79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 04/15/2014 01:37 AM |
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Got stung on my left hand this afternoon. Never saw the bee but she left her calling card, the stinger. Pulled it out with my fingernails.
It really didn't hurt much then. But every hour since, the swelling has increased as has the pain. Did my usual 10 mile ride in town about an hour later. No big deal. Coming home an hour ago, I had to use different hand positions to pull and brake.
Last time I was stung (by a bee) was when I was about seven. Stepped on it, probably got the full load of venom and suffered a foot that swelled so much it was days before I could put my shoe on. I am not looking forward to tomorrow morning (but it should be interesting).
Sucks that the bee certainly died. I harbor those gals no ill will whatsoever. Some of the really good critters on our planet. And I love their work. Pollinating the food for humanity and that wonderful honey!
Ben
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THE SKINNY
Posts:506
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| 04/15/2014 08:16 AM |
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| with the whole colony collapse disorder thing, you would think the odds of getting stung are pretty low. have you seen the move 'more than honey'? interesting documentary about bees. it even ventures into the africanized bee invasion. hope your swelling is tolerable. |
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| How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. |
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Spud
Posts:525
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| 04/15/2014 12:06 PM |
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Bee attacks, of the Africanized type, are in the news here more than I would like. Found this in my bushes a few years back. Hope that hand is feeling better Ben.
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79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 04/15/2014 01:06 PM |
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My hand is feeling much better this morning. Still quite swollen and now red but using it doesn't hurt.
Spud, did you call a beekeeper? That's a find for them. There's a queen bee at the heart of that swarm. There was a photo a few years ago of a swarm enveloping a locked bike, apparently here in Portland. I'd love it if they chose my bike!
Last summer at the weekend Cycle Oregon ride, we were returning mid-afternoon on a July day in the Willamette valley, some of the world's best farm country. For about a mile, we rode directly against the flight path of thousands of bees returning to dozens of hives in the adjacent field. Those bees did an amazing job of missing us. Two hits per rider among hundreds of opportunities was the norm. I didn't hear of any stings.
Losing the bees could be the wake-up call humans need; that our environment actually does matter. Kind of a harsh call. Like losing digits to learn that your table saw requires respect.
Ben |
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Spud
Posts:525
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| 04/15/2014 01:12 PM |
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| Ben, we did in fact call a beekeeper. He told us they were stopping to take a rest, and that they would be gone before days end. As fast as they had arrived they had gone. With the exception of a few stragglers hanging back. |
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 04/15/2014 01:29 PM |
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| My son-in-law just captured a swarm in their neighborhood and if he's able to convince them to stay in the new hive that will make three hives for him. I've got four that are great entertainment and generate plenty of honey. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 04/15/2014 01:34 PM |
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I hope they found a good home.
Had a couple of thoughts of bee stings last night. I"m guessing bees pack such a punch to make bears think twice about going for their favorite treat because every time a bear snacks on honey, an entire hive is exterminated. Make that bear really pay and maybe he won't be that hungry for another year! Second thought! I think that bee tagged me lightly because I wasn't threatening a hive, just being in the wrong place while that worker was working. (Now that be that I stepped on years ago - that's a pretty blatant action, flattening the critter with 100 pounds. Plus I then drove all the venom into myself putting weight on the venom sack. The bee had no say there, even if she was trying to be gentle.
Ben |
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79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 04/15/2014 01:51 PM |
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Dale, I once captured a queen bumblebee and tried to introduce her to a crevice in my stone wall. Don't think she stayed. (I need to do more homework and get a really suitable place identified. But I've got another 11 months.)
Capturing a queen bumblebee is about as challenging as subduing a teddy bear. In March, they stand out better than teddy bears, huge, brightly striped and barely faster. They make the much smaller workers look like acrobats. Those queens are looking to start the next hive. They are a self-sufficient package, with a hive's worth of fertilized eggs inside.
As a kid, I used to pet the bumblebees as they worked deep inside cone shaped flowers. They didn't care for it but there wasn't a lot they could do. Sometimes they would get irritated and fly away, I never got stung. My love of bees goes way back!
Ben |
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 04/15/2014 02:41 PM |
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Dad was a commercial beekeeper for about ten years or so and had over 1,000 hives at one point. My hobby and then by extension to my son-in-law goes back to him.
We get some bumblebees around here and they are sort of the teddy-bears of bees, big, gentle, kind of fun looking and not a threat at all. I don't know much about them at all-- where they nest or what they eat or even if they are good pollinators. |
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THE SKINNY
Posts:506
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| 04/15/2014 03:21 PM |
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| according to the documentary, africanized bees don't suffer from the colony collapse disorder. i guess the meanness makes them hardier. we've got carpenter bees boring holes in our deck. i guess that's better than termites. our yard is a pollinator's paradise. |
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| How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. |
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Oldfart
Posts:511
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| 04/15/2014 03:52 PM |
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| Never bee stung as far as I can recall. Lots of wasp stings though. Lots of yellow jacket nasties out in our woods. The nest under hunks of wood which might be on a trail . You want to be the first over the wood because the second is the one that is punished. Those seem to be a pain for about 30-60 minutes for me than gone. |
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ChinookPass
Posts:809
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| 04/15/2014 03:58 PM |
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| skinny, I had to put a fine wire mesh apron around our deck when I lived in the south to keep those carpenter bees from consuming the deck. Funny sound, listening to bees eat your deck. |
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SideBySide
Posts:444
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| 04/15/2014 05:04 PM |
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| It seems cruel now, but I used to have "pet" bumblebees when I was a little kid. Capture one, hold it under water until it passes out, tie a piece of thread to it's leg, voila a pet bumblebee, release when done. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2886
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| 04/15/2014 05:50 PM |
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Arrrgh! Yellow jackets and their close cousins bald face hornets (which aren't really hornets) have stung me more times than I could count.
Ben mention your reaction to the sting next time you see your doc. |
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