Who breaks 'the rules' then?

[kazmcc]

PH (who is very male his wife says!)

You must be in her good books then heh heh

 

[mexbigshow]

i have my hat with veil to hand and if the bees are looking aggressive it gets put on, i wear jumpers n trousers if the weather is cold, it may take 1 sting to the eye to be blind but it also takes 1 car when crossing the road to be killed yet a cross roads multiple times a day

 

[Bees Plus]

My bees always break the rules so I have to follow them.

I was told the Bees will always know best.

 

[mexbigshow]

mexbigshow

- just bear in mind that one day you may lift out a frame, one of the lugs breaks and it falls and crushes enough bees to fill the air with "sting that *******" pheromone!!

I'm ex RAF and 99% of flying training was to prepare for the worst case.....

the hive in question is a top bar hive so the lugs wouldn't easily break off

 

[mexbigshow]

Hi Mex. I'm not having a go, each to their own, but why do you choose to wear as little as possible? I understand some people like to tempt fate.....that's what all this parachuting off tall buildings is about lol. Is it like that?

Do you ever wear trousers and a jumper instead lol ( just playing )

You would never suggest a beginner to inspect with no protection though would you? Our mentor didn't wear a suit when he first took our group to a hive. One of my group then thought that if Mentor could do it, then so could he. He was always trying to get away with as little protection as possible, but I run a school hive, and insist that everyone is seen to be fully protected so the children are not lulled into a false sense of security around them. I thought maybe he got a kick out of the danger.

Anyway, he got his own bees recently and was stung quite a lot. He had to borrow a school suit while he ordered one lol. He's very upfront about it, and says it was his own daft fault, but lesson learnt now I think

Hi kaz, wouldn't know about the thrill seeking, i used to cower by the sight of bees n wasps like you used to, have you ever seen a 6 foot 5 17 stone man running round a beer garden scared of a little bee lol

 

[Skyhook]

the hive in question is a top bar hive so the lugs wouldn't easily break off

But far more likely that comb will break off, with the same effect.

 

[Skyhook]

Rule #1 There are no rules

What's rule 2?

 

[Drew]

What's rule 2?

Always obey rule 1

HTH

 

[madasafish]

There is only one simple rule to follow..
Always think through the consequences of "What happens if...."

So bees and heights are a no go for me - I hate heights.. (Was offered a swarm 30 feet high outside a chimney on last Thursday. Politely declined)

 

[Poly Hive]

If you believe that the bees ALWAYS know best then trouble looms.

PH

 

[Luminos]

Utter madness. Mend your ways before you lose an eye!!

"Mend your ways"....my dad used to say that after he'd read my school report...

 

[Headnavigator]

If you believe that the bees ALWAYS know best then trouble looms.

PH

Now that's worth thinking about - can you say more, please PH?

 

[Dishmop]

There has to be some kind of rules or basics or whateverever you want to call them because quite honestly, some people have no common sense no matter how many times they are told.
Its against the law and dangerous to use a cell phone when driving...... how many people do you see every day doing it????????
If I open my hive with or without my gear on and get stung.....it's my fault......I was disturbing the bees........thier hive..........thier food and queen they are protecting.
You drive over the speed limit and get caught, who's fault is it?
You open a hive get stung, who's fault is it?
You sit on a bee that you didnt see, and get stung, who's fault is it?
You learn............. but you get complacent.

 

[Poly Hive]

No HN because I posted it to make some do some thinking instead of having it all on the plate as they so often want.

Education requires some independent work.

PH

 

[Moggs]

Interesting debate. Rules or no rules? Depends on risk doesn't it? Risk to colony, risk to beekeeper's well-being, risk to public, risk to honey harvest.

There are guidelines of course, established over hundreds of years of beekeeping. Then there are bees! I was certainly grateful for the rules when I started (which wasn't so long ago, in relative terms). It's only lately that I have been able to relax the rules, according to my knowledge of the bees and my experience (part of that experience, for example, that tells me *never* to open a colony without a veil - each to their own bravado/ foolishness).

I think that it's not necessarily about number of hives and number of days, weeks, months, years - it's about 'bee-hours' that bolsters that experience.

As a new beekeeper, the rules were certainly useful in preventing me from making too many costly mistakes.

 

[davemacdon]

I think rules should be relisted as guidance.
When I started woodturning, I went to a wood working show where one "expert" stated that he had never had a lesson. He did however state that as long as what he did was safe, who is there to say that the process should be carried out one way in preference to another?

Whilst I agree with this statement, and am open minded to new techniques in woodworking and beekeeping, I am aware that we need to take into consideration the wellbeing of the bees and the surrounding colonies - disease etc.

It is for this reason that I tend to follow the "rules", however as a beginer, I do make some mistakes and either I or my bees suffer. My aim is to maximise them and the hobby that I have taken up. To learn from others mistakes and to try and not recreate them.

Dave.

 

[tonybloke]

i have my hat with veil to hand and if the bees are looking aggressive it gets put on, i wear jumpers n trousers if the weather is cold, it may take 1 sting to the eye to be blind but it also takes 1 car when crossing the road to be killed yet a cross roads multiple times a day

sorry Mex, but that's a crap analogy!!

 

[mexbigshow]

sorry Mex, but that's a crap analogy!!

i'll tell mi mate that the next time i'm at the cemetery

 

[kazmcc]

Hi kaz, wouldn't know about the thrill seeking, i used to cower by the sight of bees n wasps like you used to, have you ever seen a 6 foot 5 17 stone man running round a beer garden scared of a little bee lol

Lol

Oh yes. I've been there. Many times haha. Many times indeed

 

[Skyhook]

i have my hat with veil to hand and if the bees are looking aggressive it gets put on, i wear jumpers n trousers if the weather is cold, it may take 1 sting to the eye to be blind but it also takes 1 car when crossing the road to be killed yet a cross roads multiple times a day

I bet you look first though- you dont just assume that because it was OK last time, it will be OK this time.