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Bee stings

I've been stung twice now. The first time was two weeks ago. My beekeeping mentor was working with a colony that has a tendency to be a bit agressive. Well, one of the girls decided to sting me right above the left eyebrow. Thankfully, it didn't swell up, but it hurt nonetheless. The second time, was today. My mentor told me to go ahead and open up one of the hives so that we could check for swarm cells. I smoked the colony down a bit, removed the queen excluder and first frame, everything was going fine. The bees weren't even flying around me much, they were just doing their thing in the hive. I took out the second frame, found and removed a couple of play cups, and placed the frame gently back into the hive. Everything going well, slow, but well. Then, on the third frame, I accidently squeezed a bee with my index finger as I was grasping the frame. She didn't approve, and promptly stung me right on the tip of my right index finger. Yowser! I flicked her off, finished looking at the frame, and cursed to myself for being clumsy. Granted, it was the third frame with live bees that I ever handled on my own, I probably shouldn't have been so hard on myself. Oh well, you live and learn.

Bee stings are just a part of the game. My mentor said to me, "just get used to it." Thanks for the first class advice.

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