Bumble bee question......

[Junkman]

With all our members being stung by insects this fall, I have stayed away from watering the plants during the daytime. Last evening when I went down to where the Sedum plants are, I noticed that the bumble bees were still on the blossoms. This was about 11 PM and the outside temperature had dropped to about 60 degrees. I had always thought that the bees would return to the nest when dusk arrived. They weren't moving at all until I started watering the plants. Even then they just moved a little. Not enough to be a problem. Prior to everyone being stung, I would just water the plant and ignore the bees. They never seemed to get upset about the water either. Are my bees tamer than most????

 

[slowrev]

You were not watering poppy flowers or something like that were you ? It could explain the bees laid back behavior /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Ben

 

[PhilNH5]

Junk,
In my experience (no scientific basis - just gardening experince) Bumblebees ARE tamer than most. By bumblebees I mean the fuzzy black and yellow guys. They are all over our sedum right now as well. They also hang out on our inkberry bushes. They are never troublesome.

Phil

 

[beenthere]

Most bees are not combative unless disturbed around their nest. Yellow jackets are all around when they smell or sense food outside, but unless you trap them they do not sting or bother (much!). Bumblebees are the same, from my experience. In the flowers, they are not defensive. Trample their nest, and they are.
I too am surprised they were out at night......

I go out at that time of night and listen to the coyotes howl and bark a few hundered feet from my back door. They can really get a bunch going barking, yipping, and howling.....

 

[BB_TX]

According <font color="blue"> to this </font> , bumblebees are faily docile and rarely sting.
We also have <font color="blue"> carpenter bees </font> around here which look a lot like bumblebees. I can't tell one from the other, but reading about them, it appears most of what I see may be carpenter bees as the bee will often hover around me when I am near one (as it describes a stingerless male in the link).

 

[Cityboyfarmer]

I am the only person I know of that has ever been stung by a bumblebee. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif When I was 10 or 11, I used to catch them in a jar for the fun of it, then turn them loose. One day, I didn't get the lid on quick enough and the bee got caught between my palm and the lid and stung me. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

So, from my experience, they won't sting you unless you pick one up. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[NoiseGuy]

When I was kid putting hay in the barn I got in a nest of bumble bees and one landed on the back of my hand,it felt like someone was sticking a soldering iron in my hand,next day my hand was swollen pretty bad.

 

[Henry]

I agree Bumble Bees are very docile, so I wouldn't get too worried about getting stung. Particularly in the evening hours. I regularly just shoo them away with my hand.

We've got quite a few species of bees at my place in Pennsylvania, Bumble Bees, Carpenter Bees, Hornets, two kinds of Wasps (mud daubers, and the kind that build small nests under the eaves), Yellow Jackets, and Honey Bees.

None of my family is alergic. But we do always keep a bottle of Benedryl and a bottle of amonia handy for the stings.

I worry mostly about the yellow jackets. They can tend to get pretty aggressive on hot days when I'm out mowing my fields!

 

[ScottAR]

Take solace... you are not alone!! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I can tell you from experience they get a might testy when you bushog over their house. When they sting you on the head it hurts quite a bit. As a fellow Deere owner I should warn you that a bumble bee flies quite a bit faster than a John Deere tractor. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Probably most of the other makes too...