A Hive

I see the following alert from the Nation Bee Unit (part of Defra)

We took some honey off our long established Hive (A) over the weekend. It amounted to 12Kg including extracted honey and comb. As always, it tastes fantastic. It's so strong that I can't eat very much.

I use National frames but mostly without foundation. There is evidence that chemicals leach from the wax in foundation and get transported around the hive (NB: I don't have a journal article reference for that claim, so treat with care please). I wanted to avoid that.

I made a foolish and unforced mistake today.

The bees have been really easy going. I've had the lid off without smoke and been around them without a veil. Just not at the same time.

Today, just before dinner and just before a thunderstorm, I decided to quickly put a crown board with butler bee escapes in between two of the top supers on Hive A.

I did this without a veil and without smoke. I tried to rush. The bees were furious.

I was stung on the ear and the eyelid. Maybe somewhere else on the head but I can't tell because my eye and my ear hurt more.