Lampwork beads are made with a special torch and glass rods.  I melt the end of a rod in the flame from the torch.  I wind the melted glass onto a mandrel (a stainless steel rod which has bead release, a clay product, on it so the glass does not stick permanantly.)  The glass can be shaped in a variety of ways, and it can be decorated with other pieces and colors of glass.  Once the bead is the way I want it to be, I flame anneal it.  I hold it in the coolest part of the flame to let it cool until the glass does not glow.  I then put the bead into a heated pot of vermiculite to let it cool even more.  After I have made a number of beads I put them all into a kiln to anneal them.  The purpose of annealing is to remove the stress in the bead from heating and cooling.  Cracks and fractures will occur if the bead is not annealed.  I also remove the bead release so that it is clean on the inside. 

Even though the beads have been annealed, and are not particularly fragile, they are glass.  They can break and chip if mistreated.  You do not need to be excessively careful, but don't be overly rough either.