That bumblebee did sting!!!

Cindi · May 21, 2007, 11:05:45 AM

Hope this is the right forum. Yep, got stung by a bumblebee yesterday. I was wiping a windowsill with a cloth, felt a pain on my finger and looked on this cloth and there was a bumblebee. My finger hurt a little bit. Sure enough, I could see a little mark. I always thought that they did not sting until it was discussed in a topic on this forum. So many members responded to a topic that bumblebees definitely do sting.

Very obviously this little bumblebee did not have very much venom, nor was there any reaction, because the tiny pain was gone in a minute and absolutely no swelling or anything. I think this bumblebee was very young. The typical bumblebees that I see have a huge bumbly bum. This one had a tiny little bum. It was so tiny actually that is rear end looked too small for its body. So, I put this little bumbler outside and it walked around for a minute or two and then took off. There was a small window of time without rain, so I am hoping that it made its way back to its home. I also found another one on the windowsill yesterday, they must have snuck into the house when I had the doors open, getting some safe time from the windy, rainy weather. My wishes for a safe journey home for them hopefully came to pass. Have a wonderful day, great life. Cindi

Shizzell · May 21, 2007, 01:55:27 PM

Well Cindi, either you have 1 of 2 things.

- Bad Luck
- KILLER BUMBLE BEES!

Lol, I'm sounding like the Television, Radio, Paper, (Most Media) now a days.

Just joking on the killer bumble bees by the way.

Jake

MrILoveTheAnts · May 21, 2007, 02:13:34 PM

Adorably Cute Killer Bumble Bees! :shock: Where can I get some!

I believe the more social bumble bees do sting. But the solitary ones you find boring into wood with one or two per hole probably don't. (I don't want to hear "Those are Carpenter Bees," I think they're all in the same genus of Bombus and share many characteristics.

Maybe you could ID them. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/projects/bombus/
I don't know the accuracy of this chart though and I know many of them grow out of date or get changed around.

doak · May 21, 2007, 02:26:13 PM

The carpenter bees that bore into the wood. The ones with the white spot on their forhead are the drones and do not sting. If the head is solid black, female, they sting.
A true bumble is smaller than the carpenter bee and they all sting as for as I know.
doak

MrILoveTheAnts · May 21, 2007, 02:34:05 PM

doak: Assuming we both are thinking of the same species, you have to be doing something pretty evil to the females. I used to swing at them with baseball bats and tennis rackets and I've never been stung. I recall once I caught a female in a cage and gave her some wood to bore into, in hops of keeping her like a pet, she died before completing her tunnel though. I wonder if it's possible to keep them.
Any who, they probably do sting but I find them to be more timid than Honey Bees when it comes to using it.

ChickenWing · May 21, 2007, 03:15:36 PM

I have some that live in my garden hose. They are pretty dark, and have a white spot on their forehead. Every time I turn on the water, they scare the crap out of me when they come tumbling out onto the ground. LOL. But they keep going back after I turn the water off. I'll see if I can get a photo or movie of them.

MrILoveTheAnts · May 21, 2007, 03:22:44 PM

What a great concept. Water the flowers with pollinating insects.

doak · May 21, 2007, 03:57:01 PM

Just to make sure you don't doubt my word, catch one on a blossum.
I tried to get one out if it's hole when I was less than 6 years old. I seen it when it went in and new it was black headed. That was my first clue.
doak

Sean Kelly · May 21, 2007, 06:21:35 PM

Don't you remember that old nursery rhyme song:

To the tune of Arkansas Traveler

I'm picking up a baby bumblebee
Wont my mamma be so proud of me
I'm picking up a baby bumblebee....
OUCH! He stung me!

If you remembered that, you wouldn't have gotten stung. lol

Sean Kelly

Mici · May 21, 2007, 07:07:09 PM

bees
honeybees solitary/carpenter bees bumblebees/bombus family

honeybees live throuout the year and store honey-honeybees
solitary bees, mason or carpenter, drill holes into old wood, but i think that they rather occupy an already drilled hole, or in sand..anyway usually they find old wormholes and they deposit their eggs with pollen lump in them
bumlbess live in colonyes but don't overwinter

i think this are the major differences. oh, and they all sting, but males

Bee1 · May 21, 2007, 08:13:07 PM

ChickenWing - I want to see the bees pouring out of your hose.. please do take a picture or video!

Bee1

Understudy · May 21, 2007, 10:52:56 PM

Yes, bumblebees can sting. And repeatedly.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

Zoot · May 21, 2007, 11:42:45 PM

run over one of their nests in the ground with a lawn mower sometime. It will educate you quickly on the stinging capabilities of the bumblebee.

MrILoveTheAnts · May 22, 2007, 01:41:22 AM

I would greatly welcome a hive of bumble bees in my yard. The closest I've gotten was workers flying into my shed and under some planks of wood. I never found the nest. I have plenty of the solitary carpenter bees though and soil nesting ones.

ChickenWing · May 22, 2007, 03:55:11 AM

Ok, I got a little video of my Bumble's. Actually, there was only 1 home when I took it today. Yesterday there were 5 of them in there. In the video, you will see the black thing shoot out of the hose, that is him. Usually they stay on the ground for a minute, and I would have video'd that, but this one flew right up. Listen closely at the end, and you can hear him buzzing as he comes at my head. I didn't see him after he got pushed out of the hose. I will try again tomorrow, and see if I can get a better shot. I think they like getting shot out of the hose, because they keep coming back for more.... :-D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vve5sNTmbrk

Michael Bush · May 22, 2007, 07:44:07 AM

>I always thought that they did not sting until it was discussed in a topic on this forum.

They sting if they are not drones.

>A true bumble is smaller than the carpenter bee and they all sting as for as I know.

Actually there are many sizes and colors of bumble bees. Some are smaller and some are larger than a carpenter bee.

>I have some that live in my garden hose.

When I was a kid I used to drink out of the hose all the time. One day I turned it on, held my mouth close and a stream of bumble bees came pouring out. It was one of those paradigm shifts where everything seems wrong while your brain sorts out what you are seeing. My brain was picturing water pipes full of bumble bees and that just didn't make any sense at all. Eventually, of course, I realized they had made a nest in the hose.

Cindi · May 22, 2007, 10:29:30 AM

Wow, what a lot of great accounts and talk about the bombus. We have so many different species of them living around here. I was working outside in the gardens, admist the wind, cloud, tiny specks of sunlight and it was kind of nasty out. Anyways, the bumbles were still bumbling around, the were particularly interested in the rhododendrons and aquilega. I took some great shots. Sorry I can't post them YET!!! But they will be enroute. Today, the skies are blue and the sun will be shinin', I will be taking LOTS and lots of pictures of stuff..

Today I am inspecting all my colonies, so I will be busier than the day is long. I now have with the 4 nucs, 4 package bees, old overwintered colony, and the baby nuc I made last week, (how many is that?, hmmm....right 10). So I am going to be a long time outside working with them. Lots of recordkeeping to do. I keep records on all colonies. It is great to look back and see how they did.

Anyways. Yeah.....my husband spoke to Microsoft and a bunch of sources about my computer issues and they are sending out a completely new upgrade disc, Microsoft Service Pack 2 and my computer should be good to go, like a brand new one as soon as the discs arrive by mail. Then...and only then...can I get things back in order and get to putting more pictures on this forum. Man, do I miss that aspect, I had so many things that I wanted to show everyone, it has been long over a month since I have had these darnable gateway timeout issues. Ata least it hasn't stopped me from making posts. Have a wonderful day, the sun is shinin', great life, great health, is there anything else we could wish for? Cindi

Zoot · May 22, 2007, 12:04:32 PM

MrIlovetheants,

Bumble colonies are becoming quite popular here in MD. They are available from several sources now and are increasingly sought for their superior pollination abilities with certain veg/fruit species. The only drawback is that they are a one season deal as they cannot winter in the commercial boxes they come in.