[LEPS-L:7908] Re: An encounter with honeybees

[Dave Green]

From: gatrelle at tils-ttr.org  (Ron Gatrelle)

>Within a few minutes the
>air was filled with swarming bees (we know now that the swarm was dividing
>and moving). By the time my mom noticed this I had been attacked and stung
>profusely.
>     No matter what I say here some bug extremists will say I had to have
>evoked the attack because, as Dave said, in this phase the bees are ever so
>gentle.

    I have stood in the midst of swarming bees many times with nary a bit of
protection. My grandmother, as a 13-year old girl, had a swarm cluster on her
head and shoulders, and she waited for help from her older brother, who found
the queen, put it in a box and the bees then followed. She was never stung.

    Bees, even when they are at home, are not generally the savage creatures
many folks think they are, despite Hollywood's entertaining movies, which
portrayed thousands of folks dying from "killer" bee swarms moving into the
USA. Yes, there are allergic folks, but fortunately very rare.
There are more folks killed by lighnting on Florida golf courses each year than
by all "stinging insects" in the USA combined. Since they are not catagorized,
one can only speculate, but I suspect that yellow jackets are far more
dangerous in terms of deaths per year, than honeybees; and even fire ants, may
take a greater toll. One or two people may die from honeybees each year in the
USA. Since about 400,000 people die each year from mistakes made by medical
personell, it's more dangerous to go to your doctor.      ;o)

   As this post was from India, and as Doug Yanega pointed out, they were
likely cerana honeybees, which have a reputation for being even more gentle
than European mellifera honeybees, it seems that Ron's post is just so much
alarmism.

   Honeybees are not more important than humans, as you try to make me out to
say, but getting the pesticide spray every time you see bees is not only
unnecessary but environmentally very unwise, as pollinators continue to
dwindle. Loss of our pollinators could cause millions of deaths from
starvation, as well as nutritional deficiencies like scurvy.

    A calm attitude is a very good protection, no guarantee, but a frantic
attitude  is almost a guarantee that you WILL be stung.  My wife, when a little
girl, was helping her mom shell peas on the porch when a mud dauber came along
and rested on her mother's knee. She sat still and Janice said, "Mama, what are
you going to do?"

    He mom said, "It's just resting, and it'll fly off presently."   Which it
did. Jan has never feared stinging insects since then, though she has been
stung a bit.



Pollinator at aol.com     Dave Green  Hemingway, SC  USA
The Pollination Home Page:  http://pollinator.com
Disclaimer:  Opinions aren't facts; learn the art of discrimination. Opinions
presented for your use and amusement; use at your own risk.         

 
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