But if you’re careful you can go without PPE, and I have done so for years. The heat and discomfort of a suit and the additional crushed bees from clumsiness is not for me.
I don’t have Africanised bees, just nice suburban ones.
Normally the bees in the hives used to pollinate blueberries don’t give a damn about me while I’m out doing my agronomy job.
However I’ve found that when there are moving clouds that cause conditions to suddenly shift from shaded to full sun, the abrupt temperature/light increase seems to cause what I presume are guard bees to become upset, resulting in me suddenly getting stung. If the full sun condition is constant then no issues.
I definitely prefer the alfalfa leafcutting bee “hives”, used on alfalfa, they are so much more chill. Technically they are “solitary bees” but are gregarious and happy enough to form a sort of colony close together to others, which allows for having boxes of them. They lack both nest guarding instincts and a venomous stinger. Special bees are used for alfalfa because they don’t mind the alfalfa flowers mechanically slapping them with pollen in their face when opening the flowers. Regular honeybees don’t like that and will learn to chew through the base of the flower to get the nectar.
I would always wear a veil -- doesn't have to be a full suit. Heck, I'd never wear a full suit as that's a recipe for heat stroke here in Texas. But I have a very airy top-half only suit and that's OK. I also wear an ice pack vest during the hot Texas summer months.
And I would always have smoke except when there is a burn ban in effect. Smoke can make all the difference.
But if you’re careful you can go without PPE, and I have done so for years. The heat and discomfort of a suit and the additional crushed bees from clumsiness is not for me.
I don’t have Africanised bees, just nice suburban ones.