Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: 10framer on March 13, 2013, 10:59:50 am

Title: how many?
Post by: 10framer on March 13, 2013, 10:59:50 am
this is just for fun.  i don't wear gloves or a suit/jacket when i work my bees.  i used to do a lot of cut outs and i can think of one time when i took around 30 stings just on my hands. 
i'm pretty sure that back when re-queened 1000s of hives in august every year there were days where i took more than that.  but that is one time i remember counting because i had a guy with me that had never done a cut out and he was counting his.  also i remember because these bees were in a building that was being demolished and the wall was laying on top of a pile of rubble.
any way......

what's the highest number of stings anyone has taken in one day?
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: iddee on March 13, 2013, 11:02:33 am
In one day?? 200 plus

In one week??  200 plus 5 days in a row.
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: fshrgy99 on March 13, 2013, 11:20:45 am
 200-300! :shock: Was stung twice last year, once at the beginning of the season and once at the end  :shock:

I'm thinking you maybe don't mind so much? (if you're taking 200-300 in day!)

In the utubes where beeks are retrieving swarms barehanded are they being stung that much? Seems like JP will comment that he got stung once or twice when doing a cutout in some of his vids.

I'm thinking I'm not much interested in doing a cut out if it means hundreds of stings ... until I build up my immunity that is :)
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: T Beek on March 13, 2013, 11:37:08 am
iddee;   WOW!  Even when I worked w/ a Big migratory outfit (1-1500 hives) in the 70's I never got more than a few at any one time.  I usually don't wear gloves and rarely get stung by my bees.  Maybe one or two times last summer.

I was stung by ground hornets around 100 times, all in the face and hands while cutting firewood one summer.  I just dropped my saw on the ground and let it run out of gas before retrieving it, and they were still p.o.d.  Since then I only cut firewood during winter months  :-D

I never been stung retrieving a swarm.  Cut outs are another story, but I dress for it  ;) and don't do them too often.
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: TwT on March 13, 2013, 12:22:47 pm
My count is 120 at one time, that's what happen when you accidentally knock over a hive, I dont know how bears do it, they covered me lol.
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: Kathyp on March 13, 2013, 12:26:52 pm
maybe 10 or so doing a cutout in an attic. 
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: rwurster on March 13, 2013, 12:52:55 pm
100+ when a swarm fell on my head and down my right side.  I quit counting after 100 and just scraped the stingers out of my arm.
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: 10framer on March 13, 2013, 01:41:09 pm
iddee;   WOW!  Even when I worked w/ a Big migratory outfit (1-1500 hives) in the 70's I never got more than a few at any one time.  I usually don't wear gloves and rarely get stung by my bees.  Maybe one or two times last summer.

I was stung by ground hornets around 100 times, all in the face and hands while cutting firewood one summer.  I just dropped my saw on the ground and let it run out of gas before retrieving it, and they were still p.o.d.  Since then I only cut firewood during winter months  :-D

I never been stung retrieving a swarm.  Cut outs are another story, but I dress for it  ;) and don't do them too often.

we re-queened in august with a full field force and no flow.  probably went through 100 crowded brood chambers on the average day.  we weren't taking our time and being gentle.  i'm sure i took at least a sting per hive doing that.  
i remember one time i was going to put a deep full of honey back on another deep and ended up in an awkward position and rested it against my leg and it was covered in bees i took a local hit of 15 or 20 in the thigh.  
another guy used to call me in on cut outs if the bees were really hot because i would just take the hits and keep going.  i think maybe he didn't like heights either.  
i started doing this in my early teens at a large operation so i just don't think much about being stung.  i use very little smoke unless i have a really bad colony to deal with.  i still have the "commercial" mentality when it comes to going through a hive.  get in, access, adjust, and get out in the shortest time possible.  
i can got through all my hives with no stings some days and take 4 or 5 on others.  i work them in a tee shirt and some are just because bees get up my sleeves and end up mashed.  i used to wear shorts but having to stop to get a crawler out in a hurry can be time consuming.
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: RHBee on March 13, 2013, 02:29:17 pm
Five on one day is my max. Hats off to you guys. Based on what you all are saying I'd better toughen up. I want to reach a point that I go thru 100 hives a day. I don't mind stings to most places other than my fingers and my head (ears, nose, around eyes). The ones on my fingers makes it harder to continue due to swelling. I've considered purposely getting two or three stings each day to help reduce my reactions.
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: hardwood on March 13, 2013, 02:57:46 pm
Too many to bother counting :-D

Scott
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: Michael Bush on March 13, 2013, 03:07:05 pm
It's hard to count when they are all happening at once...
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: edward on March 13, 2013, 03:48:24 pm
 :oops: With a leaky bee suit and  :evil: angry bees  :evil: and a beekeeper beekeeping when he shouldn't have  :thunder: in rainy weather :thunder:

 :oops: I got about 50  :oops:

Learned my lesson, now I get about 10 a season.

mvh edward  :-P
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: iddee on March 13, 2013, 06:10:58 pm
Back when this redneck had no money, all I had was a home made veil and no gloves. We were going to remove a colony from an old, empty house. When we opened them and smoked them, it was like they didn't know there was smoke being used. 200 plus stings that day, we got them in a hive and left it in the yard for the stragglers to come to.

Next day, they were working the hive just fine. That's when we saw that there was another hive in the wall next to them. That is where the stings were coming from. We hadn't smoked them. Same thing again. 200 plus stings getting the second hive. Repeat. Finally tore the whole side of the house off, even toppling the chimney. Five hives total, with too many stings to count, but managed to count 1000 plus in the five days.
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: Georgia Boy on March 13, 2013, 07:45:54 pm
Holy crapola Iddee. I think I would have just gave up and went home. :)

David
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: iddee on March 13, 2013, 09:15:06 pm
Georgia Boy, I have taken full grown raccoons and a bobcat home alive. I've had my arms looking like hamburger clear up to my elbow from claws. I never learned the meaning of "give up".
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: RHBee on March 13, 2013, 10:07:57 pm
Georgia Boy, I have taken full grown raccoons and a bobcat home alive. I've had my arms looking like hamburger clear up to my elbow from claws. I never learned the meaning of "give up".

I don't want to stray off topic but I've had the pleasure of crossing horns with a full grown boar coon. All I can say is WOW. Nothing nice about one. They don't quit either.
All that comes to mind is "You gotta really want it". The five cutouts with home made equipment goes right along with it. Hats off to ya man.
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: Georgia Boy on March 13, 2013, 10:10:38 pm
All I can say is darn!!!!!!!  :) :) :) :) :)
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: 10framer on March 13, 2013, 11:42:52 pm
Georgia Boy, I have taken full grown raccoons and a bobcat home alive. I've had my arms looking like hamburger clear up to my elbow from claws. I never learned the meaning of "give up".

I don't want to stray off topic but I've had the pleasure of crossing horns with a full grown boar coon. All I can say is WOW. Nothing nice about one. They don't quit either.
All that comes to mind is "You gotta really want it". The five cutouts with home made equipment goes right along with it. Hats off to ya man.

yeah, that's pretty hard core coons and cornered squirrels can surprise you with how much damage one fairly small animal can do. 
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: schawee on March 14, 2013, 03:19:08 am
67 times the  cutout .I called it th hive from hell.two weeks in the beeyard and were very gentle bees
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: BeeMaster2 on March 14, 2013, 06:44:38 am
10 stings from honey bees, first week of beekeeping.  Dropped a broken frame, trash frame from the nuc, and they crawled up my leg and got me. Did not swell up too bad.
About 20 yellow jacket stings from spraying climbing ivy to get rid of it. This was right after going through 4 strong hives without getting a single sting.
Jim
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: 10framer on March 14, 2013, 08:57:28 am
yellow jackets hurt.  i have a family history of being highly allergic to them and it feels like someone is hitting me with a hammer every time my heart beats when i get one.
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: 10framer on March 14, 2013, 09:05:37 am
Five on one day is my max. Hats off to you guys. Based on what you all are saying I'd better toughen up. I want to reach a point that I go thru 100 hives a day. I don't mind stings to most places other than my fingers and my head (ears, nose, around eyes). The ones on my fingers makes it harder to continue due to swelling. I've considered purposely getting two or three stings each day to help reduce my reactions.

ray, i've taken two below the eye this year and a few on the top of my head.  i don't even notice stings to my fingers that's probably where i get the least reaction.  it's the soft places that hurt. 
i also believe that bee stings are good for arthritis so i usually try to get stung a few times every couple of days.
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: edward on March 14, 2013, 05:48:15 pm
My first sting was in the face beefore the first hour was up on my first beekeeping lesson  :-D

Came back for more  :ninja:

mvh edward  :-P
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: 10framer on March 14, 2013, 05:53:41 pm
well, overall the numbers are higher than i expected.  i'd say over 100 is more common than i expected it to be.
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: hardwood on March 14, 2013, 06:51:07 pm
If you keep bees you will get stung...no way around it. If you keep bees commercially you will get stung often...it's just part of the job.

Scott
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: RHBee on March 15, 2013, 09:04:44 am
If you keep bees you will get stung...no way around it. If you keep bees commercially you will get stung often...it's just part of the job.

Scott

Thanks Scott, I just hope with time my reactions lessen. I don't mind the pain. It just makes it harder to work the bees when the hands swell.
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: oblib on March 15, 2013, 09:51:07 am
About 60 is the most I have been stung at one time. Only thing that is bad for me was it was all on the hands and they swelled enough that if I wasn't thinking and went to scratch then it would just rip open because the skin was so tight.
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: 10framer on March 15, 2013, 01:23:48 pm
About 60 is the most I have been stung at one time. Only thing that is bad for me was it was all on the hands and they swelled enough that if I wasn't thinking and went to scratch then it would just rip open because the skin was so tight.

wow!  apparently i'm physiologically set up to take the venom.  my hands almost never swell no matter how many stings they take.
even the one on my lower eyelid didn't have much swelling and it took me a while to get to a mirror to remove the stinger.
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: fshrgy99 on March 15, 2013, 07:11:35 pm
About 60 is the most I have been stung at one time. Only thing that is bad for me was it was all on the hands and they swelled enough that if I wasn't thinking and went to scratch then it would just rip open because the skin was so tight.

wow!  apparently i'm physiologically set up to take the venom.  my hands almost never swell no matter how many stings they take.
even the one on my lower eyelid didn't have much swelling and it took me a while to get to a mirror to remove the stinger.

Lower eye lid! Dude! You must be part Grizzly!! :shock:
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: 10framer on March 16, 2013, 02:04:57 am
i've been hit there twice already this year.  taking one in the eye is the only thing that scares me (maybe taking one to the nads is a close second) and it felt like somebody had punched me about 4  or 5 hours later but i didn't swell much and it was down by the next morning.  i've been hit in the lip and that's not a fun place either.  it's like scott said, you will get stung and the more you handle bees the more you get stung and that just leads to more places to be stung.  it's funny that i was bragging about no reaction when i get stung in the fingers today.  i mashed one this evening that got me right on the pad of a finger and it's not swollen but it's tender as all get out when i type with it.
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: jayj200 on February 16, 2014, 09:48:42 pm
I'd just pop!
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: Redbug on February 17, 2014, 11:32:29 am
I mess with coons and other critters. I suggest keeping a catch pole in your truck. The 5 footer is about the best length.


I think they make little bitty ones for catching bumble bees...
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: Steel Tiger on February 17, 2014, 03:16:10 pm
 I got nailed under the eye last year about a week after I got my bees. I wasn't even working the hives. I was standing about 25 feet in front and to the side. Suddenly I heard an angry buzzing and felt a slight burning sensation. The stinger stayed in for about 5 minutes, till I got back to the house and to a mirror so I could see what I was scrapping out.
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: Willy on February 18, 2014, 03:58:33 am
Most stings I've had was 20 in about 5 seconds.

All 20 stings were thru thick woollen socks (which is obviously why they were attacking). 20 got thru the socks out of about 100 hits.

No more woollen socks while beekeeping.

Willy
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: jayj200 on February 22, 2014, 12:04:12 am
6 IS MY LIMET THEN I GET THE JACKET AND GLOVES

sorry caps was on
 the two i got now hit every time
jay
 down yonder not down under
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: BeeMaster2 on February 22, 2014, 07:24:58 am
I got nailed under the eye last year about a week after I got my bees. I wasn't even working the hives. I was standing about 25 feet in front and to the side. Suddenly I heard an angry buzzing and felt a slight burning sensation. The stinger stayed in for about 5 minutes, till I got back to the house and to a mirror so I could see what I was scrapping out.
Tiger,
Were you in the hives before this happened? Like the week before.  When you are in your hives, be as gentle as possible. If you were heavy leather gloves you will probably kill or hurt a lot of bees. The blue rubber gloves allow you to feel the bees under your fingers but the bees have a hard time stinging through them. The bees around the bees that get hurt remember you and continue to defend the hive. I have had hives that were nice as can be but the second a bee got crushed, someone got stung. Usually it was my buddy. He was wearing a suit and I was not.
Jim
Jim
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: rober on February 22, 2014, 12:17:26 pm
around 10 from honeybees. there have been days when I p.o. a hive s few would stalk me the rest of the day, sometimes 2 days. like tiger I had one nail on the eye lid. the most stings came from yellow jackets. I mowed over a ground nest. turned off the mower & ran. may have set an unofficial 100 yd dash record that day ( I was 17 ) we quit counting at 250.
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: Patricia H on February 22, 2014, 01:08:07 pm
Wow, as a new beekeeper this is something I didn't want to read. I have a suit, gloves and veil. For sure now I will never work bees without them. I watch beekeepers in videos handling bees in shorts, no gloves, no veil. I can't imagine being stung so many times at once especially in the face near the eyes. As a kid I can remember stepping barefoot into yellow jacket nests in the ground at least 2x a summer and screaming while running all the way home. That was hell as a kid. But even as a grown up kid now getting stung like that, Eeeek!!
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: BeeMaster2 on February 22, 2014, 04:47:09 pm
Wow, as a new beekeeper this is something I didn't want to read. I have a suit, gloves and veil. For sure now I will never work bees without them. I watch beekeepers in videos handling bees in shorts, no gloves, no veil. I can't imagine being stung so many times at once especially in the face near the eyes. As a kid I can remember stepping barefoot into yellow jacket nests in the ground at least 2x a summer and screaming while running all the way home. That was hell as a kid. But even as a grown up kid now getting stung like that, Eeeek!!

There is one video, on the internet, that the beekeeper works the hive totally naked. He is standing behind the hive.
Jim
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: hjon71 on February 22, 2014, 05:13:03 pm
Beekeeping for me is a hobby. If I were taking stings at those rates I wouldn't stay a beekeeper. Say what you will, but that is how I roll. :mrgreen:
Title: Re: how many?
Post by: 10framer on February 22, 2014, 08:32:45 pm
Wow, as a new beekeeper this is something I didn't want to read. I have a suit, gloves and veil. For sure now I will never work bees without them. I watch beekeepers in videos handling bees in shorts, no gloves, no veil. I can't imagine being stung so many times at once especially in the face near the eyes. As a kid I can remember stepping barefoot into yellow jacket nests in the ground at least 2x a summer and screaming while running all the way home. That was hell as a kid. But even as a grown up kid now getting stung like that, Eeeek!!

patricia i went through a half a dozen hives yesterday with one sting wearing jeans, tee bleep and a veil. 
these numbers are extreme and in my case the high counts were on days when i was going through hundreds of hives fast or i was doing difficult cut outs.  don't let this thread scare you.