Bees gone wild!

I like to think that I know my bees, and that they know me. I know it sounds a little crazy, but we country folk tend to develop relationships with our critter companions.

This week I found out that I was totally wrong about me and the bees. I don’t think we’re friends at all.

In preparation for the upcoming cool weather, I decided to inspect my hive to ensure they have an adequate honey supply to winter over (if not, I would periodically give them some sugar water), and that the queen is still healthy and laying eggs (her main job).

Weather this week has been windy, and at times a little cloudy. Generally speaking, you don’t want to inspect your hive when it’s windy or cloudy because the bees are less settled under these climatic conditions. You definitely don’t want to inspect a hive when it’s both windy and cloudy.

I was so busy this week that the only time I had available to inspect the hive was on a windy and cloudy day. I should have waited, but I didn’t. I thought I could deal with it, but I couldn’t. I’m paying the price now.

Everything was fine until I lifted the top cover off the hive, but just then a gust of wind hit, and angry bees flew up out of the hive. I was wearing gloves but not a face net or bee suit. I got stung 5 or 6 times on the face.

Fortunately I’m not allergic to bee stings, so it was a little painful, but not too bad. Here’s what I looked like for a few days:

In the future, I’ll be more careful about timing my hive inspections to coincide with sunny, windless days. 

And maybe next time I’ll wear my bee suit and face protection. Knowing me, probably not!