Organising to Wear a Suit of Bees

[Sir Quej]

Hi Everyone

I have registered here for two reasons really.

The first is that me and my son are looking at becoming bee keepers this year so this site will no doubt be a massive pool of knowledge for us in the future.

The second is that I am trying to arrange to wear a Mantle of bees to raise money for cancer research. Cancer is a subject very close to my heart, having had a father with Lung Cancer and a sister with breast cancer (Both survivors fortunately). To be honest, I have hit a bit of a brick wall. I have emailed my local Association without success (I will try again though) and I am waiting to hear back from the BBKA but just though I would post on a few forums and see if anyone out there could offer me some advice as to someone or an organisation that could arrange this for me.

If anyone out there can offer any advice at all, this would be very much appreciated.

Many Thanks

Marc Butterworth

 

[Silly Bee]

Find yourself a queen, put her in a queen cage, and hang it around your neck. Her girls will join you.

Good luck.

 

[enrico]

Rather you than me. I know nothing about it but can only suggest it would have to be done with a swarm so you will not be able to give a time and a date when you are going to do it. The other thing is have you ver been stung? Just a thought.

 

[Sir Quej]

Thanks Silly Bee, sounds like a good suggestion. I was actually thinking of some sort of bee pheromone but I guess your suggestion would work as well.

 

[Sir Quej]

Thanks Enrico. I havent ever been stung no, why do you ask?

 

[enrico]

Anaphylactic shock can kill you. Get stung first to make sure that you have no adverse reaction. Once one bee stings they give out a pheromone that makes others want to do the same. I trust you are not going to do this with a bare chest! But you may accidentally catch a bee somewhere on your body and it will sting you. Also think carefully how you are going to get them off you. I would suggest you are playing with fire.

 

[AnotherNewBee]

If you haven't been stung you will have no idea whether, or not, you are susceptible to anaphylaxis - which is an extreme medical emergency and can kill you if you don't receive prompt medical treatment.

Knowing how you will react is a very sensible suggestion.

 

[Sir Quej]

Thanks Enrico

I am pretty sure I should be ok as far as Anaphylactic shock goes. i know they are far from being the same but I have been bitten by one of my Turantulas before and other than the obvious seering pain, there was no "Reaction" to talk of.

I definately dont intend to do it bare chested and I do appreciate that there is risk, but I know that Bees are less inclined to sting when fed and smoked and isnt that the risk every beekeeper takes when ever they open thier hives?

As for playing with fire, if the cavemen hadnt played with fire all them years ago, wouldnt we all bee eating raw meat nowadays....lol

Thanks for the advice though.

 

[drex]

Just because you do not react to a tarantula bite does not mean you will not react to bee stings.

Bee temperament can change for many reasons. I understand the queen in a cage is the way forward if you are determined, but make sure you have an experienced beek there anyway.

 

[Silly Bee]

Thanks Enrico

I am pretty sure I should be ok as far as Anaphylactic shock goes. i know they are far from being the same but I have been bitten by one of my Turantulas before and other than the obvious seering pain, there was no "Reaction" to talk of.

I definately dont intend to do it bare chested and I do appreciate that there is risk, but I know that Bees are less inclined to sting when fed and smoked and isnt that the risk every beekeeper takes when ever they open thier hives?

As for playing with fire, if the cavemen hadnt played with fire all them years ago, wouldnt we all bee eating raw meat nowadays....lol

Thanks for the advice though.

Most keepers wear protection when opening the hive.

Pick a nice sunny day when you try it, the girls are happiest then.

 

[enrico]

Wait a while..... I think others will give their opinion through the day. I admire the cause but not the method. Next you have to source the bees, I certainly won't be assisting you with that although I will donate some money to cancer research just to try and stop you doing it. I see where you are coming from but until you have been stung would suggest you are not properly prepared. Thousands of cross bees are maybe different to one spider however big and furry. I will say no more on the matter but wish you successful fund raising.

 

[rae]

Not surprised that the local association doesn't get it: most beekeepers wouldn't get it, and would be thinking "why don't you jump out of an aeroplane or something more sensible!".

There will be people who do this at shows and the like, I would suggest tracking some of them down. I certainly wouldn't suggest hanging a queen round your neck unless you are with someone who has done it before (preferably lots of times). Loads of opportunity for something to go wrong. Even if you are not allergic, 200 bee stings to the head will probably finish you off...

 

[Sir Quej]

Thanks Drex

As suggested, I think it would probably be a good idea to get myself stung to be on the safe side. As for the experience beekeeper, this would definately be a MUST. I have no intention of doing this "off the cuff" so to speak. If it does happen, it will only go ahead once all the necessary (and some probably unecessary) safety precautions have been taken. I am not planning to be stung to death.

 

[Sir Quej]

Thanks for all the invaluable advice Enrico.

Dont worry, I dont intend to go into this without my eyes wide open so to speak. Its advice from experienced people like yourself that i am seeking, hence one of the reasons for me posting here. This isnt something that I have planned to do this year either. As I said, me and my son are looking to get into Bee keeping ourselves so I fully intend to "get to know" the bees before attempting something as dangerous as this. As I told another poster, I am not going into this lightly and if and when this does happen, EVERY precaution will be taken and probably some precautions that are overkill...lol

This is a long term project and i am trying to get as much advice as possible so any advice from experienced keepers like you is platinum (that goes for my beekeeping as well)

Hope to speak to you again soon.

 

[DulwichGnome]

Hi Sir Quej, a quick search on You Tube,
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSMEqCjLmwI[/ame] ,
will show you how it's done.
While I understand you would like to do something to help cancer victims, you may find selling your honey in aid of a charity or volunteering in your local hospice (or both) much more rewarding and just as challenging.

Mike

 

[enrico]

I wasn't aware you were going to get experience first. That makes a massive difference. It didn't read like that in your first message....sorry, using your own bees. Go for it
E

 

[Black Comb]

Don't forget that even if you are not allergic if you are stung by lots of bees the amount of venom in your body in that instance can have very serious consequences.
As other say, donating all the earnings from the sale of honey to charity is a far simpler (and probably more long term) way of giving.

 

[Sir Quej]

Thanks PeterS

Thanks for the advise. I will be doing that also. I already do various bits of fund raising for the charity but came up with this idea for a few reasons.

1) It's already on my bucket list
2) Bees (and all bugs in general) fascinate me.
3) It's a good "high profile" way to raise money and highlight the charity in the press
4) It's a good "High profile" way to show people that Bees are not necessarily the enemy
5) My company will match any money that I raise on one off charity fund raising events

 

[Excession]

Good luck to you, I think your best bet would be to contact someone who has done it before.
Google is your friend!

Also, it would be a single swarm, and I know you get massive swarms in places like Florida, but here? Maybe a beard!
Dont know if you could do it with multiple swarms I would thinks they would fight. One of the more experienced here may advise.

While I applaud your raising awareness of cancer treatments and charity, you might need to pause and think what sort of light this may put Beekeeping in... Especially if it goes wrong and you and or spectators lose their life.

An extreme outcome, but possible. The Daily Mail would love that!

(average bee sting 0.1mg apitoxin, 60,000 bees, that's 6000mg of apitoxin, would it matter if you were allergic or not?!)

 

[bobster]

Thanks PeterS

Thanks for the advise. I will be doing that also. I already do various bits of fund raising for the charity but came up with this idea for a few reasons.

1) It's already on my bucket list
2) Bees (and all bugs in general) fascinate me.
3) It's a good "high profile" way to raise money and highlight the charity in the press
4) It's a good "High profile" way to show people that Bees are not necessarily the enemy
5) My company will match any money that I raise on one off charity fund raising events

Not my cup of tea I'm afraid. And a reposte to your points above.

1) Not too sure I understand this. But there are lots of other good ways to fundraise as mentioned above.
2) They fascinate me too. But I choose to work with my bees rather than use them as a performing circus act.
3) See 1.
4) Until you end up in hospital, sending out rather the opposite message than you'd hoped for. Or for that matter the local reporter who gets stung who wears copious amounts of Brut 33.
5) I assume this is unconditional on the proposed stunt. In which case why not cycle from Leeds to Bradford via Paris and raise just as much money.

If you do do it make sure you have insurance ....

Regards,

Bobster