1. deep woods off does not work. in fact, you could probably market it off label as a bee attractant.
2. absently scratching an itchy spot up the leg of your jeans is not a good idea. chances are, it's a bee just crawling around in there. doing it a second time, after being stung, is just plain stupid.
3. the person who said "bees are our friends" was lying. it's right up there with the "flicka" and "black beauty" lies about horses. bees are fighting to keep the honey that i want. they are pretty good at it!
that said, i wanted to thank the people who shared their sting stories. i would have been out there in a tank top and shorts without those stories and it would have been very messy! and.....yes to the gloves :twisted:
LMAO!
No insect repellant doesn ot work. Congradulations.
If you are not comfortable with your bees yet. Tape around the ankles and wrists to prevent them from crawling in is a good idea.
Your bees don't think of you as another bee or member of the hive. You are the person who comes into their house and rips out the walls and takes away the food. If I were a bee I wouldn't like you either.
Gloves are very good if you are not comfortable yet with your bees. However please note: Never take a pair unclean gloves and eamine another persons hive. You must clean the cloves first. By clean we mean bacteria and germ free. The best way to pass fungus and bacteria is to move dirty gloves between hives.
Sincerely,
Brendhan
LMAO=????
How would you recomend cleaning leather gloves, Understudy? I guess nothing less than bleach would kill any potential spores but, wouldn't that ruin the leather?
the stings were not so bad. it was just hard not to rip my pants off in the middle of the field. not that anyone was around, but it would be my luck for the PGE guy to show up, or the mailman needing a signature, as i am trotting around the pasture in my skivvies :D
it's MOPP 4 next time!
Considering you know what Mopp 4 is, you should also blouse your boots next time. If I'm in the hive, I'm in protective gear. I was stung only once last year and it was catostrophic. I got nailed in the boney part of the ankle as I was carrying a deep loaded with honey to the truck. I twisted and herniated two discs - haven't known a day without back pain since. Boots - not sneakers and socks.
I do believe your bees know you, but you in turn should know your bees. If you rob them they will try and sting you.
Understudy has a very good point concerning gloves, spores and bacteria. Leather gloves can be cleaned in your washing machine on the delicate cycle with cold water. When the machine is finnished put you hand in the wet glove to stretch it back out then hang dry in a place away from direct sun light and heat. They also have anti bacterials on the market that would work as well for your gloves as your hands - bee sure it's the unscented stuff though.
8)
I assume by "antibacterials" you're reffering to those rubbing alchohol based "gel-soaps"?
QuoteConsidering you know what Mopp 4 is, you should also blouse your boots next time.
boots? next you'll tell me to stop using strawberry shampoo!!
I have gone from a full bee suit with gloves and boots (April of this year) to a jacket / veil and gloves sometimes. I got stung twice in the legs today and they itch a little. Some days, like today, the bees are hot. Other days they are calm. I try to always wear a veil but I have on occasion looked in a hive or two with no veil.
Getting stung is part and parcel with being a beekeeper, but only a novice or over convident beekeeper fails to dress appropriately when going into bees.
When I was a Teenager I use to go into my hives wearing nothing but my bathing suit. The thing is--you never know when that STING is going to happen, like the one that fcderosa related.
To fcderosa: I got my back rearranged by 6 teenagers with a 2 x 4 when I was a Police Officer and have been in constant pain for over 30 years. Try to learn to live with it and do as much as you can for as long as you can.
Quote from: Apis629I assume by "antibacterials" you're reffering to those rubbing alchohol based "gel-soaps"?
No, I'm sorry, I was refering to the clorine beach type. Clorox has wipes that can be used. I don't know if the alcohal based stuff would effect spores and such.
Yes, boots. You can wear flipflops but if you get stung in the foot whose fault is it really. The stinger was put on the bees for a reason - to protect the hive. If you pose a threat, they'll use their God given defense. If the bees pose a threat we should use our defense - our brain, and protect those areas we don't want stung. While I agree with Brian that getting stung is part of the calculated risk of beekeeping, there is no reason we shouldn't reduce that risk. From reading some of the horror stories on this forum, you should realize wierd stuff happens - why not minimize the risk. I just can't imagine being stung hundreds of times in one incident, all it takes is one stupid accident. I don't blame the bees for my incident, I blame myself. I got cocky and over confident, they in turn humbled me. Nature will do that.
Strawberry shampoo? There was a whole string on scents and bees reactions to them. I tried not drinking coffee but popped some honey candy in my mouth before working the hives. It sounds stupid but it actually worked, the bees were alot calmer. Now I pop some honey candy whenever I work the hives - it still works and I really don't mind the excuse to eat some honey candy. :wink:
Thanks Brian - I know. It's nothing like what you went through. I ended up two months in traction, but I'm walking on my own now. There's good days, and bad days - and there's always tomarow.
The LMAO part was in reference to the use of insect repellant to keep the bees away.
I use the same gloves on both my hives as they sit 2 feet from each other. However I do not take them over to my neighbors hives or for feral removal without cleaning them first. You never know where those feral bees have been. :)
Sincerely,
Brendhan
MOPP 4!!!
To much dang charcoal to deal with after you strip back down, unless you are inclined to use the Saratoga suits.
Hey you are a very resourceful lady. Certainly you could get a green flight suit. I used one this spirng while working some very strong hives on rainy days. It worked well for keeping the stings abay. Probably not nearly as hot as the MOPP gear either. Especially those nasty rubber gloves and boots.
if you take the MOPP gear to a laundrymat and wash it about 10 times, most of the charcoal will wash away. we used to do that with our training gear.......
Now they sell it to hunters as "No Scent".
the boots and shampoo thing was a bit of a joke. because i have horses, i always wear at least hiking boots.
the bees were quiet agitated yesterday. i should have left them alone, but i had a couple of things i needed to do before vacation.
the real humor in the whole thing for me was that i was the most covered i have ever been. the only thing i lacked was the duct tape. since MOPP gear is way to hot, i'll grab the tape next time.
>1. deep woods off does not work. in fact, you could probably market it off label as a bee attractant.
A lot of mosquito repellants contain citral or a close relative, citronella. Both are bee attractants. Citral is one of the essential ingredients in Nasonov pheromone.