Bee Sting Initiation

The buildup to the event had been terrific causing anxiety and trepidation.  It caused delay in the making of the momentous decision to become an apiarist and so when the event occurred it was anticlimactic .

I was out with my beekeeping mentor and a grand tour of his numerous sites.  Typically he sets up stations of approximately 16 hives per site, placing 4 hives on a pallet.  In the early spring there will usually be 2 boxes stacked and as the honey flows more boxes are stacked on the hive.  We were doing the inspection to see if the hives had enough flow to warrant an additional box.  The season has been erratic with early warm weather and then a couple of cold snaps so we were not sure what we would find but were pleased to see most of the hives very active and ready for another box.  I believe we were at the fifth site when I felt a thorn jabbing at my ankle and even as I realized that it was a bee my mentor commented “bee at the ankle”.  Yes, I got stung but managed to swat the bee away before I analyzed whether the sting hurt me or not.  We went on to the next site and sure enough, another beggar got me again, “second verse, same as the first”.

So here is what I would like to say about bee stings.  Everyone reacts differently, of course, but for me it was a quick jab like a thorn and then intermittently for about 5 minutes, at about 10 to 15 second intervals there would be a throb which was more like heat with a slight sting.  In fact, it was much less painful than a mosquito bite which makes you go crazy with itching.  However, 8 hours later when I was going to bed my ankle and shin, in about a 6 inch upward stretch, felt as though I had been kicked by a horse.  It felt bruised but it didn’t stop me from falling into a sound sleep.

What I can say for sure is that experienced bee keepers’ warning to novices that you should “get used to the stings because it is inevitable that you will get stung” is true yet daunting until you have the experience.

Finally, I turned to my mentor and asked “how did I do”? His reply “you handled it like a pro, not even a swear word.”