Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
MEMBER BULLETIN BOARD => GREETINGS/TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF => Topic started by: for-all-love on May 18, 2019, 03:26:32 pm
-
I'm a new-bee and have just discovered this site. I've had bees about a month and have, due to lack of proper equipment, left them alone--I did my first (partial) inspection a couple of days ago and all seemed to be well. (I only looked at a couple of frames before the bees seemed to get a little irate. It was evening and maybe I was disturbing their supper. :smile: This third time, I didn't get stung at all, despite only wearing a (light-colored) thin long sleeved shirt (still don't have a bee jacket in my size).
I live in northeast Oklahoma and our weather hasn't been cooperating with our garden planting. The perennials and weeds have bloomed, but we've been late getting other plants done. Fortunately, there is a good nectar flow, as evidenced by pollen on bees entering the hive. We're only secondarily interested in the honey and other by-products. Our green beans didn't set last year, despite copious flowers. We're hoping having bees in the back yard will encourage flower pollination.
My username is a reference to a phrase popular in the works of Patrick O'Brian.
- Ted
-
Welcome to Beemaster Ted.
Jim Altmiller
-
Welcome!
-
Welcome! ... just make sure you have a veil. You don't want to get stung in (or around) the eyes.
-
Welcome :happy:
-
Welcome! ... just make sure you have a veil. You don't want to get stung in (or around) the eyes.
Most definitely. My first, less than perfect, interaction with the bees came when the hives fell over after a rainstorm. They were not happy. I didn't know about wearing light colored clothing and wore a thin, dark short sleeved shirt and a veil. All I got set back up was the lowest section. I had to rush off because they were too intense--I was being stung. The next time, I wore my heavy black leather jacket, which meant I didn't get stung, but the bees felt threatened. I got the hive reassembled, but didn't know that the entrance should be facing the southeast (it currently faces the north). The third unpleasant interaction was when I was applying motor oil to the feet of the support to repel ants. The bees apparently didn't like the smell. One or two bees got inside my veil, but I wasn't stung; they just wanted out.
It is definitely a series of learning experiences.
-
:grin: you already know about wearing a veil - to be sure! I had a hive knocked over by a storm-downed tree earlier this year. They can surely get defensive at such times. :grin: I'm glad everything worked out ok for you.
-
Welcome Ted! :smile: