North Carolina Bee School Practice Exam

What is one essential item you should always carry when beekeeping to help with stings?

1. Pollen substitute

2. Smoke tool

3. Hive tool

4. Sugar solution

The correct answer is: Hive tool

A hive tool is a versatile and essential item for any beekeeper. While it primarily serves to pry open hive boxes, scrape off excess wax, and remove bees from frames, it is also useful in situations where a sting might occur. If a beekeeper is getting stung or finding themselves in a stressful situation with the bees, the hive tool can be utilized to gently brush bees away or lift frames to remove oneself from the immediate area of agitation without causing panic among the bees. In practice, it’s important to manage the environment within the hive and ensure that both the bees and the beekeeper are calm. Using the hive tool correctly minimizes the chances of stings by allowing the beekeeper to work efficiently and with less disturbance to the bees. The other options, while relevant to beekeeping, do not specifically address sting management. For example, a smoke tool is used to calm bees by masking alarm pheromones, which can help prevent stings but is not directly protective in cases of already being stung. A sugar solution is often used for feeding or stimulating bees but does nothing for managing stings. Pollen substitute aids in brood development but has no relation to sting prevention or management. Thus, the hive tool stands out as