Subject: Re: Thinking about diving in question

From: [email-masked] (Peter Amschel)
Date: 9 Mar 1996 16:26:44 GMT

The willies are good! It is really awesome to open your own flourishing hive 
and have thousands of bees hovering around going in and out. Protective gear 
will keep the heebie jeebies from totally discouraging you. I wear the full 
outfit while  working my one hive - safari hat, veil, jumpsuit, ventilated 
gloves with elastic cuffs and velcro strips to bind down the pants cuffs. 
The smoker really does calm them down too. If their anxiety is rising and 
their buzzing is getting more intense, for example, while they are crowding 
on the top of your frames with the cover off, a few puffs of smoke will 
quiet them and they will go down into the hive. I hear that the smoke goofs 
up their anxiety pheremones. You have to be sure your whole outfit is secure, 
for example one time I forgot my pants cuffs binders and the little ladies 
found that my ankles were available to them! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! One beekeeping 
book says that you should always wear your protective gear and notes that a 
lion trainer would not enter the lion cage without his protective equipment. 
As you get more comfortable with them, you can sit by their beeway and watch 
them work without your suit and later you can take your gloves off while 
working the bees. I still have not done the latter. Some people, like me, 
think stings are rather groovy. Scrape the stinger and sack off the skin with 
a fingernail or bee hive tool instead of pinching it, put some ice on it and 
then sit back in your easy chair and enjoy the experience.

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From: Marianne Lepa <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 08 Mar 1996 20:49:27 -0800

Hello,
I've been 'lurking' in this group for the last month or so and decided to 
jump in with a question that may sound a bit weird to you experienced 
souls. I have a vegetable market garden and have been considering the 
possibility of keeping bees as a sideline, not only for their role as 
pollinators but for honey and beeswax which I use a lot of.

The main thing that I would like to know before I go any further in my 
investigations is: Do you ever get past the 'heebie jeebies' about all 
the bees crawling on you? This isn't a flame, I'm quite serious about 
starting into beekeeping but my skin crawls when a bee(s) land on me. I 
have been practicing staying calm and have tried to 'talk' to the bees (I 
read this somewhere). I'm wondering if this feeling would prevent me from 
ever being able to handle a hive?

Thanks for any input,
Marianne
-- 
As soon as I have something important to say, I'll put it here.

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From: [email-masked] (Rita Pirone Noak)
Date: 13 Mar 1996 02:25:44 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, Marianne Lepa <[email-masked]> says:

DIVE!

Chris Noak
Austin, Texas

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From: [email-masked] (Allen Dick)
Date: Sun, 17 Mar 96 09:29:48 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>,
   Marianne Lepa <[email-masked]> wrote:

>the bees crawling on you?

Yes, I think so.  I can't speak for everyone, but when I first 
tried handling bees, I was pretty terrified of bees and almost 
imagined they could read my mind :)

Now I'm running about 3,000 hives and for years I've often worked my 
bees without a veil or suit when conditions were right.

As far as the crawling, I really don't mind them walking on me, if 
they are in a good mood, but I draw the line at having them go into my 
ears or nose.  I don't like them getting under my clothes either, 
because they are likely to get pinched and then (understandably) sting 
me.

When our son was about five, one day we happened to look outside (we 
kept hives next to our house) and noticed that he had opened a hive. 
Not only hade he removed a number of the frames with bees and brood 
and leaned them up against the hive, just like his dad. But he was 
calmly looking them over for a queen.

What was he wearing?  Bare feet, shorts, no shirt and no veil!
Start with a reasonably bee tight outfit, then relax your guard as you 
learn to understand trust your bees.

Getting stung occasionally is healthy.

Regards

Allen

W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper                                    VE6CFK
Rural Route One, Swalwell, Alberta  Canada  T0M 1Y0
    Honey, Bees, & Art <http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/~dicka/>

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From: [email-masked] (Allen Dick)
Date: Sun, 17 Mar 96 09:29:48 GMT

Regards

Allen