Get yourself stung. it's good for you?

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fiat500bee

House Bee
Joined
Jul 5, 2020
Messages
362
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252
Location
Nairn, Highland
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
2
I looked at the website "Scientific Beekeeping" because well, scientific sounds right. It's generally full of good advice. But it seems quite insane that it advocates beginners handling bees with bare hands partly so that they get stung making wrong moves. The idea is that you learn to be gentle, lose fear of being stung and apparently react less badly in future
It's not a theory I'll be testing!
 
I looked at the website "Scientific Beekeeping" because well, scientific sounds right. It's generally full of good advice. But it seems quite insane that it advocates beginners handling bees with bare hands partly so that they get stung making wrong moves. The idea is that you learn to be gentle, lose fear of being stung and apparently react less badly in future
It's not a theory I'll be testing!
Err I learned with bare hands... :love: :devilish:
 
The idea is that you learn to be gentle, lose fear of being stung and apparently react less badly in future

Great idea. Apart from the beekeepers who react badly and give up. Or get rushed to hospital. But apart from that, great idea.

In the real world, you know when you have upset the bees, because they sting your gloves and swarm around your face. You don't need to get stung on your bare hands to get the message across.
 
Well you won't react to your first sting if you've never been stung by a honey bee. Subsequent stings may or may not bring on a reaction ranging from mild irritation to a severe reaction. Being stung regularly has always been and still seems to be the advice but there is no guarantee this brings immunity. Remember, you will be breathing in a host of bee protein so good to 'keep up with your jabs' I suppose.
Making people go bare handed to learn to be gentle is just a stupid idea, I expect it would make a lot of people jittery. I want to see beginners handling frames with confident gentleness and I can do that without making them remove gloves.
In my experience, just like the reaction to the venom, there are varying levels of pain as well and the ones that 'really' hurt will always make you jump. ;)
Stung only twice last year while extracting of all things, nothing at the apiary. Not been stung this season.
 
I was told it prolonged your staying power in bed every time you get stung. It doesn't work but it does make me smile every time one of the little blighters gets me!!!!

:rolleyes: you sure you weren't reading about a Tse fly E? :D:D:D
 
Well you won't react to your first sting if you've never been stung by a honey bee. Subsequent stings may or may not bring on a reaction ranging from mild irritation to a severe reaction. Being stung regularly has always been and still seems to be the advice but there is no guarantee this brings immunity. Remember, you will be breathing in a host of bee protein so good to 'keep up with your jabs' I suppose.
Making people go bare handed to learn to be gentle is just a stupid idea, I expect it would make a lot of people jittery. I want to see beginners handling frames with confident gentleness and I can do that without making them remove gloves.
In my experience, just like the reaction to the venom, there are varying levels of pain as well and the ones that 'really' hurt will always make you jump. ;)
Stung only twice last year while extracting of all things, nothing at the apiary. Not been stung this season.

I agree Steve, as long as new beeks feel comfortable with wearing leather cloves, marigold or nitrile or both.
Untill a new beek builds a bit of conference around a hive because it can be very intense.. I've been mentoring a family this year father, mother and two girls, the dad has been getting very nervous when there is bees flying around him, even when he has a full suit, the mother only wears a vail and she gets well stuck in.
The two girls are always wanting to see hm.

I will inspect a colony with out gloves but this all depends on what I'm doing and how they are behaving..and there has been times when I wished I had worn gloves.

I've been stung this season but this was down to having to inspect when the weather wasn't favourable and I hadn't zipped my vail up enough..
Three bees got in my suit two stings to the neck and one above my eye, I was going through a double brood (top box).
I carried on the inspection and came away feeling stupid..

I've noticed that my bee stings vary in reaction.
 
Just plain daft!
I haven't been stung for years whilst wearing my suit and gloves.
Is this a macho thing, like the people you see on the web inspecting in tee-shirts and shorts?
Why put yourself at unnecessary risk?
 
I forgot to bring gloves recently but carried on barehanded - for the first time. I didn't get stung but realized that cleaning propolis off hands between hives is a lot harder than cleaning nitrile gloves. (I clean gloves in a soda solution and reuse them till they're done.) For that reason I won't try barehanded again if I don't have to.
 
I forgot to bring gloves recently but carried on barehanded - for the first time. I didn't get stung but realized that cleaning propolis off hands between hives is a lot harder than cleaning nitrile gloves. (I clean gloves in a soda solution and reuse them till they're done.) For that reason I won't try barehanded again if I don't have to.


Alcohol based hand sanitiser cleans propolis off hands and sanitises them in one go. Bit of kitchen roll from pocket (I always carry folded square) and clean off residue . 20 second job.
 
I invested in a bee jacket as quick on-off, just in case. Have stared to skip the gloves most times now as they usually go for the jugular anyway :)
Always wierd to see one hovering in front of the veil and going cross eyed trying to see if it is inside ot outside.
One day I may be like this guy, as they say no guts no glory :)
One of the funniest keepers on the planet, and he wears full gear (warning, colourful language alert)
 
I invested in a bee jacket as quick on-off, just in case. Have stared to skip the gloves most times now as they usually go for the jugular anyway :)
Always wierd to see one hovering in front of the veil and going cross eyed trying to see if it is inside ot outside.
One day I may be like this guy, as they say no guts no glory :)
One of the funniest keepers on the planet, and he wears full gear (warning, colourful language alert)

Enjoyed, thanks for posting
 
At our teaching apiary most of the demonstrators work barehanded as we don't allow anyone to bring their own leather gloves to handle the associations bees due to risk of introduction of foulbrood. Disposable nitriles are available which most beginners use. TBH until this thread I'd never questioned this 😊.
When I first started I inspected bare handed and it certainly makes you careful lifting frames etc. but I tend to use nitriles now as the propolis is a pain to clean off of the steering wheel when driving home from the apiary!
 
"Get yourself stung. it's good for you?" :: Not a good idea in some parts of the tropics, where a small insect bite or sting can quickly get infected and become a huge infected ulcer.
 
"Get yourself stung. it's good for you?" :: Not a good idea in some parts of the tropics, where a small insect bite or sting can quickly get infected and become a huge infected ulcer.
Interesting comment but how many native beekeepers wear gloves? Emyr will be able to answer no doubt.
 
Interesting comment but how many native beekeepers wear gloves? Emyr will be able to answer no doubt.
honey hunters go without - but then they kill the bees anyway, the favoured glove out in Africa is something designed for linesmen working with live electricity. (another hangover I think from European 'experts' and their terror of African bees :icon_204-2: )
 
Just plain daft!
I haven't been stung for years whilst wearing my suit and gloves.
Is this a macho thing, like the people you see on the web inspecting in tee-shirts and shorts?
Why put yourself at unnecessary risk?
I agree. 45% of all the people dying from bee stings are beekeepers.
 
I get stung a few times a year, mainly my fault. I believe that its good for you to keep your immune system on top of it by getting a few stings a year. In saying that there are people that get stung that one time to many and end up not being able to keep bee's anymore. I am lucky in the fact I have very little reaction to a bee sting apart from the (F@CK) if I get stung under the nail:oops:. I do swear by the fact that a bee sting in my had helps my arthritis then next day... But sadly it does not last long.. If I inspect a hive with NO vail then I always were glass's as this protects your eye's are these are a target for the bee's. Always use the gear that makes you happy in you hobby and stay safe.
 

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