WAYS TO CONNECT WITH HONEY BEES

It's difficult to describe the feeling I get from their tiny feet and flutters. The trust I feel them giving me each time I do this, keeps me coming back for more. 

To make a bee 'drip', you scoop bearding bees. I often do it toward evening.  (If you don't know what bearding is, click here.)

Depending on how many you're able to gently and slowly scoop, you'll end up with a gathering like this, pictured below. 

The bees will stay on my hands for various lengths of time. I start to play with them by moving my fingers apart.  One by one, they will eventually fly off. 

I used an old smoker one time, and only some paper caught on fire. It was about as much smoke as a match gives off. After that, I never used a smoker again. I've read where smokers are a must use. I've even read opinions that say it's mean to not smoke the hive; that the bees are stressed more if a smoker is not used.  I've worried a bit about that statement. I would not want to do anything to hurt or stress my bees. However, I have a different theory, or at least some questions.

The way I understand how a smoker works is that it effectively calms bees because smoke makes them instinctively think their hive is in danger and that they may have to abandon their home right away. The bees quickly gorge on honey to prepare for their fast departure in case they won't have another honey source for a while. Supposedly, the bees are preoccupied with sucking down honey and the gorging makes them less agitated.  I'm unsure of the science behind gorging, but I know humans are less active after a large meal. Maybe it's the same sort of effect.

When the human is done with the inspection (or done with taking the honey) the bees just lived through the tremendous threat that their home was going to be wiped out. They live through this every single time the smoke is used. How is it less stressful for them to endure that then it is when I don't use smoke? 

I think my bees have learned that the sounds and smells associated with me fooling their hive are not a threat.  By not inducing fear via smoke, I think they feel less stressed all the way around. I know this may seem ridiculous to even write about. There are beekeepers with decades of experience out there and there is history dating back thousands of years, and all say the same thing: smoking bees is necessary. 

I just happen to have a sweet hive. For whatever reasons, my bees don't seem inspired to attack me or sting me, so I can't see a reason to change what I'm doing.

I would not presume to tell others what to do. I am not suggesting to stop using a smoker. All I can do is go by what I feel and what I am experiencing. I am new to being a guardian of honey bees. My bees came to me two months ago. I spend time talking to them and touching them nearly on a daily basis. They are often ever ready to climb on my finger. I've blogged about my theories about how bees can sense human's emotions and intentions.  Here's my blog called A SENSE OF WONDER. I think some humans and bees can have a most symbiotic relationship.  I only urge guardians and bee keepers to find ways to make deeper connections with their bees. Any time we increase understanding between life forms, the world benefits.

I may have a hive some day that is not nearly so gentle and kind. All I can do is speak about this hive; the one I have right now, and they seem extraordinarily trusting. I have inspected the hive many, many times and not only do I not smoke them, I don't wear a bee suit or veil. I'm in sleeveless shirts and sandals. I've been stung once on my hand at the end of an inspection. 

Click here to read about my one and only sting so far. I wasn't even sure I got stung.