Bee sting protocol

[Antipodes]

Why would you tolerate this ? I'm not gloveless but I rub a few drops of Olbas Oil on my nitrile disposable gloves and this discourages the bees from landing on or stinging my hands ...

They are commercial though, not back-yarders. We ran into a bloke here recently from NSW. He drove the semi-trailers for a beekeeping operation there with 14000 hives. They are often working them all day, taking them to different places and pollination contracts etc. You couldn't wear nitriles because they just don't breathe and you'd end up with a sopping mess in no time. It's well known to be heavy, hot and hard work. I wear strong leather gloves and those gloves don't worry me at all...

 

[Antipodes]

I suspect because he barely noticed them by now.
It's strange how stings in different places react differently - stings on my hands are usually a few seconds of stinging and hardly any reaction, wrists a bit of swelling but again transient pain, head not much swelling but a bit more tender, face swells a bit.
Doesn't seem to be explained by conventional immunology or anatomy

Teddy Wakefield used to just run each hand down his forearms a few times after working the hives to brush the stings off. I've been told they don't notice them really. Murray Arkadieff told a story once when they were moving a load of bees at night and the truck went over in a wet ditch causing the load to shift. He turned to his employee and said something like "this is going to be the worst night of your life". They each ended up with about 500 strings trying to sort the mess out- if I remember the story correctly.

 

[Sutty]

Teddy Wakefield used to just run each hand down his forearms a few times after working the hives to brush the stings off. I've been told they don't notice them really. Murray Arkadieff told a story once when they were moving a load of bees at night and the truck went over in a wet ditch causing the load to shift. He turned to his employee and said something like "this is going to be the worst evening of your life". They each ended up with about 500 strings trying to sort the mess out- if I remember the story correctly.

500 - ouch!
I imagine for someone without well developed immunity that would have been very different!

 

[Antipodes]

500 - ouch!
I imagine for someone without well developed immunity that would have been very different!

Yes, but of course, as we know, the 501st could have killed.

 

[Sutty]

Yes, but of course, as we know, the 501st could have killed.

You're not going to develop anaphylaxis from the 501st if you haven't before then.
The overall venom load could be very bad news for someone without high antibody titres!

 

[Sutty]

https://www.msdmanuals.com/en-gb/ho...-and-stings/bee,-wasp,-hornet,-and-ant-stings

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

A year or two ago, I decided that I was going for zero tolerance of bee stings. Mostly I'm managing, even when some bees got into my suit on two days last week - till I found the secret gap in a seam (thanks for the tip, Emyr).

So when I was dealing with four big colonies this evening, and was smothered / drowning (take your pick) in bees, I might say they were defensive colonies. However, I'm a bit hesitant to say that because people here talking about defensive colonies usually point to the number of stings they've sustained. But I got no stings, and that's usual nowadays. I use soft tight-fitting leather gloves with latex inside and nitrile outside. The gloves themselves stay clean and dry.

I'm able to pick up queens deftly even with all this hand protection and this year actually clipped them for the first time.

 

[Sutty]

A year or two ago, I decided that I was going for zero tolerance of bee stings. Mostly I'm managing, even when some bees got into my suit on two days last week - till I found the secret gap in a seam (thanks for the tip, Emyr).

So when I was dealing with four big colonies this evening, and was smothered / drowning (take your pick) in bees, I might say they were defensive colonies. However, I'm a bit hesitant to say that because people here talking about defensive colonies usually point to the number of stings they've sustained. But I got no stings, and that's usual nowadays. I use soft tight-fitting leather gloves with latex inside and nitrile outside. The gloves themselves stay clean and dry.

I'm able to pick up queens deftly even with all this hand protection and this year actually clipped them for the first time.

How many stings does your suit & gloves take?
Do you wash the suit?

 

[pargyle]

I suspect because he barely noticed them by now.
It's strange how stings in different places react differently - stings on my hands are usually a few seconds of stinging and hardly any reaction, wrists a bit of swelling but again transient pain, head not much swelling but a bit more tender, face swells a bit.
Doesn't seem to be explained by conventional immunology or anatomy

Best not go there - it's too close to homeopathy ... you'll start another war on here !

 

[polomadh]

We have a protocol. What’s the best way to share it with you?

 

[Newbeeneil]

I suspect because he barely noticed them by now.
It's strange how stings in different places react differently - stings on my hands are usually a few seconds of stinging and hardly any reaction, wrists a bit of swelling but again transient pain, head not much swelling but a bit more tender, face swells a bit.
Doesn't seem to be explained by conventional immunology or anatomy

Your reactions seem similar to mine. I expect a sting to my hands every 2-3 hives so if I inspect 30-40 hives in a day 15 stings would not be unusual.

 

[Erichalfbee]

We have a protocol. What’s the best way to share it with you?

Could you post here and share it with all of us then I could add it to the Stickies

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

How many stings does your suit & gloves take?
Do you wash the suit?

I wash the suit after every session and my hive tool and gloves between every hive. Sometimes there are numerous stings on the suit but I didn't take notice last night, so the answer is Don't know, but probably.

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

I expect a sting to my hands every 2-3 hives so if I inspect 30-40 hives in a day 15 stings would not be unusual.

I think that's pretty good rate if you use bare hands or nitriles. But I've decided that stings to my hands are no longer acceptable (I have my reasons), and I would like others who feel the same to know that it is possible to be a beekeeper and not get stung. It doesn't have to be part of the trade, and not getting stung doesn't necessarily indicate anything other than that you've found a level of protection that works and still allows you to handle bees sensitively.

 

[batheyedoc]

This is a can of worms question. I hadn't been to the club apiary for some time but dropped in for a chat a bit ago. Someone (long term keeper) did get stung as a bee found a gap between zips at the nape of his bee suit neck. The apiary manager insisted on the victim going outside the apiary and sitting down for five minutes. Many of us present with extensive experience of being stung were quite surprised at this.
It's not something which home beekeepers (apart from known allergy sufferers) seem to have problems with and I wonder if others working alone would consider it reasonable to come away from the bees for some period and what they do regarding notifying someone where they are going and how long they are likely to be gone before a session? If they did faint after a sting would it be immediate or with preamble symptoms and would a non beekeeper enter the apiary with an open hive and possibly agitated bees to deal with the casualt

Unless things have changed epipens are not available to the general public in the UK.

You're right - I forgot about that minor detail! Folk with known anaphylaxis (say to peanuts) will carry them, but if you were that allergic to bee venom then I think an alternative hobby would be advisable. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[JamezF]

I think that's pretty good rate if you use bare hands or nitriles. But I've decided that stings to my hands are no longer acceptable (I have my reasons), and I would like others who feel the same to know that it is possible to be a beekeeper and not get stung. It doesn't have to be part of the trade, and not getting stung doesn't necessarily indicate anything other than that you've found a level of protection that works and still allows you to handle bees sensitively.

Amongst some beekeepers there does appear to be a certain amount of machismo about being stung. Don't understand it myself.

James

 

[Sutty]

Amongst some beekeepers there does appear to be a certain amount of machismo about being stung. Don't understand it myself.

James

Agreed, I generally prefer to work gloveless as I am more dexterous and read the bees better, but would be happy with non-stinging bees!
That said & accepting I will get stung sometimes, I would prefer relatively regular sting exposure following an opinion from a endocrinologist some years ago that your highest risk of major reactions/anaphylaxis is probably after a prolonged period away from the bees. I have even considered deliberately getting stung a few times over winter.

 

[Swarm]

I think that's pretty good rate if you use bare hands or nitriles. But I've decided that stings to my hands are no longer acceptable (I have my reasons), and I would like others who feel the same to know that it is possible to be a beekeeper and not get stung. It doesn't have to be part of the trade, and not getting stung doesn't necessarily indicate anything other than that you've found a level of protection that works and still allows you to handle bees sensitively.

I totally agree.
We use marigolds, they enable the bees to be handled sensitively and offer enough protection with only the occasional sting.

 

[hemo]

I rarely get stung , on the hands.
My protocol is blue flocked type marigold main glove and a nitrile over glove, each colony has it's own over gloves and if the over gloves remain usable they are placed under the roof for next time.
Each colony I use a seperate hive tool.

 

[Mint Bee]

I rarely get stung , on the hands.
My protocol is blue flocked type marigold main glove and a nitrile over glove, each colony has it's own over gloves and if the over gloves remain usable they are placed under the roof for next time.
Each colony I use a seperate hive tool.

If you can do that / want to do that its fine. If you have a few apiaries, its definitely a more practical approach to consider apiary biosecurity rather than individual hives.. Plenty of mixing of drones and workers in an apiary rather negates treating individual hives as separate entities, IMO