight.

 

[BeeJayBee]

It was a bit windy, but warm and as the apiary is a bit sheltered I thought I would have a quick peek to make sure all was well.

Even before i had the lid off properly i was being 'pinged', but as these bees are normally a most docile lot i decided that I would continue.
.....
We counted up seven stings, three on the right wrist, one on the back of the hand, one on the back of the left wrist and two on the hand and one even got me on my leg, through my jeans!
.....
The suit i was wearing was my wife's, when I took it out of the boot Ifound that she had wrapped some surplus brace comb in newspaper and then wrapped it up in the suit last week and forgotten to move it so the suit may have smelled of honey.

Bees tend not to like being disturbed on a windy day. If you don't need to inspect then it might be best to delay until a calm day.

What sort of gloves were you wearing? I know of a few people who have been stung where gloves are attached to a gauntlet. Problem solved when the gloves are washed.

I've never tried wearing jeans for an inspection, but some people say bees dislike denim.

Please remember to wash the suit and wear clean gloves for the next inspection. Sting pheromones linger for a long time.

 

[Galaxy55]

Interesting that you say you are in Oldham, I have some bees in Oldham and at the moment they also seem to be rather tetchy. As already suggested probably just protecting what they regard as their winter stores. I just try to makes sure I am prepared for anything after having one or two close calls myself. They always seem to catch you out when you think, 'Oh I'll just have a quick look to check everything is OK.'

 

[Samurailord]

Begs the question what were you inspecting for? What was you reason for going in? Just wondered!
E

I was checking for QC's as we had found four last Monday.

We assumed it was because we had inadvertently trapped the queen in the super when putting on the QE and she had run out of space to lay.

I wanted to make sure that there were no more QC's, and I was also going to try and trim off some additional comb that had occurred due to us not spacing the brood frames at first (due to our inexperience).

Andy

 

[Samurailord]

Others will have advice but I wonder how much of the problem could be attributed to lack of dexterity by a new beek? Smooth, calm, unhurried handling during manipulation normally gives a pleasant experience both to you and the colony.
Cracking crownboards off or bumping frames often causes disturbance which the bees take exception to.

It could have been down to my inexperience, but they were pinging me even before I cracked the crown board, so I dont think that was the main factor.

Andy

 

[Samurailord]

Did you smoke them at all? A puff or two of smoke and wait helps in windy days.
Wearing any aftershave? Maybe they did not like your smell...

I smoked them with a couple of puffs, as I have done before, and had no aftershave on.

Andy

 

[Samurailord]

What sort of gloves were you wearing? Please remember to wash the suit and wear clean gloves for the next inspection. Sting pheromones linger for a long time.

I had nitrile gloves on - I was stung mainly where the suit cuffs had riden up.

The suit has been washed already, and the gloves are fresh for each inspection.

 

[BeeJayBee]

After discovering that we had inadvertantly blocked HM in the super for a week when we inspected last Monday I decided that I would try and do my wife a favour (she's the Beek) by inspecting our hive during the day whilst i was at the allotment anyway.

I was checking for QC's as we had found four last Monday.

We assumed it was because we had inadvertently trapped the queen in the super when putting on the QE and she had run out of space to lay.

I wanted to make sure that there were no more QC's, and I was also going to try and trim off some additional comb that had occurred due to us not spacing the brood frames at first (due to our inexperience).

So, a week (7 days) before this inspection (when you were stung) you had found four queen cells.

What did you do when you found the queen cells?

If you haven't done so, download and read 'There Are Queen Cells In My Hive' WBKA & WAG from this page http://www.wbka.com/information-station/

I had nitrile gloves on - I was stung mainly where the suit cuffs had riden up.

The suit has been washed already, and the gloves are fresh for each inspection.

Probably not relevant, but make sure you use the thumb loop to keep the sleeve down - your suit should be big enough for the sleeve to stay inplace when you bend your arms. Try not to use a fabric conditioner on your suit because bees don't like some scents. Long-cuff marigolds cover any gap, and you can wear nitriles over them if you want to keep them clean.

 

[Davelin]

The thumb loops didn't last very long on mine.

As I said earlier, gauntlets to cover the gap between glove and cuff solved it for me.

 

[beeno]

Hi Andy,
Two of my colonies were aggressive when they had QCs on the go much to my surprise. Do remember that if you tear down QCs they may go into overdrive, if they are serious, and produce another capped one in three days!