Don, it just occurred to me that if you were indeed trying to get the note of a 1/2 fret, you could do it by bending a lower string. So if you wanted an A#, you could bend your D string at the 4th fret. Or if you wanted a D#, you could bend the A string at the 3rd fret.
Don, I'm not sure what you mean by "at 1/2." If you bend a note at the first fret, you are actually moving toward the note you would get at the 1-1/2 fret. There is no way to bend an open string, so you cannot bend a string to get the note you would get with a 1/2 fret.
Bending notes at the first fret is harder than elsewhere. I generally push in on the melody string and pull back on the bass and middle strings. It also helps to use more than one finger, so you might fret and bend a string with three fingers until you build up the strength to do it with just one.
Any hints; particularly at 1/2.
