This evening I stopped by Dick Loy's house to check out his new bees. Dick recently received a nuc (nucleus hive) that came with 5 frames of honey, brood, bees, and a queen. Dick wore the appropriate protective equipment, but I had left mine at the farm and was "going commando" with nothing but my T-shirt and shorts. To allow for some sense of protection, I did work the smoker for Dick and tried to keep myself well smoked. While checking his frames, which by the way looked great with brood in all stages, I felt a sharp pain in the calf of my right leg. Turning to see what it was, I noticed a little bee dragging itself away from its stinger embedded in my skin....poor thing tried to defend it's hive and didn't realize I wasn't a threat. I then realized that this was my first bee sting as a bee keeper (and it wasn't even my bees, but Dick's that got me first). As I gave Dick a very hard time for one of his girls getting me, I realized that this was likely my first honey bee sting since I was five or six years old. Well, I imagine this will be the first of many. I quickly pulled out my credit card and flicked the stinger out of my skin and within a few minutes the pain was gone, unless of course I rub on it! Below is a picture of Dick and his homemade bee hive.
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