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Offline The15thMember

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First Bumble Bee Sting
« on: August 14, 2022, 05:26:15 pm »
I got stung by a bumble bee for the first time the other day.  She landing on my upper arm and sat there as I was walking to the garage, and then she just jabbed me through my shirt!  :shocked:  I looked down at her and said, "Ow!  What'd you do that for?"  She looked back at me a moment, and then buzzed contentedly away.  :cheesy:  The only thing I can think that happened is that I had my hair down, and perhaps as I was walking she got somewhat tangled in my hair.  The honey bees HATE when that happens, so I could understand if she took offense to that.  :happy:  I had gotten stung by one of my honeys earlier in the day, so I had some Benadryl in me, but the sting site didn't swell or anything even after the Benadryl wore off.  It turned white in the center, which doesn't normally happen to me with honey bee stings, so that's kind of interesting.   
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Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2022, 07:48:06 pm »
Reagan,
You are lucky it did not get worse. My cousin got stung by a bumblebee when I young. She ended up with a large boil on the back of her neck. I was always leary of them. I have never been stung by a bumblebee.
Jim Altmiller
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Offline .30WCF

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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #2 on: August 14, 2022, 08:13:08 pm »
Worst feeling sting or bite I?ve had was from a carpenter bee. I was taking down a playhouse and grabbed a board. My finger covered up the hole that the carpenter bee was in and she wanted out.


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Offline The15thMember

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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #3 on: August 14, 2022, 11:51:39 pm »
Reagan,
You are lucky it did not get worse. My cousin got stung by a bumblebee when I young. She ended up with a large boil on the back of her neck. I was always leary of them. I have never been stung by a bumblebee.
Jim Altmiller
That's very strange.  Bumble bee venom is pretty similar to honey bee venom, although the major protein component of the venoms is different.  But I seriously doubt that was a normal reaction.  When I put out wax from my crushing and straining for the bees to clean I often have just as many bumble bees show up as I do honey bees, and they are very similar to the honey bees in how they act.  I often remove them from the wax by letting them crawl on my hands, like I do with the honeys, and I've never been stung once doing that.  They'll defend their nests of course, but when foraging they are quite docile, and the males especially so.  I saw a male eastern bumble bee on a sunflower a few weeks ago and he let me pet him!  :grin:

Worst feeling sting or bite I?ve had was from a carpenter bee. I was taking down a playhouse and grabbed a board. My finger covered up the hole that the carpenter bee was in and she wanted out.
     
With carpenters it could be a sting or a bite, and I bet that would hurt.  As big as they are, I'd imagine their stingers are large, and they have very powerful jaws.  They are also very docile, and rarely defend their nests in any significant way.  They are semi-social, and often have mothers and daughters working together to provision a nest and overwintering together.  The males stake out territories in the spring about a yard or so in size and will investigate anything in it that moves.  I've more than once had a curious male carpenter bee investigate an open honey bee hive I was working only to be balled by them when he got too close!  :shocked:   
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Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #4 on: August 15, 2022, 08:26:22 am »
Reagan,
My cousin didn?t even know that the bumblebee was on her neck. Someone told her it was there and she put her hand on it and it stung her.
When you are near there nest, they can bee pretty defensive.
Carpenter Bees on the other hand are not defensive about protecting their nest. The males are very aggressive about defending their staked out area from other males but not from people. I?m pretty sure they cannot sting.
Jim Altmiller
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Offline William Bagwell

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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #5 on: August 15, 2022, 08:53:32 am »
I've more than once had a curious male carpenter bee investigate an open honey bee hive I was working only to be balled by them when he got too close!  :shocked:

Look something like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kPVGiyMjZw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80dTx8IM0Fs

Both videos made yesterday approximately three minutes apart.

Online Ben Framed

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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #6 on: August 15, 2022, 09:11:10 am »
A Male carpenter bees do not have a stinger but the females do. The males are the ones you see hovering around wood structures. The females are not aggressive and usually do not sting unless they feel threatened or mashed.  They can leave a stinger like a honey bee.

Phillip
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Offline .30WCF

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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #7 on: August 15, 2022, 09:17:52 am »
All I know is it hurt like the dickens. I assumed it was a bite, there was a little torn skin, and I think it turned white in the middle and was red around the outside. I didn?t swell like I do with a honeybee sting.
It was in a 1x4 board, so that?s really only a 3/4? thick board. I was probably crowding its space in that thin of a board. I?m sure the impact gun pulling screws out and all the jostling around didn?t help either.


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Online Ben Framed

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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #8 on: August 15, 2022, 09:37:45 am »
Females can sting. When you blocked her hole, she let you have it with either a bite or a sting!  :shocked:
You would have noticed a stinger still attached, most likely if it was a sting..

Phillip
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #9 on: August 15, 2022, 09:56:56 am »
Ben,
Only honey bees have barbs on their stingers. So the stinger would not bee attached.
Jim Altmiller
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Offline The15thMember

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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #10 on: August 15, 2022, 11:13:18 am »
Look something like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kPVGiyMjZw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80dTx8IM0Fs

Both videos made yesterday approximately three minutes apart.
Exactly like that!  Great videos! 

Just a couple of things I want to be sure we all have straight. 
1. No male bees (or wasps or ants or really any insect for that matter) can sting.  A stinger is a modified ovipositor (egg-laying structure), which is a structure that no male insect has.  Some males have pseudostings or spines that mimic stings, but only very few can even use them as defense, and none can actually sting. 

2. Honey bees are the only bees with barbed stingers, and therefore the only bees to leave a stinger in the skin under normal circumstances.  My sister smashed a yellow jacket on her arm the other day, thinking it was a mosquito, and because its body broke in half when she smashed it, it left the stinger behind with part of its abdomen.  But absent freak accidents like that, if there is a stinger left behind, it's a honey bee sting.  There are a few wasps with barbed stingers, but I don't think any live in the US.     
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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #11 on: August 15, 2022, 04:03:59 pm »
Reagan I am not saying you are wrong about the carpenter bee loosing her stinger when she does sting. I have never been stung by one but according to this:


https://www.webmd.com/first-aid/what-to-know-carpenter-bee-stings#:~:text=They%20only%20sting%20if%20provoked,treat%20the%20area%20right%20away.

"Bee sting treatment. If a carpenter bee does sting you, treat the area right away. First, check the site of the sting to see if the stinger is still stuck in your skin. If it is, use a fingernail to scrape it off. Leaving the stinger in your skin allows it to release more venom and cause more discomfort."
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline The15thMember

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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #12 on: August 15, 2022, 07:08:11 pm »
Reagan I am not saying you are wrong about the carpenter bee loosing her stinger when she does sting. I have never been stung by one but according to this:


https://www.webmd.com/first-aid/what-to-know-carpenter-bee-stings#:~:text=They%20only%20sting%20if%20provoked,treat%20the%20area%20right%20away.

"Bee sting treatment. If a carpenter bee does sting you, treat the area right away. First, check the site of the sting to see if the stinger is still stuck in your skin. If it is, use a fingernail to scrape it off. Leaving the stinger in your skin allows it to release more venom and cause more discomfort."
Wow.  Just wow.  I'm frankly appalled by this article.  There is more wrong in this article than is correct.  I'm literally speechless.  I can't imagine who wrote this, because their level of experience with carpenter bees must have been that they saw one once.  :cheesy:  (That's one of my dad's jokes.)  But seriously, this is atrocious.  Let's break it down. 

Quote
You can tell them apart because bumblebees have fuzzy, yellow abdominal markings, and carpenter bees do not. Instead, carpenter bees have smooth, shiny abdomens.
This is true for many, but not all species.  There are several species that are fuzzy all the way down their abdomen.  I'm looking a picture of a beautiful blond one in The Bees in Your Backyard right now.

Quote
If you see a cluster of bees around the eave of your porch, they are likely carpenter bees. If you inspect the wood closely, you?ll see small indentations where they chew the wood to build a burrow.

I have never seen carpenter bees cluster around an entrance hole.  Maybe western species do this, but in my experience eastern species do not.  If I saw bees clustering around a hole, I'd expect them to be a truly social species, like bumbles or honeys, that are guarding their entrance, something solitary or semi-social bees don't really do. 

Quote
Males are the bees you see hovering around your porch because they are tasked with protecting the next [sic] from other flying insects.
This is a patent lie.  I'm not aware of any male bees of any species who perform a useful task to the nest.  Male carpenters who are lucky enough to establish territories around the females' nesting sites fly around the nest entrances because they are waiting for females to emerge to mate with.  I suppose they incidentally provide protection for the nest, but it's not on purpose.

Quote
First, check the site of the sting to see if the stinger is still stuck in your skin. If it is, use a fingernail to scrape it off. Leaving the stinger in your skin allows it to release more venom and cause more discomfort.
Here's the heavy hitter for our topic at hand.  But I'm sorry, there is no way for the stinger to remain embedded in the skin if it doesn't have barbs.  And this would also mean that carpenter bees would die when they stung, which we know isn't the case.

Quote
After that, don?t handle the sting site again. You may wipe the site with soap and water, but don?t cover it up. Allowing the sting to have fresh air helps it to heal more quickly.
 
What the actual heck is this??  What on earth does only wiping a sting site with soap and water do??  "FRESH AIR HELPS IT HEAL"?????  Give me a break!!  How about taking an antihistamine, or applying plantain to it like Jim so helpfully posted on another thread.  Not even the tried and true meat tenderizer is mentioned!

Quote
Carpenter bees are out early in the day, bouncing from flower to flower and vegetable to vegetable providing pollination.‌

They are also out all day, so. . . .

Quote
Some insects can be aggressive, biting or stinging without being provoked. When it comes to carpenter bees, if you leave them alone, they will leave you alone.

This is so untrue and I hate it when people say this about any animal.  When's the last time any animal, insect or not, that wasn't either severely mistreated, rabid, or a winter bear, ran out of the woods and wholly unprovoked attacked you.  :angry:

Quote
Minor tunneling may not seem like a big deal, but carpenter bees mate twice a year, burrowing tunnels each time.

Mating twice a year would only happen in extremely warm locations; in most of the US and Canada it would be only one brood cycle annually.  And carpenter bees do reuse their tunnels, only boring new ones if the population expands. 

So that's that.  Might I recommend Healthline in the future instead of WebMD.  I've been recently seeing a lot of sketchy or unhelpful info on their website, but this BY FAR takes the cake.  By the way, I learned most of this information about carpenter bees from personal experience, The Bees in Your Backyard by Joseph S. Wilson and Olivia Messinger Carril, or from a local native pollinator landscaping and activism group called Spriggly's Beescaping.  Here is the link to their website.  https://sprigglys.com/
« Last Edit: August 15, 2022, 08:23:54 pm by The15thMember »
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Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #13 on: August 15, 2022, 09:00:21 pm »
Member,
Thanks for taking the time to correct this. People are constantly posting things on the web that are not true.
Jim Altmiller
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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #14 on: August 16, 2022, 12:00:46 am »
Jim I posted that because it was written by WebMed. I read no further than the actual sting part. This is not the only site that suggest carpenter bees can and do sting, as in 30s report. There are many like articles.  WebMed just happened to be the first source that I came too. In fact, after further investigation after Reagan?s post, I find there are several sites that suggest such, Terminix is another, with the exception of the detached stinger part. So with this in mind, 30 could have very well been stung or bitten by a carpenter bee.


Quote
This is so untrue and I hate it when people say this about any animal.  When's the last time any animal, insect or not, that wasn't either severely mistreated, rabid, or a winter bear, ran out of the woods and wholly unprovoked attacked you.  :angry:


I can assure you through experience that Red wasp WILL attack, unprovoked, simply by walking down a sidewalk though unmolested this time of year.

Some dogs will attack unprovoked and never have been mistreated.. I have a large scare on my throat area to show for it.

Let me also assure you some bulls WILL attack unprovoked without provocation. There was a couple that we dared not cross their paddock, but made a habit to go around.

We had a mean Billy Goat that you dare not get anywhere near for the *assured attack*, though never mistreated or provoked.

A red rooster, the same.

A friend had a cotton mouth moccasin attack him unprovoked when we were kids. We were simply walking on a creek bed and the snake went out of its way to attack on open mud. I?m sorry but to believe (some) creatures will only attach if provoked or mistreated is a myth.

Phillip


Terminix

Do Carpenter Bees Sting?

*The short answer is yes. Female carpenter bees can sting you, although they are very unlikely to do so unless you?re handling them or poking your fingers into their burrows (which is already mentioned above as something you should not do). Male carpenter bees are not equipped with stingers. However, they do hover outside the burrow exit and guard the nest. If you get too close, the male may buzz and fly at you aggressively. Because these bees are fairly large, this is usually enough to drive people away.*
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline .30WCF

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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #15 on: August 16, 2022, 12:04:56 am »
Jim I posted that because it was written by WebMed. I read no further than the actual sting part. This is not the only site that suggest carpenter bees can and do sting, as in 30s report. There are many like articles.  WebMed just happened to be the first source that I came too. In fact, after further investigation after Reagan?s post, I find there are several sites that suggest such, Terminix is another, with the exception of the detached stinger part. So with this in mind, 30 could have very well been stung or bitten by a carpenter bee.

I can assure you through experience that Red wasp WILL attack, unprovoked, simply by walking down a sidewalk though unmolested this time of year.
Let me also assure you some bulls WILL attack unprovoked without provocation. There was a couple that we dared not cross their paddock, but made a habit to go around. Some dogs will attack unprovoked and never have been mistreated.. I have a large scare on my throat area to show for it.
We had a mean Billy Goat that you dare not get anywhere near for the *assured attack*, though never mistreated. A red rooster, the same.
A friend had a cotton mouth moccasin attack him unprovoked when we were kids. We were simply walking on a creek bed and the snake went out of its way to attack on open mud. I?m sorry but to believe (some) creatures will only attach if provoked or mistreated is a myth.

Phillip


Terminix

Do Carpenter Bees Sting?

*The short answer is yes. Female carpenter bees can sting you, although they are very unlikely to do so unless you?re handling them or poking your fingers into their burrows (which is already mentioned above as something you should not do). Male carpenter bees are not equipped with stingers. However, they do hover outside the burrow exit and guard the nest. If you get too close, the male may buzz and fly at you aggressively. Because these bees are fairly large, this is usually enough to drive people away.*
I?ve spent many a spring morning, running from bulls, when I was just crossing a fence to call a turkey in.


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Offline The15thMember

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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #16 on: August 16, 2022, 12:25:18 am »
Jim I posted that because it was written by WebMed. I read no further than the actual sting part. This is not the only site that suggest carpenter bees can and do sting, as in 30s report. There are many like articles.  WebMed just happened to be the first source that I came too. In fact, after further investigation after Reagan?s post, I find there are several sites that suggest such, Terminix is another, with the exception of the detached stinger part. So with this in mind, 30 could have very well been stung or bitten by a carpenter bee.

Terminix

Do Carpenter Bees Sting?

*The short answer is yes. Female carpenter bees can sting you, although they are very unlikely to do so unless you?re handling them or poking your fingers into their burrows (which is already mentioned above as something you should not do). Male carpenter bees are not equipped with stingers. However, they do hover outside the burrow exit and guard the nest. If you get too close, the male may buzz and fly at you aggressively. Because these bees are fairly large, this is usually enough to drive people away.*
I'm not sure what you are saying, Phillip.  The question was never whether female carpenters can sting, but if they leave a stinger.  I think we are all in agreement that female carpenters can sting.  I still don't agree that males guard the nest, as I see many males displaying this so-called guarding behavior without the presence of a nest.   

Quote
This is so untrue and I hate it when people say this about any animal.  When's the last time any animal, insect or not, that wasn't either severely mistreated, rabid, or a winter bear, ran out of the woods and wholly unprovoked attacked you.  :angry:


I can assure you through experience that Red wasp WILL attack, unprovoked, simply by walking down a sidewalk though unmolested this time of year.

Some dogs will attack unprovoked and never have been mistreated.. I have a large scare on my throat area to show for it.

Let me also assure you some bulls WILL attack unprovoked without provocation. There was a couple that we dared not cross their paddock, but made a habit to go around.

We had a mean Billy Goat that you dare not get anywhere near for the *assured attack*, though never mistreated or provoked.

A red rooster, the same.

A friend had a cotton mouth moccasin attack him unprovoked when we were kids. We were simply walking on a creek bed and the snake went out of its way to attack on open mud. I?m sorry but to believe (some) creatures will only attach if provoked or mistreated is a myth.

Phillip
We've had mean animals too.  In my opinion, in these situations you've described the animal feels provoked.  The wasp is defending her nest, the bull his herd, the rooster his hens.  We have a dog who will growl if he thinks you are inspecting him for some reason (like if he has an injury or a tick or something), or even if things in the room just get too excited. Even if you, the person, did nothing at the moment, the animal feels for some reason or another that you are a threat.  That's not unprovoked, although you may not always know the reason the animal is provoked.  And in the case of domestic animals, I'm not including situations where a powerful animal is just acting up for some reason or another, or simply because it's its nature to be territorial.  It's like the bumble bee who stung me the other day.  I wasn't doing anything but walking, and she landed on my arm and just stung me.  But I don't believe she did that for no reason, something must have bothered her.             
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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #17 on: August 16, 2022, 03:25:15 am »
> The wasp is defending her nest

The wasp space was not encroached upon. Brood here was nothing new, they had been raising brood all Summer. The sidewalk stroll was no different than any other this entire Summer and (Spring). The wasp aggressively invaded MY space. It?s space was not threatened nor crowded any more than any other day of the year nor the present or previous brood.  I don?t care how the wasp felt! lol  My space was aggressively invaded, not his. It crossed the line and payed the price for its aggressive behavior.  lol
I said aggressive and not defensive it came after me not vice versa.

> the bull his herd,

The two mean bulls had no cows to defend;, each had their very own two acre pipe fence paddock. No cows were in or close to these paddocks for the bulls to defend when they were in the paddock area.
There were 6-8 bulls with the same set up. The other bulls NEVER showed signs of aggressive behavior. Non of these were mistreated, each were treated the same since calfs. All were registered stock of highly sought after bloodlines. (Valuable)
It made no difference it they were in paddocks, or on 500 acre pastures. These two were mean. I don?t care how they felt. They showed aggressive, unprovoked, dangerous, not to be tolerated or trusted behavior; until they were culled for their meanness.

> the rooster his hens

Rarely did we have an overly aggressive rooster or man fighter as they were referred too, unlike this aggressive unprovoked mean one. We raised chickens my entire youth. This one was inexcusably aggressive; no excuses! I do not know or care what he thought or felt. He was never mistreated. We eventually separated him from the hens. This changed nothing! He was aggressively mean until the day he met Mr Ax!  :shocked: lol   

Phillip





2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #18 on: August 16, 2022, 03:46:28 am »
Quote
I still don't agree that males guard the nest, as I see many males displaying this so-called guarding behavior without the presence of a nest
.

You may be right but the two sources say otherwise. Though I was around them most of my life, I have no opinion on this. I do know while carpenter bees are to be found around barns and wood structures, I never seen a nest. I might have been under the wrong assumption that the nest were within the bored holes in the wood, made by the bees in the same areas the males hovered. I always assumed that was the reason I never ran across a carpenter bee nest because the nest were not visible within the wood.   (bore bee) as we called them back in the day for obvious reasons.

Phillip
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline The15thMember

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Re: First Bumble Bee Sting
« Reply #19 on: August 16, 2022, 12:08:26 pm »
Quote
I still don't agree that males guard the nest, as I see many males displaying this so-called guarding behavior without the presence of a nest
.

You may be right but the two sources say otherwise. Though I was around them most of my life, I have no opinion on this. I do know while carpenter bees are to be found around barns and wood structures, I never seen a nest. I might have been under the wrong assumption that the nest were within the bored holes in the wood, made by the bees in the same areas the males hovered. I always assumed that was the reason I never ran across a carpenter bee nest because the nest were not visible within the wood.   (bore bee) as we called them back in the day for obvious reasons.

Phillip
You are correct, the nests are in the bored holes.  But I have seen males establish territories out in our driveway or in the goat pasture, and there isn't even wood in those locations.  I'd be more willing to entertain the prospect of them guarding if your sources were more trustworthy.  The two sources you're mentioning are an article that clearly doesn't know what it's talking about and a pest control company.  Neither of these sources are reliable for information regarding the life history of native bees.
 
> The wasp is defending her nest

The wasp space was not encroached upon. Brood here was nothing new, they had been raising brood all Summer. The sidewalk stroll was no different than any other this entire Summer and (Spring). The wasp aggressively invaded MY space. It?s space was not threatened nor crowded any more than any other day of the year nor the present or previous brood.  I don?t care how the wasp felt! lol  My space was aggressively invaded, not his. It crossed the line and payed the price for its aggressive behavior.  lol
I said aggressive and not defensive it came after me not vice versa.

> the bull his herd,

The two mean bulls had no cows to defend;, each had their very own two acre pipe fence paddock. No cows were in or close to these paddocks for the bulls to defend when they were in the paddock area.
There were 6-8 bulls with the same set up. The other bulls NEVER showed signs of aggressive behavior. Non of these were mistreated, each were treated the same since calfs. All were registered stock of highly sought after bloodlines. (Valuable)
It made no difference it they were in paddocks, or on 500 acre pastures. These two were mean. I don?t care how they felt. They showed aggressive, unprovoked, dangerous, not to be tolerated or trusted behavior; until they were culled for their meanness.

> the rooster his hens

Rarely did we have an overly aggressive rooster or man fighter as they were referred too, unlike this aggressive unprovoked mean one. We raised chickens my entire youth. This one was inexcusably aggressive; no excuses! I do not know or care what he thought or felt. He was never mistreated. We eventually separated him from the hens. This changed nothing! He was aggressively mean until the day he met Mr Ax!  :shocked: lol   

Phillip
Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned mistreatment of an animal.  Obviously I don't think you are mistreating your animals Phillip.  And I wasn't really referring to domestic animals.  That's a whole other . . . animal.  :wink:  :cheesy:  In the case of domestic animals, like bulls and roosters, who like you said are sometimes "inexcusably aggressive", to me that's a product of the animal's personality simply not being logistically manageable for the people.  And in cases like that, freezer camp is the only option, because you simply can't be dealing with an unmanageable animal on a farm.  We've done this several times ourselves, and I am absolutely NOT condemning it.  We've had several roosters who would attack anyone who went into the chicken run, so like you say, the only answer for that is a date with Mr. Ax.  :wink:  But I still feel that just because these animals are easily provoked, doesn't mean they are attacking for no reason at all, from their perspective.   

Unlike domestic animals, wild animals have the prerogative to act aggressively.  They need to to survive.  But it is of no benefit to them in their attempts to survive to attack something or someone without cause.  Why get into a fight with something if there is nothing to be gained?  So let's just use that wasp that stung you a few days ago.  Did you DO anything to actively provoke the wasp?  Of course not.  You were just walking along.  But wasps are naturally very territorial, and perhaps that one more so than her sisters, as you indicated you hadn't been stung by this nest before.  Why was she so much more defensive than her sisters?  Maybe the wasp or nest was recently attacked by something else, and the wasps were really on the alert at this moment; maybe a color or texture or scent about you alarmed her; maybe it's her individual personality, she is simply more easily alerted than the other wasps about everything that enters the wasps' territory.  But either way, she felt that you were a problem, and whether or not you did anything, that was provocation to her. 

I may be splitting hairs, since it probably seems obvious to us who have experience with animals that they don't just roam around willy-nilly attacking people.  But many people haven't been fortunate to experience nature closely like we have, and as a result they don't understand wild animals, and especially classically aggressive ones like bee and wasps.  I'm not just speaking to you, Phillip, I'm speaking to everyone who wanders through Beemaster and reads this thread.  Maybe their child was stung by a bumble bee or a carpenter bee, and they are looking for advice.  I ALWAYS want to be sure that I'm impressing upon people that insects are not dangerous, even the "dangerous" ones.  If there is a wasp nest right next to your front door, should you kill it?  Probably.  But if there is a wasp nest high up in a tree in a corner of your yard that no one uses and they aren't bothering anyone, then please leave it.  If people think that those wasps are inherently aggressive and could attack at any moment, they will kill them, and rob the surrounding area of the biological services those insects are providing.  The same goes for bees, ants, assassin bugs, cicada killers, velvet ants, snakes, bears, hawks, weasels, wolverines, what have you.  This doesn't mean you don't deal with animals that are problematic, like if there are coyotes attacking your sheep or bears attacking your hives.  But when we understand that animals don't do things like that because they are evil and need to be eradicated, but because they are trying to survive, and when we treat the ones that aren't causing problems with a proper, healthy respect, then we have the joy that comes with seeing a healthy, biodiverse, functioning ecosystem thrive.           
« Last Edit: August 16, 2022, 12:40:29 pm by The15thMember »
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.

 

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