East Texas beekeepers describe what to do when encountering bees
Bees are a key part of nature, providing honey and pollinating many of the crops we eat on a daily basis.
Honey bees are one of the more common types of bees and ones that many shouldn’t be afraid of.
“If you are sitting around your patio table and the bees come, like you have a drink and they go in the cup, 90 percent of the time they aren’t going to sting you. Most people are going to get stung close to a hive or in a hive.” said David Jones, a Beekeeper with Honey Badger Trading Company.
Honey bees are docile, with many of them focused on helping the queen and doing their jobs as workers and gatherers.
Daniel Lennon is the chief apiarist with Honey Badger Trading Company. He stated that bees will die after they are stung, meaning this is only done as a final option to protect the colony and the queen.
“By nature, bees are a defender, they don’t go on the offense. If you bump their houses or you kick ‘em over if you are mowing, they seem to get provoked a little bit. But just walking around them and talking you should never have any problems with your honey bees,” said Lennon
Some instinctually will swat at a bee or become nervous, which is when it becomes a problem
“The worst thing you want to do is to start swatting, because therefore you are an offender. You have raised your hand to them and they will become aggressive and defend,” said Lennon
While it may be tough for some, the best way not to get stung takes some emotional and physical control.
“You want to stay calm, you don’t want to break and run or start flailing and trying to shoo them away because what that’s going to do is, it’s going to sense to the other bees they are in danger. That’s the reason why they are going to come after you, because it senses that they are in danger, not that you are in danger.” said David Jones
Walking away, not swatting, staying calm, and finding a place with low light are all ways that Lennon and Jones recommend to get away from bees.
If you have not agitated them, moving away from the hive will eventually get them to go away.
