My attitude to bees is that I have friendly bees. In the garden I want to go around enjoying my garden without having to suit up. I can walk in front of the hives in shorts and T shirt and take photos. That is the standard I expect of them. When i take the top off the hive then i suit up properly, with wellies and gloves cause they should be a bit annoyed when i rip open their home. If they didn't the wasps would have a field day in late summer. I use the heavier duty marigold gloves from Tesco, on advice from White Park Cattle. I can feel through them but the stings dont get through. But my garden bees dont try to sting, they buzz a lot when the hive is open and that is about it. My wife has been stung by a honey bee but that was before I became a bee keeper. She has not been stung while i have had bees and I have had up to 3 hives in the garden and she cuts the grass round the hives and puts out her washing behind the hives.
When bees swarm they are not inclined to sting. They are full of honey and they have nothing to defend. When i have gone to collect swarms I have been able to walk through the cloud of bees unprotected, locate the cluster and then put on the gear to handle the swarm.
Any bees that are too feisty for the garden go out to the out apiary at a farm and I get rid of them if they fight too much.
Stings on the head really hurt. I once went down to the farm to attend to some bees I had been given and they were ferocious. I had just been to an association meeting where our president had mentioned that the worst sting he had seen was in the eye. These bees were really vile. As soon as the crown board came open they jumped on me and then i felt the wings of a bee brush my cheek and I saw about 6 bees on the inside of my veil. The thousands of bees jumping on me was just a diversion, as i looked down I saw a dozen bees on each arm burrowing under my cuffs. I beat a hasty retreat but received 6 stings to the head that day. That colony did not last long.
I always wear a bee suit with wellies and gloves. If the bees are not my garden bees then I wear elastic bands on each sleeve to stop burrowing bees. i dont wear layers of clothing, that gets me hot and when I did wear a jacket it just meant I did not feel the bees until they were in my veil. At least if you are bare armed under the suit you feel them and can try squashing.
I think a lot of people accept bees that are just ferocious. With nasty bees it is almost inevitable that you are going to be badly stung and it isn't a lot of fun in what is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby. Does my hive being in my garden increase the chances of my neighbours being stung?I think not. The bees cannot see them from the hive and they fly over the top of a hedge at 7 foot. If the bees were to swarm then the bees fly around but not to sting. When they forage they are unlikely to sting.
But people don't know how gentle bees can be. While I was on holiday my neighbour let a very experienced beek into my garden because a swarm had arrived. He was amazed that they could both stand in amongst my hives talking while my bees flew around. But despite that never take chances when taking their roof off. Then they can be as dangerous as any bee in the world.
