"Miss Perspicacia Tick" wrote in message
...
Kay wrote:
In article , Miss
Perspicacia Tick writes

I love bumbles - it takes a great deal, I've found, to make them
sting. In fact, I have picked them up, in my cupped hands, to
release them outside when they have stumbled into the house. Had a
buff-tail sit on my arm the other day and it was very strokable
(well they are, they're all velvety!) I have never been stung by one
- obviously, stinging is a *very* last resort as, obviously, it's
suicidal.

Is it obvious? Someone posted here the other day saying, IIRC, that
unlike honey bees, bumbles don't leave their sting behind.

Actually, Kay, it's a common misconception. Honey bees do not leave their
stings, bumbles do. Neither do wasps as I know as one flew up my trowser
leg
one summer and then proceeded to sting me about 20 times as it tried to
make
its escape... I had to go to A&E for an adrenaline shot (and I'm the most
needle phobic person you're ever likely to come across!).



Worker honey bee stings are barbed and can indeed stick in the skin of the
'victim', complete with the venom sac. I know this from personal experience.

OTOH, I have never been stung by a 'bumble', they seem most imperturbable:-)