Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
But bees sting, don't they? And that hurts, doesn't it? Other than producing honey, bees
are best known for their tendency to sting on sight. In fact, it is not in a bee's interest to
sting for the sake of it because they die in the process and they will avoid doing so unless
in defence of their nest, which of course is why beekeepers are stung. All beekeepers
will be stung during their beekeeping careers. This is a fact and it is also a fact that it is
painful. But it is not very painful and the pain doesn't last for long.
Bee sting 'cures' rely on this fact. By the time you apply the patented bee-sting cure
bought from the snake oil stall at the market (which, technically, can't cure anything
unless it's an anaesthetic), the pain would be just about to disappear anyway.
Most beekeepers will tell you that bee stings are more or less of no concern to them and
that, if you are well clothed and use calm bees, stings will be few and far between. For a
very few, however, there is a danger. Allergy to insect venom does exist and can be fatal
if the person stung goes into anaphylactic shock. This is extremely rare, however, and
one statistic indicates that you are more likely to die from a horse falling on you than
from a bee sting. Because there is a very remote possibility of suffering a fatal allergic
reaction, many beekeepers carry with them an epi-pen injector for emergency use. This
requires a prescription in most countries.
Beekeeping, though, is more than just a profit-making activity: it can also be a
fascinating, environmentally sound hobby that can totally absorb you. Beekeeping
in many countries is predominantly a hobby activity. The numbers of commercial
beekeepers who 'farm' bees are comparatively few and, in some countries such as the
UK and many other European countries, they are a tiny proportion of the whole, and
the 'whole' is but a tiny proportion of the population.
Why, then, are governments interested in this small group of people and their hobby?
The answer is that, whether beekeepers are hobbyists or commercial operators, they
