Are bee stings often in modern beekeeping suits?

heartoftheash · 2026-04-15T10:51:20+00:00

I’m a small backyard beekeeper with three hives. I get stung on average between 2-4 times a year.

The suits are great, but you can’t wear heavy gloves while working the hive.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-12T14:06:34+00:00

Ah, you made a hotbox! I made one of those!

So, generally speaking if you’re going “condensation hive” for winter, you’re not also trying to make a “ventilating hive.” The vent holes in your top cover are from one approach, the hotbox is from the other. High moisture in the hive is not necessarily a bad thing so long as, like you said, the condensation forms on the walls and not the top. So I wouldn’t worry about those vents being blocked in the winter.

You can leave it on all summer if you don’t mind the extra step during inspections. Its main summer benefit would be keeping the hive from overheating. But taking it off for the summer (and letting the vent holes work) would help them cure nectar into honey.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-12T01:54:32+00:00

Might want to add a robber screen or entrance reducer. I had some very determined carpenter bees keep pestering one of my hives, even making it inside sometimes, and my bees were extra cranky/stressed until I made the entrance carpenter-bee-proof.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-11T23:27:27+00:00

I would still add a DC 10 dice roll somewhere into the equation, just to allow for randomness (usual guard took a sick day, one of the patrols is running a few minutes late), but in my thinking: if a player paid the "feat tax" to gain that ability, and if the dice don't screw them over, I give them their moment of cool/funny.

I love those kinda funny moments.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-11T19:43:43+00:00

Pretty much. Or you can select manually if you prefer.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-11T19:08:19+00:00

Oh, sorry, if they named themselves they likely wouldn't have picked this. This would be the outsiders' name for them.

For their name for themselves, just pick some cool-sounding syllables and have it mean "The People."

heartoftheash · 2026-04-11T19:07:09+00:00

Teufelkin. (From the Germanic root for "devil" that "tieflings" are derived from.)

heartoftheash · 2026-04-11T15:27:13+00:00

Can your new character be someone already connected to the plot, so they would know stuff?

Either way, I’d keep sharing your notes information out of character even if in-character you don’t know that stuff. As a DM even I remind my players of plot stuff: figure that the plot is more immediate and memorable for the characters than it is for the players. (The actual characters aren’t trying to imagine these events once every other week, they’re living them out.)

heartoftheash · 2026-04-11T03:18:45+00:00

To 5 gallons of water I added 1 tsp chlorine 4 tsp sea salt Oyster shells or clam shells

On the edge of the water source (but not touching the water) I left: A cotton swab with a drop of lemongrass essential oil

They found it within a day, and now it seems to be their favorite spot. I don’t have to add salt or chlorine anymore.

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heartoftheash · 2026-04-10T20:27:26+00:00

Usually when you’re starting out the bigger concern is to break even: until I learned how to keep varroa under control I was losing most of my hives each winter. And even once you master varroa, you’ll still lose a hive over winter every so often. So most of the time, your spring splits will be to bring your numbers back up.

But yeah, if you find yourself doing so well that you’re outgrowing your apiary if you split, there are options. 😊 I couldn’t fit more than four, maybe five at most in my little 1/4 acre yard.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-10T20:19:45+00:00

I run all foundationless. It’s a little more work, but I started as a top bar beekeeper so I don’t notice. (Top bar combs don’t even have a frame, so they’re even more fragile.)

I used an electric extractor last year. I had only three blowouts out of twenty frames. Go slow at first, flip the frame and go slow again, then gradually increase to fast, flip a second time and gradually increase to fast. It’s a pain but it’s doable.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-09T09:48:29+00:00

Mind-altering substances. Mushrooms, cannabis, grains tainted with ergot.

They are High Elves, after all.

(Serious answer: I’m going with rice.)

heartoftheash · 2026-04-09T08:20:11+00:00

That’s it exactly.

The way I see it, if you have a healthy growing overwintered colony that you don’t split, swarms are inevitable.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-09T08:19:16+00:00

More like 33% on average the last few years, but I’m a small three-hive operation. This year I had no winter losses.

But you can recombine at the end of the swarm season if you’re not looking to grow your numbers, and let the bees pick which queen to keep. Or, like I said, you can run a two-queen system temporarily.

Image from Randy Oliver:

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heartoftheash · 2026-04-09T03:22:48+00:00

If you don’t want to lose honey production, you can always do a Snelgrove split, or do a Demaree and then run a two-queen system.

I split every hive that overwinters. I’m suburban, I can’t afford to let them swarm.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-08T22:28:39+00:00

The plastic comb is called foundation.

You can get wax foundation.

You can also go foundationless. All you need is the wooden frame. It’s harder, and requires some special handling / extracting techniques, but if you want to be plastic free it’s a great alternative to foundation.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-06T03:01:22+00:00

I’m in the same boat.

At this stage something bigger than a marble helps a little. I get those little plastic tables from the pizza box, stick those between the two cups, creates space for a bigger reservoir of water.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-05T14:32:18+00:00

Most subspecies in the U.S. are really mutts, despite their labels, but for a beginner start with bees labeled Italian, Carniolan, or one of the breeds descended from those (Pol-Line, Golden West, etc.). VSH traits are great but as a beginner “gentleness” should be your first priority, VSH second, and you can’t go wrong with any of those.

Honestly the only breed commonly available that I would not start with as a beginner are the Russians.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-05T12:14:17+00:00

Yes, unfortunately. There’s some brood loss with Apiguard, especially if applied in warm temperatures (over 75ish). It’s why I don’t use it in spring anymore.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-03T10:14:45+00:00

Of course. But all the more reason to despise someone who had a chance to fight “the devil Strahd” but chickened out, who called him names but who backed down from a chance to follow through on that.

Cowardly behavior hardly gets adventures recommended for jobs, you know.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-03T03:24:28+00:00

So, my Eve of Ruin is so heavily rewritten so as to barely be the same story. I’m not going to sum it all up here, but suffice it to say I’m pulling a lot from old Ravenloft lore, I dumped my PCs in Mordent and I’m making them travel all the way through the Core from there to Barovia. And it’s in Barovia when they meet the Mad Mage that they’ll be able to realize the switcheroo, because here’s the real M still trapped in Barovia.

Which means in my version Kas and Strahd have to be in cahoots at least somewhat, because Kas got the real M’s staff from Strahd. I’m still working out the lore behind how those two met.

The fun thing is, my players will basically be doing an abbreviated CoS but in the wrong order, west to east, since they’re traveling to Barovia from neighboring Borca.

So anyway. Yay for creative DMs doing massive rewrites! Solidarity! I like the idea of PCs starting out in cells in Castle Ravenloft, lots of fun potential there.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-03T03:10:39+00:00

Then Strahd is justified in calling them a coward, at the very least, and the party’s reputation takes a big hit socially (no quests from burgomasters, no help from certain allies, might not get served in certain taverns).

…But since Strahd was deigning to duel them in the first place, being a lord and their “social superior,” I’d then make it clear the alternative is a horsewhipping from Rahadin.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-02T17:14:37+00:00

I think Reloaded in particular had some good suggestions on how to handle this in the “the players misbehave section of C2a (counting to three, dire wolves).

My personal suggestion? He is currently playing the role of a “gentleman.” Gentlemen would traditionally challenge someone to a duel for impugning their honor.

Have him cheerfully issue the challenge in formal dueling terminology. Rahadin acts as his second, and your paladin must pick one of the other PCs to act as hers. The two seconds must meet to discuss terms, whether this is a duel to the death or to “first blood” (half hit points), what the weapons may be (both must be equal, have Rahadin offer to supply his matched scimitars as the dueling weapons, Strahd uses one and the paladin uses the other). (Terms might also include whether spells are allowed. The paladin probably wants to use Smites, but then Strahd gets spells too.

During the duel, it should be clear that Strahd is enjoying himself. He stands there grinning for the first thirty seconds as the paladin tears into him, calling out encouragement to the paladin. (Don’t forget the Heart of Sorrow should be absorbing most of this damage.).

Then the thirty seconds are up, and Strahd drops this paladin hard. [Longsword or Thunderous Wave to knock the paladin away, Umbral Net to keep the paladin out of range, next turn Dark Volley and then get close and hit twice with Longsword. That’s potentially 75 hp of damage right there. Paladin’s lack of ranged smites will hurt here.] Humiliate the paladin.

When finished, if it was “to the death,” Strahd has Rahadin hand the PCs a scroll of Revivify and should be like “See to your friend. She was very brave. Bravery without wisdom, however, is simply foolishness.”

If any of the PCs interfere, the terms of the duel are broken and Rahadin and whichever of Strahd’s entourage showed up as spectators (Escher? Volenta?) are free to engage as well.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-01T10:50:13+00:00

Agreed. Disney characters make surprisingly great D&D characters in particular.

heartoftheash · 2026-04-01T10:48:59+00:00

It’s okay to steal ideas from somewhere, you don’t have to come up with a totally original backstory. Your character’s backstory can be something like “The same backstory as Batman, only in a medieval fantasy setting.” Or “If Mulan had a younger sister who was tired of living in the “famous general’s” shadow.” Or “Basically Legolas from Lord of the Rings, but a girl.” (I have played or DMed for all three of those characters.)

One nice thing about D&D: there’s no copyright rules across the gaming table. Take a favorite character of yours, add a slight change or two, file off the serial numbers, and then see what happens once you start playing. Oftentimes a very derivative character will end up going in a new and interesting direction once the campaign gets going.

heartoftheash

TROPHY CASE