How to Not Get Stung When Working With Your Bees

What's the biggest fear people have when they start working with bees? That's right, getting stung. There are a few simple things that you can do to help prevent this from happening to you, and the most important one is learning how to properly care for your beekeeper suit. Knowing a thing or two about bee behavior will also go a long way towards keeping you safe.

The beekeeping suit is actually an amazing piece of equipment. The suit itself usually comes in four to six pieces depending on whether or not it has special boots (usually not). It is made up of a hat, a veil, gloves and a head to toe body suit. The hat will usually be made of the toughest material because you need an anchor point for the veil, which is usually a flexible mesh that you can see through while you work. The gloves are usually thick and guard your hands against getting stung. The suit itself is a very flexible material that is very soft to the touch.

Proper care of the beekeeper suit is essential. You should clean it thoroughly after each trip to your hive. The reason for this isn't only for personal hygiene, but for the safety of your bees. When a bee tries to sting you through the suit it will most likely get caught up in the fabric and protect your skin. While this is good news for you, it's bad news for the bees. The stinger will release a pheromone that will alert the other bees in the hive and signal them to try and sting you as well. If you don't clean the suit properly this pheromone will still be present the next time you go out to your hive. This will again signal the bees to attack, which will only result in the unnecessary deaths of your hardest workers.

You may occasionally see a very experienced beekeeper working without their gloves. This is not recommended for a beekeeping newcomer but there are definite advantages to working without the thick gloves. Some of the tasks required for gathering the honey are very delicate and go much more smoothly when you don't have the gloves in the way. Another reason that some people work without the gloves is because they believe that if they are stung on their hand that they can easily remove the stinger with the opposite hand.

Another interesting belief among many beekeepers is that getting stung repeatedly will help build up an immunity to the bees venom. The more often you get stung, they reason, the more of an immunity your body will build up. There is a certain amount of danger with this practice because bee stings can cause an allergic reaction in many people. Unfortunately the only way to find out if you are allergic is to actually get stung by a bee. Consult with your doctor prior to attempting this on your own as a severe reaction to a bee sting can quickly put you in the hospital.

By keeping your suit properly cleaned and maintained you will help minimize your chance of getting stung. Knowing how your bees behave will get you one step ahead of the game.

Chris Shireman is a beekeeping expert. For great information on beekeeping suit, visit http://www.beekeepinginfocenter.com.