First Bumble Bee Sting

[Ben Framed]

The15Member

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.

On that we agree! 

The two sources you're mentioning are an article that clearly doesn't know what it's talking about and a pest control company

.

There were several more sources but I let it go after these two. lol

I'm not just speaking to you, Phillip, I'm speaking to everyone who wanders through Beemaster and reads this thread.

Same here. 

[Kathyp]

I have never had a BB sting!  Even when I weed whacked their nest.  The yellowjackets have just popped out and they are everywhere!  Those are the ones I worry about.
Thanks for the description of the sting.  I hope I don't have to experience one, but we do have a lot of bumbles around here and a bunch of other types of natives.

[FloridaGardener]

I will chime in that nasty yellow jacket wasps will sting just to be pests.  I myself and plenty of people I know have been stung by YJs just for being in the garden.

[The15thMember]

I have never had a BB sting!  Even when I weed whacked their nest.  The yellowjackets have just popped out and they are everywhere!  Those are the ones I worry about.
Thanks for the description of the sting.  I hope I don't have to experience one, but we do have a lot of bumbles around here and a bunch of other types of natives.

I will chime in that nasty yellow jacket wasps will sting just to be pests.  I myself and plenty of people I know have been stung by YJs just for being in the garden.

Yeah, we are hitting that time of year when the jackets are just in a bad mood all the time too.  The later in the year, the less food they can find, and the more aggravated they become.  I've got robbing screens on all my hives right now just as much to keep them out as honey bee robbers.  The jackets are also a hassle when inspecting.  I've seen some bald-faced hornets (which are actually a type of yellow jacket, because we just can't name anything right, can we ) snatching some bees out of the air in the hives' flight traffic pattern. 

[Michael Bush]

When I was about 5 I sat on a bumblebee, unintentionally of course.  I have not been stung by one since.  I used to have to pickup and move all of the concrete forms we used on foundations and slabs in Oklahoma and there were always several bumble bee nests under them.  They got excited when I flipped the form over (It was a 2' by 8' piece of plywood with a 2 by frame around it.  But none of them ever stung me.  I always made sure to run away as soon as I saw the nest..  I have been stung unprovoked by paper wasps.  The old kind that we used to have a decade or so ago were the yellow and black kind.  I never got stung by them unless I stuck my hand into somewhere their nest was. (usually empty bee equipment).  But the new kind is brown and black and I have been stung while minding my own business by them.

[The15thMember]

I have been stung unprovoked by paper wasps.  The old kind that we used to have a decade or so ago were the yellow and black kind.  I never got stung by them unless I stuck my hand into somewhere their nest was. (usually empty bee equipment).  But the new kind is brown and black and I have been stung while minding my own business by them.

We have both colors here and I have noticed this too, that the striped yellow ones are usually more docile than the brown ones.  I have been stung by a brown one, but never by a yellow one. 

[Michael Bush]

The yellow ones feel like an electric fencer connected to a needle that goes jab jab jab like a sewing machine.  But doesn't hurt for more than a couple of days.  The brown ones hurt for a month.  But usually it's just one sting.

[The15thMember]

The yellow ones feel like an electric fencer connected to a needle that goes jab jab jab like a sewing machine.  But doesn't hurt for more than a couple of days.  The brown ones hurt for a month.  But usually it's just one sting.

  A sting description worthy of Justin Schmidt!

[TheHoneyPump]

I have yet to be stung by one of the gentle giants. I often touch and handle them off of flowers and guiding them out of the house.  Though I have never messed with one of their nests, which would probably reveal a very different temperament at that time.

If I were to be assaulted by one, I might try to put it on the index.  Enjoy the links below:

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_sting_pain_index

  https://www.nhm.ac.uk/scroller-schmidt-painscale/#intro

  https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/from-nettles-to-volcano-a-pain-scale-for-insect-stings/



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFEbwp7rPF8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yJDAyNMwBQ

[The15thMember]

I have yet to be stung by one of the gentle giants. I often touch and handle them off of flowers and guiding them out of the house.  Though I have never messed with one of their nests, which would probably reveal a very different temperament at that time.

If I were to be assaulted by one, I might try to put it on the index.  Enjoy the links below:

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_sting_pain_index

  https://www.nhm.ac.uk/scroller-schmidt-painscale/#intro

  https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/from-nettles-to-volcano-a-pain-scale-for-insect-stings/



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFEbwp7rPF8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yJDAyNMwBQ

I just finished Schmidt's book, and actually bumbles are on the Schmidt Pain Index.    He writes, "Bumble bees, Bombus spp., Pain level: 2, Colorful flames.  Fireworks land on your arm."  Great looking videos!  I can't wait to watch when I've got some time. 

[Bill Murray]

Well when I was a kid my buddy threw a rock at a wasp nest and missed. I laughed and he bet me I couldnt hit it. I did, them red headed buggers tore me up. I steer clear of them to this day.