First of all, I haven't spent much tying the last couple months. Tied up a boat load last winter.
Second, #22 with beads? Testing our skills are we? The older you get , the larger your flies get. I figure in 10 years or so, barring any miracle advances in eye site restoration, my flies will resemble 2/3 of a whole Rhode Island Red on a hook
Tiny beads can be a challenge. Especially with my xxl hands. Getting hold of the blasted thing is hard enough. Lining it up so one can get a tiny hook through it Without booking a thumb in the process is near impossible.
Barbless hooks are pretty much a must.
There's a tool out there that looks like a large fender washer with a number of small depressions drilled in it around its perimeter. I made a couple for smaller beads using the drill press and a selection of bits.
The idea is to place the bead in the depression and, using a tweezer or forceps to hold the hook, simply put the hook through the bead eye and pick it up. It worked .....sort of.
There's are beading tweezers form craft stores that have rubber tips. They work ok.
My best trick is a Popsicle stick with a piece of 2 sided tape about 1/2" long on one face. Lightly pick up a bead with the taped end and thread the hook through the bead. I've gone so far as to place the hook in the vise by the shank and, using the Popsicle stick, ease the bead onto the hook. It's a good concept that could easily be improved upon.
The last tip is to work over something that will catch the beads when you drop them. You'll drop them! I like using the little foil pans Walmart sells for bbq. They're about 5x8" and an inch deep. 3 for $.88. I use them for all kinds of stuff.
Hardline Dubbin sells a small silicone bead pad that has little dimples to keep beads from rolling around the bench. I've never tried one but it looks like a pretty good solution.
If a person were to invent a universal bead dispenser that aligned a bead so that it could be threaded and removed, he would make millions.
My last idea is to pay a group of Girl Scouts $.25 a hook to do them for you.
Rg