First off, good for you for getting into beekeeping. It’s a great hobby that makes a big difference in the world.
However…
It’s a bit of a sting in the tail that honeybees are so… stingy.
It’s not like they’re trying to be annoying or anything. Honeybees are only ever aggressive when they feel threatened, and their stingers are actually self-defense mechanisms.
It’s just that they’re kind of overreactive compared to other bees, and it’s super easy to trigger that reaction.
Now, I’m not going to go into the “why” of that.
There’s a whole lot of misinformation out there on the internet, and I’ve seen some really weird theories on why honeybees are so prone to stinging.
The simple fact is that they just are. You’ve got to work with that.
I’m going to show you a way to pick up a nuc of bees without getting stung.
It’s all about handling the bees in a way that doesn’t freak them out. It’s actually pretty easy once you know how.
You see, the reason why new beekeepers make the mistake of getting stung a lot is that they try to “fight” the bees off.
The thing is, when you’re doing that, you’re just squishing the poor bees. They’re not getting all angry and stinging you because you’re trying to get rid of them.
They’re getting all angry and stinging you because you’re squishing them!
If you’ve ever been stung, you’ll know that the stinger gets left in you. This, of course, kills the bee. It’s a suicide mission.
So, what you’re doing when you’re trying to shake the bees off your gloves or squish them against them is you’re just making them more and more likely to sting you.
You see, honeybees release a particular pheromone when they sting which only serves to attract other bees to the area.
That is why you should never squash a bee that’s just stung you.
I know it’s tempting to get your own back, but the poor thing is already dead. You don’t need to kill even more bees by squashing it.
Anyway, the point is, when you’re trying to get a nuc of bees out of your car and into your hive, the last thing you want to be doing is squashing them.
That’s where the “secret” comes in. You don’t actually have to do anything special. You just have to not do the wrong thing.
So, the wrong thing is, of course, squashing the poor things.
The right thing is to just let them crawl around on your gloves and up your arms.
You might be thinking, “But what if they crawl up my sleeves and sting me?”
Well, if you’ve got a whole bunch of bees all crawling up your arms, then that’s just an accident waiting to happen.
However, if you’re only handling a handful of bees at a time, then it’s actually pretty easy to make sure that none of them crawl up your sleeves.
All you have to do is keep them away from your wrists.
You see, that’s the secret. Honeybees are so short that they can’t crawl up your arms without going over your wrists, and that’s the part that’s exposed.
If you think about it, it’s pretty much impossible for them to get to your wrists when you’re wearing full length gloves.
So, all you have to do is wear gloves that are long enough to go over your wrists.
That’s it. That’s the secret. It’s as simple as that.
You see, the reason why most new beekeepers get stung on their wrists is that they’re wearing short gloves, and they’re getting stung on their wrists because they’re squishing bees against their gloves.
The bees, of course, just start crawling up the gloves to get to a part that isn’t squished against their hive.
Of course, it’s the wrists that get stung, because that’s the one part of your arms that’s exposed when you’re wearing short gloves.
Anyway, that’s why you need to wear gloves that go over your wrists. That way, you can handle bees with ease, and you won’t have to worry about getting stung.
If you’re a beginner, I would recommend getting full length gloves that go up to your elbows. It’s pretty much impossible for bees to crawl up your arms when you’re wearing those.
If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, you can try out the “sleeveless” gloves that I use. They’re great because they’re not so cumbersome as the full length ones, but you do have to be a bit more careful not to get stung if you’re wearing these.
Anyway, I hope that helps, and I wish you happy beekeeping without any stings.