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Comment by mudil | Hacker News Reader

For those of you who are concerned about getting stung, I can say that I never was stung, and I cannot possibly get stung. I am completely covered, with gloves and boots.

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I've kept bees for years, and I don't know anyone who does it that hasn't ever been stung. You get stung all the time, regardless of the safety gear you're wearing. Bees will get stuck in a fold of cloth, get mad, and sting (your suit isn't THAT thick). It's hot in those suits too, and your veil will sometimes stick to your skin, which is another way they get you. Or you use the same gear for a few years and it starts to wear. What's really no fun is when a bee finds its way into your suit. Been there, done that :)

What changes is you stop caring about being stung after a while, and you build up an immunity to it (stings start to swell less and clear up faster). And you learn to know when the hive is getting real angry, and it's time to back off for a while. But bees will be bees, and they sting things that mess with them.

I don't know: I've done it for two years and I have not been stung. I check my clothing, make sure I am all zipped, put my boots on, and there I go.

Until you start getting sloppy. I went to a beekeeping lecture (/ honey tasting), and the long-time beekeeper said he usually doesn't deal with all the gear, sometimes gets stung but at this point it doesn't bother him much.

More experienced beekeepers start shedding gear. Some only go in with a veil.

That said, some also go in without a veil. This is _not_ a good idea. There was a very experienced (25+ years) beekeeper who told a story at the PA State meeting how he nearly died after knocking over a beehive.

I was helping a friend of the family out once w/ his bees, and he was the kind of keeper that didn't have any veils. I ended up getting stung three times on the same side of my face (twice in my eyebrow, once next to the eye) when they got angry, and I had to leave ASAP and drive 20 minutes home before the swelling would affect my vision.

I was out of commission for about a week after that. The whole right side of my face was swollen, and I couldn't see out of that eye for most of that time. It looked like I got in a fight and lost :)

And that was the last time I went into a hive without a veil.

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