It Bee That Time of Year Again

[BoneheadNW]

My neighbor up the street was clearing some brush with his Kubota when he discovered a yellow jacket hive at the base of an old stump. He was lucky and got away without being stung, which is more than I can say for this poor woman in Arizona. Bee Sting
If you are allergic, have your epi-pens ready!

Bonehead

 

[RoyJackson]

That woman recovered (meaning out of intensive care) really quick!
She's really lucky to be alive!

 

[boustany]

On behalf of bees and beekeepers everywhere

Yellow jackets, wasps and hornets aren't bees. The are nasty, predatory creatures who will sting you just for the heck of it.

I inspect my beehives with bare hands and am rarely stung (usually I deserve it).

So, be kind to bees!

(well, except killer bees, I guess ...)

 

[frank_f15]

very sound advice!!! I know some folks say what the heck are they afaid of, just a little bee sting, but after having a trip to the hospital in an ambulance last year, i never am far from my eppie pen, also never far from spectrcide bee killer spray.

 

[escavader]

I was riding by my plow truck all day with the kubota,yesterday,spotted a bunch of juicy blackberries.My 7 year old and i were home alone,and i was working on a ditch down by the house.She was bored,so i said "why dont you get a bowl and go pick them black berries i saw up there by the plow truck.Well i was digging away when i heardthe commanchee yelps and her running towards me.Yellow jackets,she got it on the arm 7 times,and twice on the back.I have been checking that truck all summer,didnt notice this one,about the size of a soccer ball,up under the rear bumper. Boy dont i feel rotten,went and picked them berries for her myself,
ESCAVADER

 

[Cityboyfarmer]

I owned a lawn care busness for several years in the late 80's to mid 90's. I think I got stung by every bee there is. Yellow jackets were the most frequent attackers. I got stung so many times I almost got used to it. I recall one stinging the side of my face while I was mowing a property and I reached up and grabbed it and crushed it between my thumb and fore finger and kept right on working. I never got attacked the way that poor lady did though. When I would stir up a big nest, I would leave the mower near it running, and sprint to the truck and get the back pack sprayer full of bee killer and blast them, then give the nest a good drink too. I hate those nasty little jokers.

 

[txdon]

Yep those bees are bad. Last Saturday, Just down the street (about 50 miles) A.J. Foyt, the past winner of the Indy 500, got stung 200 times when he stirred up a nest of bees with his bulldozer. If he just would not have tripped on his speeding dash to the water he might have won.

He is 70 years old and refused to go to the hospital, still Texas tough!

 

[GaryE]

Wow, every time I hear these stories it reminds me of my encounter from ****….

I was only about 6 or 7, it was late summer and my mother (a whole ‘nother story), decided we needed white birch for some decorations. So my father and I went down below the back field to find her some. He was just in front of me when I heard buzzing. I looked down and got stung on the chin. Then I saw a swarm of yellow jackets coming out of the ground. Needless to say I started running back to the house. Before I could get to the top of the hill I remember my father picking me up and throwing his jacket over me.

He meant well, but the only thing he accomplished was to trap several hundred bees under the jacket. I was stung hundreds of times. I remember people striping me down and killing bees everywhere. My father was stung once. We both were taken to the hospital. It took hours for the nurses to remove the stingers from me, my father had the bad reaction and was all swollen up from his one sting.

I have never over come my fear of bees, but often wonder why I had no reaction.

Two weeks ago I put on a pair of leather work gloves, guess what was inside?

Gary

Still terrified of bees…

 

[VA_Joe]

Although I understand the importance of some bees (pollination and all that), I don't understand what if any, redeeming qualities yellow jackets have. They don't do much in the way of pollination. Other than stinging people and making them run - is there any reason for their existence????

 

[boustany]

Everything has a place ....

Yellow jackets are predators. Like many wasps and hornets, they catch all kinds of criters, some 'good' (from a human perspective), some 'bad'.

There are also things that eat them.

There are a lot of things can are around for reasons besides directly benefiting people. From a yellow jacter's perspective the question would be 'All humans are good for is detroying our nests, polluting our environment, and destroying our habitat'