How can I deter bees from stinging me ?

[wbmkk]

I have an allotment but the neighbour has beehives on his plot, right next to the boundary fence.

I've asked the allotment secretary to try to get them moved, perhaps to the other side of the plot, next to open farmland but nothing gets done.

Today I was stung twice.

Once again the secretary doesn't seem too bothered. the bees have always been there is the answer.

So, do I have to just keep getting stung and live with it ?

Last year I was stung on my eyelid, which caused my whole eye to swell up. For about 24 hours I lost the site of one eye. Luckily I got home, by car as I left as soon as it happened. Within 30 minutes my eye was closed.

Today, as a joke I was advised .. buy a bee suite, the bees must like you. I didn't really get the joke.

[muddled]

gosh! They sound very aggressive!

When I kept bees I was NEVER stung. *I did have a bee suit for messing about with the hive but obviously, didn't wear it for gardening!

Two things spring to mind.
1. Is there any possibility you could be diabetic? People with diabetes exude sugar which, to bees, gives the impression that they've just pinched some honey.
2. Were you using a strimmer or other noisy machine? The thrum of strimmers etc can provoke a panic response in bees because it stikes a similar base note to a hornet attack.

Other than that, your neighbours hive should be situated so that the entrance faces a five foot (or higher) barrier...hedge, deris netting, fence...in order that they must fly up and over rather than straight out at you.

If neither point 1 or point 2 apply and if there is a barrier at the hive entrance, then I would say that your neighbour has particularly aggressive bees and something needs to be done before the unthinkable happens.

[mothhawk]

I have an allotment but the neighbour has beehives on his plot, right next to the boundary fence.

I've asked the allotment secretary to try to get them moved, perhaps to the other side of the plot, next to open farmland but nothing gets done.

Unfortunately, it's not easy to move bees a short distance - once they have familiar landmarks relative to "home" in their heads they don't easily forget, so to move the hives a matter of yards would result in all the foraging bees still returning to the old hive position, even though the hive is no longer there. They have to be moved far enough to forget their old home - 3 miles or so.

Could you put up a barrier to make the bees fly over your plot, rather than across it? Doesn't have to be sturdy - 6ft high pea netting or debris netting stretched between a few canes, bees are reluctant to fly through holes as they are potential spider traps.

Are you allowed fires? A small campfire sized bonfire with grass clippings on, gently smoking, while you work, will discourage them from your plot.

Bees tend to be at their most active in the warmest part of the day, so changing your gardening to early morning, or evening time would reduce your chances of a sting, although that is an inconvenience to you of course.

But as Muddled says, they may just be bad-tempered bees. I would ask around other plotters to see if anyone else has been stung.

[mothhawk]

Bees also resent strong odours - perfumes, aftershaves, sweat - and beer too, I believe.

[Containergardener]

We could all pop round for a BBQ and few beers , perhaps the s one and beer smell will deter.
I have no idea re advice but like idea of added height for them to fly etc, probably used to heading your way.

[veggiechicken]

Which way does the hive entrance face?
How far is it away from your plot?
A barrier net, as suggested, is the best option. Preferably about 6' high, to force the bees to fly up and over your head.

[FB.]

When I was at college, we were taught how to behave around bees and bee hives.

Bees will only usually attack if you're blocking the direct flight path to and from the front of their hive.

Even then you usually need to be within several feet of the entrance, or you need to have flapped about when the entrance guards have come to take a look at you.
However, if you've squashed one of the bees from the colony you'll be in big trouble, even if it was many minutes earlier.

I would have thought that staying several feet (a couple of metres) away from the hives, and if 'buzzed' by a couple of guards just moving away for a while, would be all that's needed.

What about planting something fairly fast-growing like currants along that edge; it would block their flight path across your plot.