In the spring and early summer, I catch quite a few swarms. I usually have a crowd of people gathered around me at a safe distance. There are always so many questions about bees and swarms, but the main question I am always asked is “how often are you stung by the bees?”. People are surprised when I tell them that I am not stung very often at all. Bees are very gentle, kind and fuzzy creatures. They do not want to sting you, and most often they die after they sting you. Usually, before a bee stings, they will bump into you or buzz really loud around your head to warn you that you are too close or disturbing them. Personally, I am only stung when I make a mistake and crush a bee, make too much noise, or I move too quickly and disturb them.
In working with bees, I have learned to have more respect for all creatures, and think more about how the bee wants to be worked with rather than how I want to work with the bee. This has led me to a deeper relationship with the bees, and far fewer stings than when I started beekeeping. I am not saying that you should just go open a beehive and expect bees to be kind and not sting you. They are defensive of their home, as they should be. I am saying that if you are kind, slow, thoughtful and gentle the bees can be too. The media has caused a lot of fear around bees. I think this has perpetuated a lot of harm, and the reason for many people killing bees with pesticides. I think that if we are respectful of the bees’ space and homes, then they will do the same for us.