It was my 2nd day of running a weed crusher on my 3/4 acre yard. I rented it for a 24 hour period and had one hour left to finish up in the early morning in order to get the machine back to the rental shop on time. After the work was done and the machine returned, I enjoyed a cup of coffee next to my bees. It wasn't much after 9. My bees were noticeably more "buzzy" than any other time I'd heard them. I guessed it was because of the loud noise and disruption to their environment from the weed crusher.
I was just watching them, listening to their buzz and photographing the comings and goings. I focused on watching for the various pollen colors. I always like to see what colors are popular on a given day. The bees were so beautiful, I just had to see more so I opened the hive and only took out one frame. It was full of bees on one side, and half as many on the other side.
The buzzy sound - a bit harried - could still be heard, but the bees weren't flying frantically around me. I was holding the frame with my left hand and keeping it up and down just like it sits in the box, so I wouldn't drip any honey out of the comb. I tried taking photos with my right hand, but I wasn't getting the lighting right and kept trying to maneuver the frame in a better direction, but it's hard with just one hand. Nothing I was doing was working. I decided to just put the frame back and let the hive calm down a bit.
As I went to pick up the frame with both hands, I turned in such a way as to cause my camera to swing from the strap around my neck and conk the side of the hive box. I winced; I knew that must have been loud on the inside. I could hear some bees being startled around me.
Not me, nor my photo! Two stings! I slowly lowered the frame into its spot and just as I did, I felt a pin prick stinging sensation on my middle finger at the base of my main knuckle. I looked down and saw a small whitish somethingerother on my skin. I instinctively brushed it off my hand and proceeded to put the two tops back on the hive. As I picked up my coffee and slowly walked away, I wondered if I'd just been stung. I didn't see a bee land on me and it didn't burn or hurt much at all, so I didn't know.
Inside my house, I downloaded my photos and the little pain I had lasted all of two minutes. I'd read somewhere that the less worried or even concerned a person is about a bee sting, the less swelling there will be and the less pain there is. At that point, I didn't know if I'd been stung since nothing really happened afterward. I just went about my business.
Inside my house, I downloaded my photos and the little pain I had lasted all of two minutes. I'd read somewhere that the less worried or even concerned a person is about a bee sting, the less swelling there will be and the less pain there is. At that point, I didn't know if I'd been stung since nothing really happened afterward. I just went about my business.
From Google Images Later in the day, I decided to google bee sting images to see if finding a white thing on my hand was an indication of the stinger being left behind. It turned out it was! The stinger does get left behind, as well as some of the bee's abdomen. I've read bee stings are simply a regular thing for beekeepers and now I'm part of that club. I guess today I was officially initiated. The extra cool thing I read in my image search was that bee venom is supposed to be good for arthritis, and I have that in several knuckles. Maybe I'll see some medicinal effect come out of this!
The bee on my finger below stayed on me for a long time perfectly content to groom and lick me. This was taken toward evening when I went out to sit beneath the buzz. She did not want to be set back down and she had no interest in flying off. I don't know why she was licking unless it had to do with dampening my skin to clean her feet or something. It left me curious.
Pollen is still coming in. Today I saw mostly orange, a little yellow, and one white.
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I saw my first drone today! It's pictured below on the right. Drones are males and larger than the females. Their only job is to mate with the queen. The don't help out with the hive and they only put a drag on the resources. In the fall when the worker bees (all female) are preparing for winter, the drones will get kicked out of the hive.
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