"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...

Yesterday, I found a very large handsome bumble bee bumbling around
the kitchen. Vaguely, I seemed to recall someone here saying that bumble
bees don't sting. So instead of catching him in a glass, as I would a
honey bee, I gently picked him up in my hand. The bee had not read urg,
and promptly stung, though not thoroughly enough to lose his
stingerthing , before being liberated outside.

Bumble bees CAN sting but they rarely do, they have to be provoked, you were
unlucky. Don't let it put you off!

By the way, your bee was a female - a queen indeed, she will be the mother
of perhaps a couple of hundred others through the short season.

Bumble bee stings are smooth, not barbed as they are in honey bees, which is
why they retain them when they're used.You won't have caused any damage to
the bee.

Also, male bees cannot sting, honestly! But there aren't any about yet, they
haven't been born.

Ungrateful little b
Seek no favours from me
I won't give any wellmeaning assistance
Next time you get stuck

Oh please do, they're lovely things and are great for pollination - better
than honey bees in some ways. Just revert to the glass system!

Mary


Janet.

On 30/4/05 10:03 pm, in article ,
"Janet Baraclough" wrote:


Yesterday, I found a very large handsome bumble bee bumbling around
the kitchen. Vaguely, I seemed to recall someone here saying that bumble
bees don't sting. So instead of catching him in a glass, as I would a
honey bee, I gently picked him up in my hand. The bee had not read urg,
and promptly stung, though not thoroughly enough to lose his
stingerthing , before being liberated outside.

Ungrateful little b
Seek no favours from me
I won't give any wellmeaning assistance
Next time you get stuck

No need to continue the rhyme......... ;-)
Indeed they do sting. I have a tiny swelling left in my leg from a bumble
bee that stung me nearly 30 years ago. At the time, that leg swelled up to
three times its normal size, went several rather lovely shades of purple,
pink and blue and stayed that way for over six weeks. Next time I got stung
was about 9 years ago when my own honey bees attacked me and I got around
12 to 16 stings in my head, nose, waist area. My body's reaction was so
violent that my doctor warned me never to be stung again - not a comforting
or practical piece of advice! The rather sad consequence of this for me is
that I have to be very wary of gardening on sunny days and in bee-busy areas
of the garden. The only upside is that having been stung by a wasp during
an urg meet here two years ago, I know that wasps don't have the same
horrible effect!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...

Yesterday, I found a very large handsome bumble bee bumbling
around
the kitchen. Vaguely, I seemed to recall someone here saying that
bumble
bees don't sting. So instead of catching him in a glass, as I would
a
honey bee, I gently picked him up in my hand. The bee had not read
urg,
and promptly stung, though not thoroughly enough to lose his
stingerthing , before being liberated outside.

Ungrateful little b
Seek no favours from me
I won't give any wellmeaning assistance
Next time you get stuck

I think it is the mining bees which make mounds in the lawn and flower
borders that have stings too weak to do any damage.

--
ned

http://www.bugsandweeds.co.uk
last update 28.04.2005

"Janet Baraclough" wrote

Yesterday, I found a very large handsome bumble bee bumbling around
the kitchen. Vaguely, I seemed to recall someone here saying that bumble
bees don't sting. So instead of catching him in a glass, as I would a
honey bee, I gently picked him up in my hand. The bee had not read urg,
and promptly stung, though not thoroughly enough to lose his
stingerthing , before being liberated outside.

Ungrateful little b
Seek no favours from me
I won't give any wellmeaning assistance
Next time you get stuck

I sympathise with you Janet.
Remember riding my motorcycle home when a youngster and getting one full in
the face which promptly stung me on the top lip, by the time I got home you
wouldn't believe the state of my face. Doc gave me some stuff, so no
permanent damage except it was my Applied Maths "A" Level second paper in
the afternoon, no chance with all those anti-histamines!

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London

Janet Baraclough wrote:
Yesterday, I found a very large handsome bumble bee bumbling around
the kitchen. Vaguely, I seemed to recall someone here saying that bumble
bees don't sting. So instead of catching him in a glass, as I would a
honey bee, I gently picked him up in my hand. The bee had not read urg,
and promptly stung, though not thoroughly enough to lose his
stingerthing , before being liberated outside.

I think it depends on the species of bumblebee. Certainly when I was
about five I caught a bumblebee in my hand and it stung me; it took
about ten years for the mark to disappear...

Rhiannon

The only upside is that having been stung by a wasp during
an urg meet here two years ago, I know that wasps don't have the same
horrible effect!
--

Yes they do. Joan is in risk of her life with wasp stings and it is on her
medical records. Last time, and the first time, she was stung it was a
doctor/hospital matter, so your glib statement that they don't have the same
effect, is if you will pardon me .... crap.

Mike

The only upside is that having been stung by a wasp during
an urg meet here two years ago, I know that wasps don't have the same
horrible effect!
--

Yes they do. Joan is in risk of her life with wasp stings and it is on
her
medical records. Last time, and the first time, she was stung it was a
doctor/hospital matter, so your glib statement that they don't have the
same
effect, is if you will pardon me .... crap.

I take your point, Mike, as I know someone who is very allergic to wasp
stings, but I must say that I automatically assumed that Sacha was
referring to herself. Read the sentence again. Surely one should infer
"on me" at the end given that the whole piece was about the effect of
stings *on her*?


Fair comment, but please remember that when Sacha posts, it is as an
authority/expert on a matter.

Mike

"Malcolm" wrote in message
...

In article , Mike
writes

The only upside is that having been stung by a wasp during
an urg meet here two years ago, I know that wasps don't have the same
horrible effect!
--

Yes they do. Joan is in risk of her life with wasp stings and it is on
her
medical records. Last time, and the first time, she was stung it was a
doctor/hospital matter, so your glib statement that they don't have the
same
effect, is if you will pardon me .... crap.

I take your point, Mike, as I know someone who is very allergic to wasp
stings, but I must say that I automatically assumed that Sacha was
referring to herself. Read the sentence again. Surely one should infer
"on me" at the end given that the whole piece was about the effect of
stings *on her*?

That's what *I* thought she meant too.

On 1/5/05 11:44, in article ,
"pammyT" wrote:


"Malcolm" wrote in message
...
snip
I take your point, Mike, as I know someone who is very allergic to wasp
stings, but I must say that I automatically assumed that Sacha was
referring to herself. Read the sentence again. Surely one should infer
"on me" at the end given that the whole piece was about the effect of
stings *on her*?

That's what *I* thought she meant too.

You're quite correct. Of course I was referring to myself - how could
anyone possibly comment upon the effect of wasp stings on other people?
Ignore it - Mike Crowe isn't getting as much attention as he would like -
despite the fact that he's 'mentioned' he's going on some boat somewhere
about a dozen times.
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds for email)

And "STILL" you haven't kill filed me :-))

I must have a real magnetic attraction for you :-)) How nice.

Thank you.

Yes you are quite right. World Cruise January 7th - March 29th, but don't
worry, I will have a laptop with sat link on it :-))

mike

Yes you are quite right. World Cruise January 7th - March 29th, but don't
worry, I will have a laptop with sat link on it :-))


By the way for those interested, all the best cabins are fully booked, I had
one of the last ones, so if you are coming, it will be one that will be less
superior on one of the lower decks.

Mike

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message t
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

Bumble bees CAN sting but they rarely do, they have to be provoked,
you were
unlucky. Don't let it put you off!

I even spoke to her first to explain :-) Maybe she was a deaf bee.

They don't have ears. Now if you'd sent the right vibrations through her
legs or antennae you might have had a better chance :-)


Bumble bee stings are smooth, not barbed as they are in honey bees,
which is
why they retain them when they're used.You won't have caused any damage
to
the bee.

That's interesting. Now I'm wondering if she only stung me a very
tiny bit, or, did I get the full bumblebee dose? It was certainly less
painful than a honeybee sting ( red mark but no swelling).

The pain is related to your own body's reaction and where you're stung. I've
never had a bumble bee sting and have handled hundreds so don't know what it
feels like. But that could be my good luck! Swelling is normal and although
it can be very painful and uncomfortable it's not dangerous - it's called a
'local' reaction. If you have a general rection you know about it - but you
wouldn't even have that with every sting and certainly not the first in a
season.

Also, male bees cannot sting, honestly! But there aren't any about
yet, they
haven't been born.

Thanks Mary..they are fascinating creatures. Our predecessor here
kept 11 hives in the garden which he would have liked me to take over
from him, but I declined because one of my sons has a severe reaction
to bee stings (among other things).

Apart from any other consideration no-one should take over any kind of
animal husbandry without researching it first and getting some hands on
experience. You were wise.

Someone else took the hives, but
I've got a painting of them and buy their honey.

Good for you!

But please don't be nervous of bumble bees, you really were unlucky. Think
of them as flying teddy bears!

Mary

Janet.

Janet Baraclough wrote:
Yesterday, I found a very large handsome bumble bee bumbling around
the kitchen. Vaguely, I seemed to recall someone here saying that
bumble bees don't sting. So instead of catching him in a glass, as I
would a honey bee, I gently picked him up in my hand. The bee had not
read urg, and promptly stung, though not thoroughly enough to lose his
stingerthing , before being liberated outside.

Ungrateful little b
Seek no favours from me
I won't give any wellmeaning assistance
Next time you get stuck


Janet.

Excellent.

And it works on two levels.....

Just imagine you are saying it to Mike. Still works doesn't it!?

Martin (A house spider bit me once).

Just reading Sacha's post, and thinking of the wasp sting I had in my finger when I inadvertently picked up a wasp - the sting caused bad swelling for a couple of weeks but the wasp lived to tell the tale to its mates outside. Anyway, just as I was reading this, felt the slightest 'tickle' on my back inside my blouse, and thought, o, oh, so, very carefully took the top off, and there inside was a wasp. Both of us unscathed.... Anyway, time to put my top back on, release the wasp into the garden and get back to the snooker. Just thought I'd share that moment. )

jay jay

On Sat, 30 Apr 2005 22:22:42 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

My body's reaction was so violent that my doctor warned me never to be stung again - not a comforting or practical piece of advice!

A boy at school carried a syringe in a belt on his waist at all times
for such emergencies. I presume he was liable to suffer anaphylaxic
shock from bee or wasp stings. I imagine the syringe contained
adrenaline.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net