May Meeting
All counties that touch Chattooga County can enter the Honey Show August 22nd for the Chattooga County Agricultural Fair. Entries will need to be submitted by the 21st. Honey Show runs from Thursday Aug 22 to Sunday Aug 24th. Pickup will be Sunday or Monday.
Upcoming Events
June 10- NWGA Beekeepers Monthly Meeting
August 22 – Honey Show
Sept 29 – Walker County Agricultural Fair
October – 1-day event for Beekeeping Class.
Sophia Price gave a great presentation on Bee Stings.
A honeybee that is away from the hive foraging for nectar or pollen will rarely sting, except when stepped on or roughly handled. Honeybees will actively seek out and sting when they perceive the hive to be threatened, often being alerted to this by the release of attack pheromones that is released when a bee stings. When a honeybee stings a person, it cannot pull the barbed stinger back out. The barb stinger is like a scissor jackhammer. It cuts the skin, so the barb goes in deeper with the venom. It leaves behind not only the stinger, but also part of its abdomen and digestive tract, plus muscles and nerves. This massive abdominal rupture kills the honeybee. Honeybees are the only bees to die after stinging. The sting's injection of apitoxin (honeybee venom) is a cytotoxic and hemotoxic liquid that contains proteins.
Bee Sting Facts:
Every sting has a tiny drop of honey in it.
Baby bees have no venom – They are born with stinger and pouch but have to go through puberty before they have venom
Only a vertical sting will empty all venom
Stinger is 2mm long
Quantity of venom depends on pollen
Bees that are sugar fed do not sting as much
Hotter the temperature the worse the sting hurts
Older person does not react as bad as a younger person
Blondes react more than brunettes
Sting is worse after eating a meal (wait 2 hours after eating to go into hives)
Italian bees produce more venom
Yellow jackets are #1 most stinging insect
Many diseases could be treatable by bee stings