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First Bumble Bee Sting

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The15thMember:
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.   

BeeMaster2:
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

.30WCF:
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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The15thMember:

--- Quote from: BeeMaster2 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

--- End quote ---
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:


--- Quote from: .30WCF 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.

--- End quote ---
     
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:   

BeeMaster2:
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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