Bees under the veil!

[Beex]

Hello everyone,

I am after some practice advise on what's the best thing to do when bees get under your veil during an inspection. After searching the net and books I can't find any info and want to know what you guys think.

Obviously I know that ensuring your bee tight before an inspection is the best precaution against this, but what do you do if the bees do find a way in?

This weekend I inspected 2/3 hives and all went well, no incidents. I got to the 3rd hive and removed the honey supers to look at the brood but I didn't get as far as taking the queen excluder off before my gloves where covered in bees, bees were bombing my head and seemed quite angry! My smoker had died and My suit had just been washed, I think this triggered the bees. So I decided to close the hive as I thought it was dangerous. (Because my suit had been washed, the veil was unzipped and when I put my suit on I had realised I had left the veil at home, so I compensated by putting on my usual bee suit, minus veil and a bee keeping veiled top on to cover my face and head. I should have tucked this top into my bee suit but didn't,) when closing the hive, I felt a bee inside me ear hole. I tapped the bee out, saw it fly across my face and grabbed it, to trap in it my veil, I then walked through trees as lots of bees where following me, on my suit, in my wheelies, and my gloves and now into my veil, I did panic slightly and lost all sense of what to do as I was stung several times on my head, legs, hands, wrist, I decided to run away and pull my veil off as I was moving, bees still followed me!!! I had bees in my hair, and buzzing around me for 45 mins, at one point I thought they was actively seeking me! This was of course totally my fault for being over confident with my equipment and not tucking in. Really is the stupidest thing iv done. At this point I realised I had no idea what to do in this situation of angry bees under the veil.

Please share your thoughts or experiences on this

Xxx

 

[BrianO]

Woohooo

That sounded like a fairly lively experience !

Think that is a non textbook common sense situation. IE:

Ensure all sealed before engagement with the little Divels. Double check all entry points and make sure all sealed before starting.

If one gets in when it is hopefully on the mesh /veil pinch it / crush it.

That should be it.

Sounds great in theory does'ent it, like everything slightly different when one is perched on the end of your nose as you are holdling up with both hands a frame covered in bees at eye level !!!!



http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/images/smilies/sos.gif

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ah......the beekeeper's dance. We've all done it
There are no short cuts. If you haven't got your suit then don't inspect.....at all.
I wash my veil tucked into zipped up suit...that way they are never parted.
Oh, and change gloves between hives.
Hope you're OK today.

 

[Beex]

Haha well I'll never do it again, now I know how scary it is, thanks for the good advice, it could have easily been worse!

I do have a swollen forehead now and enlarged glands in neck too, so lesson truly learnt lol.

 

[gill68]

lots of sympathy from me too; it's horrid. I had a similar experience last year when they got in where the 2 zips overlap at the back of the suit. The overlapping velcro wasn't quite sat correctly and the little blighters got in; loads of them; lots of stings around my ear. i went straight to the dr who found another one still in my ear! I don't think there is a way of dealing with the situation. I suppose, in theory, you should stay calm(ha ha!!)
Needless to say, since then, I put tape across the join at the front and back of the zip joins. The last thing you need to be doing is worrying about a repeat experience when trying to concentrate on hive inspections and manoevres!
I agree about changing gloves between hives. I suppose it's common sense really, but I hadn't been doing it up til recently.

 

[MartinL]

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I decided to run away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .I had bees in my hair, and buzzing around me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .This was of course totally my fault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .I had no idea what to do in this situation of angry bees under the veil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Xxx

It's happened to most of us, one lands on your nose, and you think "Hello, that's not quite right"!


What was at first, an elementary mistake
is now Experience!

 

[psafloyd]

Hello everyone,

I am after some practice advise on what's the best thing to do when bees get under your veil during an inspection. After searching the net and books I can't find any info and want to know what you guys think.

Obviously I know that ensuring your bee tight before an inspection is the best precaution against this, but what do you do if the bees do find a way in?

This weekend I inspected 2/3 hives and all went well, no incidents. I got to the 3rd hive and removed the honey supers to look at the brood but I didn't get as far as taking the queen excluder off before my gloves where covered in bees, bees were bombing my head and seemed quite angry! My smoker had died and My suit had just been washed, I think this triggered the bees. So I decided to close the hive as I thought it was dangerous. (Because my suit had been washed, the veil was unzipped and when I put my suit on I had realised I had left the veil at home, so I compensated by putting on my usual bee suit, minus veil and a bee keeping veiled top on to cover my face and head. I should have tucked this top into my bee suit but didn't,) when closing the hive, I felt a bee inside me ear hole. I tapped the bee out, saw it fly across my face and grabbed it, to trap in it my veil, I then walked through trees as lots of bees where following me, on my suit, in my wheelies, and my gloves and now into my veil, I did panic slightly and lost all sense of what to do as I was stung several times on my head, legs, hands, wrist, I decided to run away and pull my veil off as I was moving, bees still followed me!!! I had bees in my hair, and buzzing around me for 45 mins, at one point I thought they was actively seeking me! This was of course totally my fault for being over confident with my equipment and not tucking in. Really is the stupidest thing iv done. At this point I realised I had no idea what to do in this situation of angry bees under the veil.

Please share your thoughts or experiences on this

Xxx

If your bees are not normally like this, could it have been a thunderstorm in the air (even a few hours away) making them unreasonable? Mine do this and I just shut up shop and come back another day.

If your suit DID trigger this, you need to stop washing it in alarm pheromone. Just us a bit of soda or an unscented non-bio and you should be fine.

As for bees where they should not be, isolate them and squish them but NOT AGAINST YOU.

 

[enrico]

Two things to remember..... Bees always climb up so tuck everything in to give an overlap from the lowest garment. 2nd thing is not to try running inside with bees covering you while you rip your clothes off otherwise your wife will turn the garden hose on you screaming....you're not coming in here!

 

[Erichalfbee]

2nd thing is not to try running inside with bees covering you while you rip your clothes off otherwise your wife will turn the garden hose on you screaming....you're not coming in here!

Personal experience, E ?

 

[enrico]

Yep! First year I ever had bees! Naked in the garden with my wife hosing me down! That night was the first time I actually looked fat! I had a cheap veil that had cords that went under your arm pits, needless to say I ended up with more bees inside than outside. A week later I spent my life savings on a bomb proof suit that is just coming to the end of its natural life! Straw hat with a hard veil, will be sad to see it go after all these years. Not sure if you can get decent hard veils any more

 

[Dishmop]

You give them a hefty smack and kill them.........

or if there are lots of them you cry.

 

[Alabamaeee]

And never ever open a hive when your smoker has gone out, because it's a certainty that is the one hive that will have thousands of little lively darlings boiling out of the frames!

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Hello everyone,

I am after some practice advise on what's the best thing to do when bees get under your veil during an inspection. After searching the net and books I can't find any info and want to know what you guys think.

Obviously I know that ensuring your bee tight before an inspection is the best precaution against this, but what do you do if the bees do find a way in?

This weekend I inspected 2/3 hives and all went well, no incidents. I got to the 3rd hive and removed the honey supers to look at the brood but I didn't get as far as taking the queen excluder off before my gloves where covered in bees, bees were bombing my head and seemed quite angry! My smoker had died and My suit had just been washed, I think this triggered the bees. So I decided to close the hive as I thought it was dangerous. (Because my suit had been washed, the veil was unzipped and when I put my suit on I had realised I had left the veil at home, so I compensated by putting on my usual bee suit, minus veil and a bee keeping veiled top on to cover my face and head. I should have tucked this top into my bee suit but didn't,) when closing the hive, I felt a bee inside me ear hole. I tapped the bee out, saw it fly across my face and grabbed it, to trap in it my veil, I then walked through trees as lots of bees where following me, on my suit, in my wheelies, and my gloves and now into my veil, I did panic slightly and lost all sense of what to do as I was stung several times on my head, legs, hands, wrist, I decided to run away and pull my veil off as I was moving, bees still followed me!!! I had bees in my hair, and buzzing around me for 45 mins, at one point I thought they was actively seeking me! This was of course totally my fault for being over confident with my equipment and not tucking in. Really is the stupidest thing iv done. At this point I realised I had no idea what to do in this situation of angry bees under the veil.

Please share your thoughts or experiences on this

Xxx

I had a smaller incident a few weeks ago. A few bees found their way inside because I didn't pay sufficient attention to closing the zips. While opening up my most defensive hive I felt bees walking up the back of my neck and left ear. I kept calm, replaced the crown board and smoothly vacated the apiary. En route to the shed the bee on the back of my neck decided to sting. The bee on my ear made its way into my hair and a third one walked across the front of my veil.
I opened my veil, whereupon the loose bee flew out while the one in my hair buzzed frantically. A comb soon removed this bee so I escaped with one sting which my daughter scraped out with the edge of my hive tool.
Could have been worse but I now make sure the zips on my suit are closed and the velcro flap stuck down! As to giving advice - take care and pay attention to detail when putting your suit on.

 

[jd101k2000]

I was told (by a nun who knew about bees under the veil) that the best thing to do is walk calmly away. The further you are from the hive, the less agitated the bee(s).

Most of the time the bees agree.

As a complete coward, this is giving me incentive to invest in a really nice bee suit.

 

[Dishmop]

I was told (by a nun who knew about bees under the veil) that the best thing to do is walk calmly away. The further you are from the hive, the less agitated the bee(s).

Most of the time the bees agree.

As a complete coward, this is giving me incentive to invest in a really nice bee suit.

Or a habit..

 

[Moggett]

This scenario is one I fear the most because if I cop one on the eyebrow or nose my face swells up.

Even worse when doing the last inspection before a foreign holiday. Apart from looking like Quasimodo for the entire holiday they may not let you on the plane unless you got the passport photo a day or so after a previous sting!

 

[beecology]

This happened to me last inspection - two bees under the veil, one under my neck and the other in the corner of my eye.

I stayed calm, walked away from the hive, all the time the one in my eye was buzzing away, kept thinking here comes a sting.

But, about 10 metres from the hive, I unzipped, bee brushed them off my face and then.....run like a total prat before they stung me.

I can say the calm approach definitely saved me from potentially quite a nasty sting or two.

Not an experience I want again in a hurry though.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Been there, done that, got the tee shirt

On a routine visit to the Group apiary, I forgot to take my wellies. My bee suit is quite large and appeared to hang well over my shoes so I went ahead with the visit. All went well until the last hive which objected to having their evening Horlicks spilt by a bunch of beeks. They exploded out of the hive and attacked everybody and everything. They found my weak point and crawled up my leg before leaving three stings in my thigh.

As for your swelling from the strings on your head, you might try for a doctor's visit and see if you can be prescribed some antihistamines. I had a bad reaction - severe swelling of the neck and cheek - from a sting on the ear and the Cetirizine Hydrochloride I was prescribed and which I now keep in my bee-box reduced the swelling in a couple of hours. You might want to consider some medication if the swelling and itching persists. I've subsequently had a sting on the finger and I found that taking one of these pills helps prevent the itching that I usually get from a sting.

CVB

 

[Tomo]

One tip that has served me well in my first season: wear a baseball cap under your veil if it's a fencing type that is. Keeps the girls away from your face and tip of your nose. I was bending over to look at the base of a hive last week and didn't realise that the tip of my chin was touching the veil. Of course one of the little darlings gave her life to sting me! Next day I had a big double chin and looked a bit like Jaba the Hut! I would suggest practising lighting your smoker and keeping it going, the books give tips and u-tube has videos. I did a few times away from my hives. Is your smoker big enough? Now have no problem, then smoke yourself if covered. Good luck in the future.

 

[irishguy]

Funnily enough same thing happened to me earlier lol. To put it nicely, i near **** a brick( excuse my french lol) i run away from the hive in a panic but soon cammed down and slowly took my veil off and let the bee out I was in 2 minds wether to squash it or not but i was afraid of getting stung on he house or face somewhere. Anytime i go near the hives again i will be adding some toilet paper where the zips are so definitely no bees will get in, well i hope Anyway lol