The bee day

Today was bee day - we learned a lot about bees, their behaviours and functions. And then we went to the bee hives. We didn't have enough protective suits to go around so half the group dressed up whilst the other half kept their distance. We were taught about how these bees are normally fairly placid so long as you don't scare them. So move calmly, be calm, and don't, whatever you do, bang on their hive. This is where it all went a little bit pear shaped: our bee teacher tripped over a log and crashed straight in to one of the hives. Within moments the bees flew out of their hives and aggressively surrounded all of the people close by. These people later reported that they could see the bees trying to sting them through the wire mesh in front of their faces. Scary. 

I wasn't wearing protection, and I was fairly close when the first shouts came that the bees were in a very foul mood. So I started to move away with the others. One bee did land in my hair which caused me to do some erratic rain dance to try to get rid of it with out annoying it any further. We legged it away from the hive and back to the farm. The people in the suits had to get away from the hives and then wait - they couldn't come back to the farm in case they brought all of the bees with them. The total injury count was light. One guy got 5 stings on his hands and another got one on his neck and on one hand. The bee keeper, who wasn't even wearing gloves, was completely unaffected - clearly he's got the right pheromones going on.