Usually the first step in preparing yourself to work with any type of bee is to recognize their first line of defense, their sting.
Most people who are stung by these insects will develop a reaction at the site of the sting that will cause pain, swelling, redness and itching.
Still, a smaller percentage of the population will experience larger areas of swelling, and the swelling can last up to a week for this group.
More rare are those who have life threatening allergic reactions to a bee sting.
With these people a sting may trigger a dangerous anaphylactic reaction that is potentially deadly.
Surprisingly, most people only discover they are allergic to bee stings the first time they get stung.
For this reason, it is critical for your health and well being, if you are considering keeping bees, to first determine whether or not you are allergic to bee stings.
Even with their awareness of the bee's capability to sting, experienced beekeepers will still get stung.
For this reason, most beekeepers will wear some protective clothing; however a few decide not to.
In reality, some beekeepers believe that the more stings you receive, the less pain each one will cause to the body in the future.
Their belief is that to be stung a few times during the season, you will develop a higher tolerance to bee venom, which then offers a resistance to having as bad of a reaction in the future.
But, to minimize the amount that they are stung, even experienced beekeepers wear gloves and a hooded suit or a bee outfit with a hat and veil.
Although at times some experienced beekeepers choose not to wear their gloves.
They feel gloves inhibit their sense of touch and they fear being clumsy during some of the more delicate tasks while working with bees.
Plus, a bee sting that is received on a bare hand can usually be quickly removed by scraping it with a fingernail in order to reduce the amount of venom that is injected.
The neck and face are important areas to protect because attacking bees are attracted to your breath.
A bee's sting in that area usually are more painful and results in more swelling than any where else on your body.
Plus, to remove the bee sting from your face without looking at a mirror is difficult.
Therefore, to learn how to approach bees calmly in order to avoid an aggressive assault from a large group of bees that is targeting the face is very important.
Bee outfits are typically full-length one-piece suits that are worn when you are tending to the beehive.
The protective clothing that beekeepers wear are normally white or some other light color, and made from a smooth material.
A bee outfit that is light in color provides the biggest contrast from the bee colony's natural enemies like bears and skunks, which are usually dark colored and furry.
In addition the loose fit of the bee outfit offers a way to remove bee stingers and venom sacs by a simple tug of the suit.
Plus, the loose fit will keep the stingers away from your skin hindering or reducing the bee stingers ability to reach your skin.
The stingers that are left in the suit should be removed since most will continue to push out a scent that triggers the bees continuing aggressive action.
In order to reduce this risk the next time you visit the hive, the outfit should be washed regularly including your hat, veil and gloves.
Rinsing your hands in vinegar is also a good idea before you visit the colony the next time as well, to minimize the bee's lingering scent.