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Spider[_3_] · 10-05-2013, 05:46 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening

On 10/05/2013 14:26, wrote:
wrote:
Well, yes, education would be the right way to go about it. I've tried
no end of times trying to suggest bees are generally harmless. I
usually get the "But they always sting me" type answer.

Do you then ask how many times they have *actually* been stung? More
often than not the answere to that direct question is "never" or "er I
think a couple of times". Their fear of being stung is not supported by
the facts...

With the possible exception of one gent who lives near me who has been
stung many times by bees and wasps. Although he is a budhist, he will
swat them as a last resort :~((. Mostly, though, you're quite right,
but people just don't want to learn.

Nick's dad keeps being stung by Nick's bees, when they don't have a problem
with anyone else.

Puzzling, isn't it? Presumably the bees feel threatened by these
people, but it's hard to know how. It's not as if they're biting
insects like mosquitoes, tucking into someone unusually tasty. In the
case of 'my' gent, it's unlikely to be a defensive sting so, presumably,
it's purely offensive (seemingly without provocation) ... but for what
reason?? Does Nick's dad annoy them in some way?

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay