Amateur beekeeper Jason Striegel asked his friend Chris to take photos of a hive splitting operation. Here's Chris' experience:
But my attitude did a 180 when a bee got stuck between my eyebrow and the eyepiece of my camera and it stung me like crazy. Then another one swooped into my eye and got tangled in my lashes buzzing like crazy. I lost it and shook them off violently..staying calm and moving slow went right out the window. I sprinted my ass off back to the safety of the house. I'd like to say that was the worst of it. But later, when the queen was found and the hive splitting was a success, the bees weren't done being pissed off. I was just standing there minding my own business and one mean bastard worker bee flew right directly into my right ear. DEEP! And it started trying to get deeper! I completely lost my shit. I started dancing all around making all kinds of girly noises. My heart rate was probably 200. The buzzing was unbelievable, it sounded and felt like it was almost into my brain before I finally got a grip on the little shit and yanked him out and threw him. Incredibly I didn't get stung.
My takeaways from the evening: Beehives are awesome. It's hard to find a queen. Don't go near a beehive when it's being split without protection. Having a bee in your ear is about the most terrifying thing that can happen to you.
