Member of Public stung by our bees.

[tonyofarr]

We went to one of our out-apiaries last Saturday, I removed some cleared supers and cut the grass while SWMBO checked the hives, the bees were in a foul temper and stingy with us but knowing the home owners were away we weren't that worried.The hives are situated next to some solar panels in a field, screened from the owners house by a hedge.

On Sunday morning a very cross woman appeared at the door demanding to speak to the 'Bee Lady' saying that she had been stung by our bees. It turns out that she had been feeding the home owners cats and had been looking for an elderly cat that had gone missing; she had heard our voices and the smoker and had been looking for the cat on the other side of the hedge. Loads of bees had flown up her top and stung her, as well as stinging her on the head.

SWMBO tried to placate her with some piriton and a jar of honey and was very sympathetic, but the op said she had gone to A & E because she had been worried about an allergic reaction and they had been no help and she would be going to her GP the next day. My wife could see about 3 stings, but when we spoke to the home owner the next day he said she had been stung 14 times (she gave him an earful as well).

It turns out that the home owner had forgotten to tell her about the bees, and to warn her to keep out of the way while the hives were open, he had also shut the cat in an out-building by mistake. We have public liability insurance, but up until now nobody has ever been stung by our bees at home or our other apiaries (apart from us). SWMBO is very upset at someone getting hurt by our bees.

Has anyone else had a similar experience and how did you deal with it? I have to add that we did not know the cat sitter was there, nor did we hear her when she was stung.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

organise an identity parade and ask her to point out the culprits

 

[Teemore]

Sorry to learn of your difficulties. I'll not pre-empt things and call it a "problem" as i don't know what the woman intends to do following the visit to her GP. My initial thoughts are that you need to document the encounter with this woman and also any conversation with the home owner about the incident and aftermath. If anything develops out of the matter, such notes are important. Was the woman at all receptive to the explanation given to her? Did she give any indication that she would take the matter further?
Explain to the home owner (if not already done) that the bees were techy as you were taking off cleared supers and taking advantage of an opportunity to cut the grass, knowing they were absent and therefore would not be troubled by the bees.
If the homeowner is concerned, you may wish to begin to move the hives further away from the boundary hedge or to relocate them for a time.

Edit - Cant help but think that the problem is in part due to the woman's curiosity.... if you and your wife did not hear any commotion whilst working with the bees, did she wait for you to leave before trying to see what you had been doing and disturb the bees by her own actions?

 

[For want of a better word]

I had a problem a few years back in very similar circumstances.

An isolated incident where a neighbor pushed her way through a thick hedge to see where the smoke was coming from, and took a couple of stings from an open hive.
The owner of the garden where the bees were kept reluctantly asked me to move the bees... mentioning that the lady that had got stung had a mental health problem and complained to the local council every time someone lit a garden fire.
Just hope the lady that got stung in your case is not too vociferous... and gets you a bad press.. time to give a talk to the WI or Townswomen's Guild about beekeeping to get some allies!

Wars are won by making allies, keeping your friends close,,, and your enemies even closer!!

Yeghes da

 

[nantmoel]

We went to one of our out-apiaries last Saturday, I removed some cleared supers and cut the grass while SWMBO checked the hives, the bees were in a foul temper and stingy with us but knowing the home owners were away we weren't that worried.The hives are situated next to some solar panels in a field, screened from the owners house by a hedge.

On Sunday morning a very cross woman appeared at the door demanding to speak to the 'Bee Lady' saying that she had been stung by our bees. It turns out that she had been feeding the home owners cats and had been looking for an elderly cat that had gone missing; she had heard our voices and the smoker and had been looking for the cat on the other side of the hedge. Loads of bees had flown up her top and stung her, as well as stinging her on the head.

SWMBO tried to placate her with some piriton and a jar of honey and was very sympathetic, but the op said she had gone to A & E because she had been worried about an allergic reaction and they had been no help and she would be going to her GP the next day. My wife could see about 3 stings, but when we spoke to the home owner the next day he said she had been stung 14 times (she gave him an earful as well).

It turns out that the home owner had forgotten to tell her about the bees, and to warn her to keep out of the way while the hives were open, he had also shut the cat in an out-building by mistake. We have public liability insurance, but up until now nobody has ever been stung by our bees at home or our other apiaries (apart from us). SWMBO is very upset at someone getting hurt by our bees.

Has anyone else had a similar experience and how did you deal with it? I have to add that we did not know the cat sitter was there, nor did we hear her when she was stung.

Sounds like a nightmare, as we all know that when you remove the crop the bees get a bit grumpy. I would have not removed the crop and inspected the same time. I have also learnt never to assume anything with beekeeping. Its ok to say after the event you should have checked the house was empty! Its also lucky that you gave the person antihistamine, to take 14 stings when perhaps never taken any before could well have been dangerous.

We did a cut-out a few months ago and the bees were awful, I told the women of the house not to come out and her neighbours to stay indoors whilst we were there! Well the women cam out to ask us if we wanted to have a coffee, they were straight on here, stinging her a number of times on the head. I removed the bees from her hair and gave her an antihistamine, lucky she was OK. I have to warn her neighbours a number of time not to wonder around but it was like taking to a wall, lucky none of them got stung.

So back to your problem! Put a sign up saying "Caution Honey Bees Working" at least people will know there are bees in the area. But to be honest I would seriously look for another site well away from the public. Are your bees normally that aggressive? if so I would re-queen with a gentle strain.

 

[For want of a better word]

organise an identity parade and ask her to point out the culprits

DNA test on the bee sting and a test on a sample of bees from your colonies could be used by a clever barrister in court to prove which bees could have caused the sting... at £160 per test and probably 2 to 300 tests needed across the population of your colonies and any others within stinging range... the costs are going to escalate rapidly ( let alone those of the barristers fees )

Time for beekeepers to get some insurance for public liability??? ( I am in some doubt if BBKA BDI would stump up the costs for this sort of case... NFU gives us £6,000,000 !)

Yeghes da

 

[alldigging]

Time for beekeepers to get some insurance for public liability??? ( I am in some doubt if BBKA BDI would stump up the costs for this sort of case... NFU gives us £6,000,000 !)

We offer insurance cover within our policy that covers individual beekeepers, who are members of the BBKA (whether joining as individual members, or as registered or partner members of their local association that is in turn a member of the BBKA).

The Public Liability Policy relates to beekeeping activities of those members noted above in the UK and has a £10,000,000 limit of liability.

A Members Liability Verification Certificate is available for members attending farmers markets etc., where proof of cover is required (see Insurance Details on this page).

The Public Liability insurance also covers officers of branches and associations undertaking their activities in connection with their group.

In addition the insurance covers product liability up to £10,000,000. An overall limit of £25,000,000 applies to all claims under this policy in a policy year.

http://www.-------------/members/insurance/public_liability_insurance

With policy wording
http://www.-------------/files/library/cl_2015_policy_wording_1444854145.pdf


bbka website bit missing
I have no idea whether it's been used successfully or not.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

bbka website bit missing
I have no idea whether it's been used successfully or not.

What? the BBKA or the insurance!!

 

[For want of a better word]

We offer insurance cover within our policy that covers individual beekeepers, who are members of the BBKA (whether joining as individual members, or as registered or partner members of their local association that is in turn a member of the BBKA).

The Public Liability Policy relates to beekeeping activities of those members noted above in the UK and has a £10,000,000 limit of liability.

A Members Liability Verification Certificate is available for members attending farmers markets etc., where proof of cover is required (see Insurance Details on this page).

The Public Liability insurance also covers officers of branches and associations undertaking their activities in connection with their group.

In addition the insurance covers product liability up to £10,000,000. An overall limit of £25,000,000 applies to all claims under this policy in a policy year.

http://www.-------------/members/insurance/public_liability_insurance

With policy wording
http://www.-------------/files/library/cl_2015_policy_wording_1444854145.pdf


bbka website bit missing
I have no idea whether it's been used successfully or not.

£6,000,000 is for each individual case ( need to check actual amount)
Advice given to me was that the BBKA policy was cleverly worded to only defend against negligence of the beekeeper....

On warning signs... placing one may lead to a claim that you were AWARE THAT YOU WERE BEING NEGLIGENT


Fortunately such cases are rare
Yeghes da

yEGHES DA

 

[tonyofarr]

This apiary is on a fairly isolated farm with no other neighbours, and it is only there during the summer season because it is too wet during the winter. We were removing 2 supers from a colony that had not cleared the week before (all the other hives had supers that had been removed days earlier) and since the supers were empty and the hives well overdue on checks we decided to do the whole lot in one go.

SWMBO did explain to the woman that the bees were in a grump because we had taken off honey and that they were not usually like that. The people that own the farm have never had a problem with them, although we have had to warn them on more than one occasion not to use the strimmer on the other side of the hedge while the hives are open. The stingy colony is normally ok but we will requeen it.

We always have piriton with us (just in case), the op kept asking what we did when we get stung, the wife said 'take piriton, would you like some?', she kept saying 'no' then asking the same question. Our daughter thinks she was being a drama queen, but the wife thinks she was panicking because her brother is allergic to bees.

 

[tonyofarr]

Forgot to add that we have public liability insurance with the NFU, also members of BBKA.

 

[domino]

I wouldn't worry about it, if she didn't accept the honey when she was cross maybe leave a jar for her?

 

[Erichalfbee]

That will probably be the end of it, especially when you move the hives.
I hope so but you never know.
Folk do strange things especially if they have nothing else to do.
I know it's not the same but I was responsible for a minor back ender in the snow a couple of winters ago. No speed at all, slid into somebody's bumper. Everybody was OK, the "victim" even scrabbled underneath her car to retrieve a pen that had slipped underneath.
The claim ended up 15K for whiplash!

 

[Millet]

DNA test on the bee sting and a test on a sample of bees from your colonies could be used by a clever barrister in court to prove which bees could have caused the sting... at £160 per test and probably 2 to 300 tests needed across the population of your colonies and any others within stinging range... the costs are going to escalate rapidly ( let alone those of the barristers fees )

Time for beekeepers to get some insurance for public liability??? ( I am in some doubt if BBKA BDI would stump up the costs for this sort of case... NFU gives us £6,000,000 !)

Yeghes da

That would make no difference as the bees already received the death penalty and where executed on site.. , as for the woman who got stung she should be thanking the bee keeper, she now knows she can get stung without keeling over.

 

[Anduril]

That would make no difference as the bees already received the death penalty and where executed on site.. , as for the woman who got stung she should be thanking the bee keeper, she now knows she can get stung without keeling over.

Medical Professionals say if you haven't had anaphylaxis within the first half hour you are going to be fine and take piriton. A&E found she was as fit as a fiddle, and her GP will say the same.

 

[IAF]

I don't see she has any case, in reality the land owner was aware and hadn't told his visitor to be careful. She's not dead, you explained and offered an olive branch, what's the problem? Environmental Health will tell you that it needs to be persistent nuisance for a case to be made. It's a one off, with unusual circumstances. Once somebody complained my bees stung them, turned out to be wasps that flew away after the sting, but the complaint was still made. I moved them and caused a catastrophe through rushing.

 

[Obee1]

I had a similar problem last year. Opened one garden hive and the bees were really grumpy. My hives are facing an eight foot high hedge which takes them above the heads of the public nearby. Anyhow I shut the hive promptly and went to stand outside the garden to stop the bees pinging my veil. big mistake! Apparently the bees had found a woman across the road and stung her a few times and as I was in a Beesuit she knew where to complain. Next day - knock on my door. Woman had been to her gp for her stings - receiving no satisfaction there she reported me to the police for keeping bees in the garden. Police said they could do nothing as I was allowed to do so.
I apologised profusely but she was really nasty about it all. I felt awful about it though. long story short bees were moved promptly and I now only keep gentle buckfasts in the garden. In an ideal world I would live in a house with a mahoosive garden with no near neighbours!
Tony, I don't think you did anything wrong. It was up the householder to warn the cat sitter that there were bees in the garden.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Tony, I don't think you did anything wrong. It was up the householder to warn the cat sitter that there were bees in the garden.

That's true
Whenever we have house sitters we lock the gate to the apiary and tell them not to go in as there are bees there

 

[MartinL]

I wouldn't worry about it, if she didn't accept the honey when she was cross maybe leave a jar for her?

Wouldn't waste it on her! Give it to the land owner instead.

I know some who might ask to see the stings???

 

[madasafish]

I give honey only to people who are nice to me.

(The rest I sell to )