As an avid beekeeper for over 20 years, I’m often asked by beginners what is the one most important fundamental rule of beekeeping that serves as the foundation for everything else. What is that “first rule” that all other guidance builds upon? After two decades of experience nurturing hundreds of hives, I believe the singular most vital first rule of successful beekeeping comes down to this – don’t be afraid.
Conquering fear and cultivating a sense of intimacy and respect with the hive sets the stage for every other aspect of excellent care and management. Let me explain through my personal journey how embracing the bees in my care allowed me to become a better caretaker. This is the story of how I came to beekeep without fear.
Don’t Be Afraid
When I first started out in beekeeping as an eager novice, I have to admit that opening up that wooden hive filled with thousands of flying stinging insects was thoroughly intimidating! It’s so easy to project our inherent human fear of bites and stings onto this mysterious buzzing box. But I quickly learned that approached properly, honeybees are remarkably gentle creatures. The more I understood that fact through direct experience, the more my baseless anxieties could dissolve away.
My mentors coached me early on that bees largely act in their own self-interest, not malice. Their stinger is for defense of their home, not random unprovoked attack. I learned that the key is avoiding giving them a reason to feel threatened. Staying calm, moving gently, fully protecting all exposed skin, and never intentionally swatting or flattening bees equals a very low risk of getting stung while working a hive.
Once I began shedding those exaggerated and unrealistic fears through practice and knowledge, I could open up my hives with confidence rather than dread. The mental shift took real work – bees look alien to us mammals, and their swarming motions seem unpredictable. But growth as a beekeeper meant re-training myself to observe them with fascination, not knee-jerk apprehension. If I remain calm, so will the bees – that became my mantra.
Learn Bee Behavior
Beyond generally overcoming anxiety around bees, it is hugely helpful to proactively learn specifics of their behavior patterns and communication methods in the hive. This allows you to “read” the state of the bees and adjust your actions accordingly for smoother care and intervention when needed.
For example, bees that are busy fanning around the entrance or rapidly bringing in loads of pollen are focused on productive food gathering tasks, not threats to the colony. Provided I move carefully and gently, fully suited up, I can simply observe their rhythms up close during such times. But loud buzzing combined with frenzied erratic activity inside the hive box, or head-butting behavior at the entrance, signals that the colony is feeling threatened or defensive for some reason. During times like that, it is best that I withdraw and come back later rather than risk provoking agitation with my intrusion.
Learning the nuances of hive communication methods like pheromones, dances, food sharing etc. allows you to understand bee “language”. Their behaviors speak volumes about overall colony mood, health, needs, and other factors if you make the effort to learn this nonverbal vocabulary. This understanding prevents reacting out of blind fear when opening up the hive for inspection or manipulation. Calm deference and respectful observation should guide all actions.
Use Protective Gear Properly
The use of quality protective clothing and gear allows for greater intimacy and close observation of one’s hives by drastically reducing the risk of stings during inspections and maintenance. A full beekeeper suit with well-sealed zippers, accompanying gloves, and a hooded mesh veil means that I can inspect frame after frame covered in thousands of bees, often mere inches from my face and hands, with very reliable protection from stings. This protection creates the confidence needed to fully engage with every part of the colony.
However, improper or careless use of protective gear can sabotage its sting protection utility while also creating harmful barriers between the beekeeper and the colony. For instance, fully zipping up the veil with no ventilation makes it harder to see and smell the hive, and increases safety anxieties since I feel confined. Leaving the veil zipper partly open preserves that important sense of connection while still keeping bees from accessing my face. Knowing how to use gear properly improves confidence rather than breeding clumsiness.
Work Calmly and Gently
Honey bees are finely tuned to sense any perceived threats to their home and colony, often reacting defensively to human traits like fast erratic movements, heavy footfalls, dark clothing, breathing, and even some scents. I had to re-train myself to remain extremely calm and move with careful gentleness whenever working around my hives. Sudden reaching, quick motions, or any violence absolutely triggers defensiveness and stinging behavior in even the most docile bees. But tranquility and grace maintain hive peace. This was an easy concept but challenging skill to master.
Likewise, the judicious use of cool smoke introduced below the hive entrance and across frames masks alarm pheromones and gently repels and disorients guard bees without provoking mass aggression. Too much smoke, however, or directing it straight at the bees can agitate them and do more harm than good. I handle each frame with the delicate care of handling an infant, never shaking, crushing, or flipping them aggressively. This nurturing calmness and consistency allows for close intimate observation that fearful roughness would prohibit. Patience and care creates the space for discovery and intervention.
Accept You’ll Get Stung
In over twenty years of hobby beekeeping, I’ve learned to make peace with the fact that an occasional sting or two is virtually inevitable if you regularly work bees long enough. My personal strategy is shrugging off those very infrequent stings as a tolerable occupational hazard rather than being paralyzed by the thought. They don’t happen often, but it isn’t realistic to expect zero stings over decades.
With proper care, the right protective equipment, conservative hive manipulation, and a calm presence, stings may only happen once or twice annually at most. But letting go of unrealistic expectations of avoiding every single sting over a lifetime of beekeeping allows for much more serene and comfortable care. I carry a sting treatment kit and emergency allergy medications in rare cases of severe reactions. But I don’t dwell on or constantly fret over freak stinging accidents. They are just part of the territory.
Minimize Pain with Removal Tools
I always keep a sting removal kit containing a scraper, gauze, ice packs, ointments, and other first aid handy whenever inspecting hives or working bees. Even the occasional sting becomes brief and nearly inconsequential when the stinger and venom sac are promptly removed to avoid secondary injection. Simply scraping the stinger immediately rather than pulling it reduces pain and inflammation drastically.
I’ve learned not to reactively shout or curse when the rare sting happens either. That merely stresses me out and agitates the bees. Diligently removing the sting quickly lets me get back to calm interaction and care. The bees and I both want the same outcome – to resume our mutually beneficial relationship with minimal distress on either side when the inevitable accident occurs.
Have Allergy Medication Available
Part of my responsible beekeeping practice is always having emergency allergy medications like EpiPens and Benadryl on hand whenever groups are working hives, especially newcomers who may not know if they have venom allergies. While I personally am not prone to life-threatening anaphylactic reactions if stung, others may be. Anaphylaxis requires urgent emergency care.
Having adequate medical resources nearby and understanding how to quickly administer them allows peace of mind if the worst somehow happens. Neither I nor anyone in my beekeeping circle should have our educational hive inspections disrupted by having to fret over contingency planning. Staying alert, not anxious, keeps our focus on learning.
Don’t Swat or Flatten Bees
It can be tempting to reactively swat at or flatten bees that fly around your head or land on an exposed body part. However, quick sudden motions like this almost guarantee provoking mass stinging behavior, even from otherwise docile colonies. The smashed bee releases alarm pheromones that put the whole hive on the defensive. From personal experience, even if one bee stings, it is best to very slowly move away rather than flailing. The sting hurts, but the reaction makes things exponentially worse.
Accidental bee contacts often result from simple mistaken identity on their part rather than actual malicious intent to sting. Mentally preparing to avoid overreaction when surrounded by thousands of bees working the hive helps keep rare stings manageable. Mindfulness prevents turning an annoyance into a disaster. Swatting is never worth the retaliation.
Embrace Your Vital Partnership
At my best as a beekeeper, I see myself not as commandeering or dominating bees against their will, but as a devoted caretaker to a complex, ancient system far greater than myself. The bees do not exist solely for my benefit – we coexist interdependently. When I stay conscious of our sacred symbiotic relationship – the bees and I both benefiting together – then fear-based self-protection becomes secondary to nurturing collective flourishing.
Remembering that I succeed only when my hive thrives allows establishing a bond of calm trust and respect with the colony. This partnership mindset eliminatesReactive fear and cultivates selfless stewardship. Blissful hours sitting observing the coming and going of my bees continually reinforces that bond. Never take without first giving.
In summary, casting off fear and embracing education, protection, patience, and partnership lays the groundwork for every other aspect of excellent beekeeping. Respectful care and rejection of alarmist myths allows for a precious intimacy with this ancient insect alliance that sustains our very food supply. The true first rule will always be honor and affection for our venerable partners, the bees. Walk calmly, work gently, understand deeply, communicate openly, protect steadfastly, and thereby beekeep fearlessly.
I hope relaying my own transformative experience learning to beekeep without fear provides helpful guidance to new beekeepers facing those same intimidating mental hurdles. Cast aside those worries and approach with respect – the rest follows. Here’s to a long and joyful future cultivating bees together absent fear!