Question:
Our state fair is interested in having a live hive demonstration this year. I have thus far discouraged the idea of handling them behind a screen because I anticipate the bees would get pretty stressed out if we did it for any number of days.
They seem interested in setting up a perimeter around an outdoor hive and providing a wireless mike so I can do some demonstrations there. I expect I can do a simple talk once a day and pull out one frame so people see how the hive works without making the bees too cranky. The things I am a little concerned about include horses that run the sorghum mill and bees ending up in the trash after sodas.
Answer:
My thoughts (in no order of priority) are:
- Either way, caged or opened, the bees are going to be stressed. After the event, anticipate helping the colony with bees from other hives to bring it back up to speed.
- I would suggest moving the demonstration colony during the day in order to leave the older, crankier bees at home. Set up a small nuc with a small frame of brood to give the home bees something to focus on while the parent colony is away. In this way, you only have (in theory) young, gentle bees in the hive. If the fair runs 10-14 days, the hive will probably need to be changed out as they become irritable.
- All kinds of stinging hymenopts will be around the dumpsters. The bees from your demonstration will be blamed for all stings. It’s unfair, but other than expect it, I don’t know of anything you can do about it.
- Reference setting the colony back away from the crowd….this would work on paper, but in reality you should expect some people to move around the barrier to get closer. Some of these people will be beekeepers while others are just curious people. I assume there are no glass-walled buildings in which people could watch you from inside the building as you work outside.
- If I had to do this in the way you describe, I would want two people to do the job. One to open the colony and provide “live action” commentary while the other person controlled the crowd and answered questions. Will observers be close enough to shout questions to you? The crowd control person would answer questions and interact with you (either by shouting or via electronic device). If at all possible, the crowd control person should have an observation hive on site to make up for the participants not being able to see the actual frame you are removing.
- If you are able to use young, docile bees as I described above, the horses should not be in any greater danger than the people (who are actually standing nearer the hive than the horses).
- Doomsday plans….Again, if I had to do this in the way you are describing, I would want a vehicle (maybe a van)or building nearby in case there is an emergency. I would (ideally) like maybe two more people with beekeeping experience and protective gear on the scene until I had run the event a few times. I would want 2-3 extra veils as emergency gear if someone is particularly under attack. “Slam on the veil and get them to the van if an emergency arises. “ I would determine beforehand how to contact the emergency people.
- This will be a great event, but be prepared for all contingencies. Many years ago, I talked with the OSU legal people about open hive demonstrations. They said protect the observers as much as possible and use common sense. I’ve always tried to do that.
