Run! It’s a Bee…
Is Being Stung a Badge of Honor for the Beekeeper?
But is it a “weakness” to have never been stung? No, it’s not. Let’s first consider your actions.
Avoiding bee stings is not rare!
What if You Are Allergic to Bee Stings?
Should You Avoid Bee Stings?
Did we really ask that question (given what we just said)? Yes, we did, and suspect we confused you!
Why Do Bees Sting?
The First Sting
So let’s state that again – bees sting when they feel threatened.
The Potential for More Stings
What Exactly IS a Bee Sting?
Mechanics
Let’s say a bee has decided to sting you. What exactly happens?
Chemistry
Great news! Bee venom is around 88% water, by volume. What could go wrong?!!!
Well, the other 12% isn’t that great.
Nature has designed bee venom to be very effective at what it does!
Which Bees Sting?
- Drones don’t have stingers. So that’s simple! Pick a drone up, roll him around (gently, because you are a kind soul) and whisper to him you have evil intentions – but he still won’t be able to sting you!
- Queens have stingers but rarely sting. It is rare to hear of people being stung by a queen, even if only because of the numbers (thousands of workers vs. one queen). But she is certainly not inclined to use her stinger anyway.
- Workers have stingers and know how to use them! If we are stung by one of our bees, it’s almost certainly a worker.
How Do Bee Stingers Differ?
How Do Bee Stings Feel?
- The pain varies. First, the degree of perceived pain is dependent on the location of the body where the stinger lands. As a rule, stings on or around the face are bad news at so many levels and will pack a punch. You REALLY want to avoid being stung on the head, even more so than other parts of the body.
- The body adjusts. Our bodies are remarkable and will adjust to handle the pain a little better as you are stung more.
- The itching. For many it’s not really the sting itself that is the most discomforting, but the itching afterwards.
What Can You Do to Prevent Bee Stings?
Suit Up, Especially Up Top
Assuming you are not in the “not a real beekeeper till you are stung…” camp, it makes a ton of sense to minimize the chances of being stung with protective clothing.
Let’s make a simple statement – protect your head!
That’s a common message you will see from PerfectBee. Stings on other parts of the body are not good and are also to be avoided, but they can generally be tolerated. But stings to the wrong place on the head can do much more damage than merely a little pain.
Commit to never doing a hive inspection without at least a veil to protect your head. It’s just not worth doing otherwise.
Again, it isn’t too difficult to find a more experienced beekeeper who feels this is unnecessary. But we urge real caution because the damage from a sting in the wrong place can greatly outweigh the minor inconveniences of covering your head.
Be Calm
Bees read us. Regardless of if or how they do this, it is easy to see a relationship between how we act and how they act. One of the best habits you can learn as a beekeeper is the art of being calm and gentle around your bees.
A hive inspection is a rather intrusive act. We take the roof off our bee’s home. Depending on the type of hive, we might break it apart into chunks (we’re thinking about the removal of boxes here)! Then we go inside each of those chunks and – one by one – take out big sections of their home (the frames). We do all this while our bees are at home and wanting to conduct their business.
How would you like that?
Yet, in the big scheme of things, bees remain pretty calm despite all this. They generally just carry on and ignore us. Even when we lift out a frame, the bees on that frame will just keep on doing what they are doing. It really is a special thing to watch. The majority of inspections we do, even with all this upheaval for our bees, do not involve a bee sting. Bees tolerate us well!
Yet if we go at this abruptly or aggressively our bees can be visibly shaken. Their response to our inspection can shift from casual indifference to a much more frenzied situation, evident both from the volume of buzzing and the number of airborne bees. And THAT increases your chances of being stung.
Approach your bees with respect and with calmness and you will go a long way towards reducing the chances of being stung.
Don’t Do an Inspection in Cold Weather
Bees dislike wind, rain, and cold. Avoid these wherever possible and wait for a warmer, sunnier day.
Inspect While They Are Out Foraging
This is really just a probability factor, but consider timing your inspections to be between mid-morning and mid-afternoon, when many workers are out foraging.
Wear Bright Clothes
Bees dislike dark clothing since they perceive it as more of a threat than the traditional white protective clothing that most beekeepers wear (who choose that color for precisely that reason).
Don’t Swat Bees
You may be surrounded by 60,000+ eager bees and you think swatting a bee is going to help? See above (calmness….)!
Don’t Run Away
Bees can fly up to 18 mph. You might want to reflect on that before you turn yourself into this rushing torpedo – at all of 10 mph – that bees will see and catch quite easily. If you have been stung, gather your wits, keep your cursing to yourself, and calmly walk away from the hive to remove the stinger.
That very intentional calmness, albeit in the face of a little pain, will go some way towards reducing the chance of another sting.
Don’t Assume Bees Love Your Fragrance
They don’t. We are hoping we don’t need to expand on this but going over the top with your perfume or aftershave isn’t a good thing!
Use a Smoker
Smokers – which are not always a requirement – have the apparent effect of calming your bees. Ironically, this is actually because they are freaking out!
It is thought that the smoke you waft over the hive is interpreted by bees as “Fire!!!”. Their first thought is to get out of there. But they also know that if they leave, they need to be full up with nutrients, since their new home won’t have honey. So, they dive back into the hive and start eating!
Smokers are an effective tool in “calming” your bees.
Coping with Bee Stings
Don’t Panic
You ignored the guy (it’s almost always a guy!) who tells you that you can’t be considered a beekeeper till you have been stung! You are the one who treated your bees with respect, acted calmly, and followed best practices around them to reduce the chance of being stung. You are all over this and have it nailed. So, that makes you a thoughtful beekeeper.
Except…. you just got stung! It happens. Now what?
Move Away
First off, resist the urge to panic. Yes, it’s going to hurt a tad but, as we’ve seen, that only makes things worse. Because a bee that stings is giving off the alarm pheromone inviting others to join in the fun, step away from the hive, and take care of things.
Get the Stinger Out
No one likes the idea of venom flowing in your body, so you are going to be pretty motivated to remove the stinger. The longer the stinger remains in your skin, the more that venom will irritate.
There is something of a debate about this point. A long-held theory is that it’s more important to gently and very carefully remove the stinger, so as to not risk breaking the venom sac more, thus releasing more venom. This has resulted in all manner of suggestions as to how to gracefully and gradually remove the stinger, in no hurry. A common suggestion is to scrape the stinger out with an edge of something like a credit card, rather than pull it with tweezers.
The general thinking has evolved now to the point where the time taken to remove the stinger is considered more important than whether the venom sac is broken. So, focus on getting the stinger removed reasonably quickly rather than “artfully”.
Clean Up
With the stinger out, time to protect the wound. First wash the area with soap and water, to reduce the possibility of infection.
Apply an Ointment
The success of this will vary from person to person, but ointments can help a great deal. Have a tube handy in your beekeeping suit or toolkit. Whatever you do, don’t scratch the wound, unless you have a cunning plan to extend the pain!
Place on Ice
The wound may start to swell. If so, combat that by placing it on ice to reduce that swelling.
Take Benadryl
After a sting or two (or maybe earlier!) you will realize that the worst part of a bee sting is not the moment of the sting but the potential for itching and swelling that comes later. If you have signs of either, then take some Benadryl and take a rest.
In Summary
We don’t adhere to the belief that you can only consider yourself a good beekeeper when you have been stung. But we also know that stings do happen. With the qualifier about the 2% with an allergic reaction, bee stings are nothing to be scared about.
Understand why bee stings happen.
Learn how to minimize the possibility they will happen.
Have a calm, measured plan if you happen to be stung.
That’s really about it…
For more information about bee stings, check out this video from The University of Guelph.