Should I not be terrified of wasps, bees, hornets etc?

[vespa_bicolor]

Oh OK, I guess it's like a honeybee sting or that from a solitary bee then.

Unfortunately, I don't have AIM or MSN. I only have ICQ and mIRC. You can also email or PM me anytime.

Cheers

 

[Fergrim]

I'd like to point out that the bumblebee sting didn't make me cry.

 

[Immortal_sin]

I love honeybees...here is a pic of one that Shelby and I rescued out of the hotel pool at the ATS conference.
Anytime we see a honeybee drowning, we save them. Watching them dry themselves is an amazing event worth watching. They wash every bit of their bodies, polishing their eyes, and unrolling their probiscus (sp?), to clean it. It's just fascinating. Finally, they test their wings by fanning and hovering, until they are dry enough to fly away.
Sorry for the poor pic, my cam doesn't have a decent macro on it.
As far as the yellowjackets go...I can't stand them. I seem to always get stung!
Last summer, Shelby accidentally sprayed a water hose on an underground nest. She got stung 8 times in the legs, abdomen, and arms, before she was able to get away. They chased her all the way into the house. Luckily, she wasn't allergic to them.

 

[Fergrim]

awww..

I'm always afraid that a drowning bee will sting me if I try to save it since it'll be freaking out.

I'm really loving the pictures on this thread.. I want to hold a bee!

 

[vespa_bicolor]

Some of my best honeybee shots here!

The two night ones are especially weird. I may not know everything about bees, but I have observed them intensely for years, and this was the very first time I saw honeybees foraging at night!!

 

[Immortal_sin]

awww..

I'm always afraid that a drowning bee will sting me if I try to save it since it'll be freaking out.

I'm really loving the pictures on this thread.. I want to hold a bee!

I have found that they will cling to ANY saving object...I don't think they view it as a threat. I just remain calm and still, and they seem to also be calm as they clean themselves preparing for flight. I encourage you to do it...it's worth it!

 

[vespa_bicolor]

Saved a drowning hornet once too. But unfortunately I didn't have the presence of mind to stay still and observe it, I just coaxed it onto a branch and left, because I was in a hurry. No sting!

Lol... to sidetrack a bit, about three or four days ago I got stung by a paper wasp, after it got trapped in a bus! I wrapped a plastic bag over it but got stung on my index finger. Well it was worth it because I was still able to let the critter fly off back to the wild!

 

[Fergrim]

I feel kind of bad now, after that bumblebee stung me... I kind of smashed the heck out of it. :/

I'll be sure to save the next drowning bee I see. I just saw a video of a bunch of hornets killing 30,000 bees. Scary stuff!

 

[vespa_bicolor]

Kind of a reflex, I guess! Just as initially, many of us tend to fling a tarantula and kill it after getting bitten in the beginning.

Oh, those clips are really spectacular. The hornet is really a killing machine for its size. Incidentally those are supposed to be the world's biggest hornets, and I'd love to see one of them in person. The hornets here in Hong Kong seem big enough!

 

[Fergrim]

Oh man are you going to try and hold one of those huge hornets too?

With the way they bite bees in half... Do they try and bite people when they're angry too? I wonder what that feels like...

but definitely, if I saw one of them drowning, I'd just let it go, lol. Although it'd be neat to keep a self sustaining super hornet "colony" (proper term?)

Definitely cool

 

[vespa_bicolor]

I guess like other wasps, they will sometimes bite on and sting repeatedly when provoked! But if I see one, I will definitely hold it! It will be an experience, I'm sure; but all wasps and bees can be handled if calm and done gently!

I wonder what that bite will feel like though; even a bite from a large ant's mandibles can hurt somewhat.

 

[Immortal_sin]

I

I wonder what that bite will feel like though; even a bite from a large ant's mandibles can hurt somewhat.

that..is a major understatement!
I was bitten by 3 harvester ants in the desert last year. I can't remember feeling ANY stinging insect pain worse than that. They have huge jaws, and the venom is worse then some of the indigenous scorpions. Not an experience I want to repeat!

 

[vespa_bicolor]

Wow! That bad? Are they the type which bite and sting at the same time, or squirt acid into the wound?

 

[vespa_bicolor]

Just took a couple of pics today and couldn't resist posting here...hehe!

I especially like the third one, it's quite a nice view of Vespa velutina, a hornet commonly found here.

 

[Fergrim]

that reminds me of the stories I've heard about the bullet ant.. That one that's bite supposedly hurts as much as a a gunshot wound..

And those pictures are awesome.

 

[Jesse607]

Both bullet ants and harvester ants can bite and sting. The sting is what hurts.

 

[vespa_bicolor]

Giant hornet!!!!!

Hi all,
I got so excited I couldn't help posting this!!! I found this really big hornet today!! Around 39 mm bodylength, it's the very biggest wasp I've ever seen. And I'm not sure what it is. Is it the legendary Vespa mandarinia, the hornet shown wiping out a colony of honeybees? The fully orange-yellow head is quite distinctive, and Vespa mandarinia is found in Hong Kong, according to some info I found online, but the body pattern is different. May be geographical variation though. Anyway here are the pics, hope you enjoy! I brought her home to photograph, it's easier and clearer this way. She enjoyed a snack of honey spread on my fingers, and stayed on my hand for 15 minutes; my hand nearly got stiff from staying still so long!

 

[Rex Libris]

I know this thread is ridiculously old, but it's amusing.

The thing is, the mosaic vision of these animals isn't very sharp. Those hundreds of ommatidia don't each resolve an image, just a spot of colour and brightness. This toy -- http://andygiger.com/science/beye/beyehome.html -- is not exactly accurate, but it's fun and will show you the point. The bee can't see where the edges of things are very well. Yet bees and wasps and hornets are terribly busy rushing about. Most people get stung because they happen to be standing in the flight path of these animals and the bee, being so much in a hurry that it doesn't want to make a wide detour, misjudges trying to go around you and smacks right into you. Then both of you panic, and there's a little painful disaster.

This also explains why the little creatures will circle you in that alarming way. And why the hymenoptera with larger eyes (most bees compared to most wasps) are less apt to circle you as much. And why bumblebees, who move slowly, seldom sting unless you mess with them.