Precautions and Preventive Measures to Avoid Being Stung in Beekeeping, and How to Treat Stings

When people talk about beekeeping, they call it the “sweet business,” because the royal jelly, propolis, honey and other products bees produce taste sweet, and these bee products are very widely used in food, cosmetics, industrial applications, medicine and many other fields, so beekeeping also has a very good market. But for beekeepers, it is very easy to get stung, so what can be done in beekeeping to avoid being stung? What are the precautions and preventive measures? How do you treat a sting?

1. What can be done in beekeeping to avoid being stung?

1. Prepare protective equipment

The beekeeper's protective measures are very simple: a hat, preferably with a protective veil, long clothing and long trousers with no gaps, and the lighter the clothing color the better. Doing these few things well can effectively prevent bee stings while still making work convenient.

2. Do not drink alcohol normally, or do not tend the bees after drinking

Bees are also very sensitive to pungent odors, such as the smell of alcohol, body odor and perfume. After drinking, wandering around outside the hive is quite dangerous, and you may be treated as an enemy by the bees and attacked en masse.

3. Do not wear perfume normally

Although some perfume scents are not pungent, they are easily mistaken for flower fragrance and attract bees to land on you, which also increases the chance of being stung.

4. Handle the hive gently

Bees are also very sensitive to vibration. Vibration makes bees think an enemy is invading, making them more alert, and at this time they are also more likely to sting, so when working with the hive you must handle it gently to reduce vibration to the hive.

5. Do not work with the hive in high temperatures or on cloudy and rainy days

Whether bees sting is also related to the weather. When the temperature exceeds 35°C, bees, like people, become very irritable, and the chance of bees stinging greatly increases. In addition, on cloudy and rainy days bees cannot go out to collect nectar and all crowd in the hive, which also easily leads to restlessness, so it is best not to work with the hive in these two kinds of weather. If you are stung by a bee, do not swat it to death casually. When a bee dies it releases a scent, and when other bees smell it they become hostile, and at that time you can easily be attacked en masse.

2. How do you treat a bee sting?

1. After being stung by a bee, the local skin will feel pain and itching, and there will also be allergic irritation such as redness, swelling and heat and a local inflammatory reaction. If the stinger has pierced into the skin, it must be removed.

2. After being stung by a bee, applying ice to the sting site can reduce pain and swelling. If the pain is severe, some pain medication can be taken.

3. After being stung by a bee, if there is a spreading tendency it may be an allergic reaction, and some anti-allergy medication can be taken, such as diphenhydramine, promethazine and other anti-allergy drugs.

4. After being stung by a bee, you can take some alkaline powder (edible alkali is fine), wet it and apply it to the sting site. Although this method is simple, it is actually very effective.