Sting Count

Earlier this week I received an invitation from Billy "Bad Boy" Pate to come watch the UGA football game at his house. Billy has an awesome "Man Room" in his basement for hosting such events. This was an invite that I couldn't pass up! So, I made plans to travel to Cumming, Georgia on Saturday, September 9th to watch the UGA vs South Carolina football game. I last inspected the hives 1 week ago and all was well. I couldn't resist "taking a quick peek" prior to our departure for Billy's. Since I was only going to take a peek, I didn't feel the need for the smoker or "getting geared up". I went into the Apiary wearing shorts, t-shirt & flip-flops. I lifted the outer & inner covers on hive #1 and peered down into the top super. I killed 6 small hive beetles that were on the inner cover, all looked good so I carefully placed the covers back on. I almost started to walk off and head to Billy's when, in my infinite wisdom I decided to take a look at one more hive. Hive #2 wasn't as forgiving as the first. As soon as I removed the inner cover, 3 angry bees immediately came after me. The 1st sting was to the inside of my right forearm and the 2nd was to the inside of my right bicep. I quickly removed the stingers and carefully replaced the covers. This took several attempts as the colony was rather "pissed off" at the moment! The initial pain of the stings wore off within a few minutes and we started off on the 1.5 hour drive to Billy's house. By the time we arrived, the area around the 1st sting was swollen considerably. 24 hours later it's still very swollen and is very sore. I expect by tomorrow (Monday) or Tuesday the soreness will be gone and everything will be fine. I can only imagine what the neighbors thought when/if they saw me dancing in the Apiary trying to avoid getting stung. I knew the instant they came out of the hive at full speed I was doomed. The odd thing is that the 2nd sting site didn't swell at all and is not sore today. I wonder why that is? I would have thought it would be the worse of the two stings. I guess I learned a valuable lesson on Saturday. Use your smoker and wear the appropriate protective gear when going into the Apiary, even if it is for a "quick peek".

Sting Count:

Chris - 5
Brian - 2