Graham wrote:
"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Mary Fisher" writes:
|
| I'm not saying you weren't stung but the colour blue is irrelevant.
|
| I've heard beekeepers say that red makes them angry ... :-)

My understanding is that they are colour-blind, though sensitive to
a different range of the spectrum to us.

And any beekeepers whose clothes get a lot of venom on them needs
to learn how to handle bees. Bees die when they sting, and that
means a lot of dead bees and a disturbed hive.

That's true if you have a couple of hives. However, my neighbour has about
500 and there are several 1000+ operations going strong!
A couple of guard bees per hive attacking won't affect the hives but the
suit sure will be contaminated.
Graham


I do not think that bees die when they sting, the have a corkscrew type
sting that enters easily. If you are stung and leave the bee alone it
will work round and round extract the sting and live. Knocking them off
tears off their sting, then they die.

"Broadback" wrote in message
...


I do not think that bees die when they sting, the have a corkscrew type
sting that enters easily. If you are stung and leave the bee alone it will
work round and round extract the sting and live. Knocking them off tears
off their sting, then they die.

Honeybees almost always die when they sting a soft-fleshed animal like a
human.

The sting is not corkscrew shaped, it's barbed. The barbs enter the flesh
and the sting can't be pulled out without also pulling the sting mechanism
out of the bee's body.

A bee doesn't have a 'blood' circulation system like mammals and birds,
instead its 'life fluid' (haemolymph) washes freely over the organs in the
body. When the sting is lost the fluid leaks out of the bee's body and it
dies after a short time.

A bee will try to escape by pulling away from the flesh but because the
sting is firmly attached it can only go round in circles*, eventually it
pulls away from the flesh leaving the sting behind and flies off. And dies.

Mary

*that always reminds me of the old joke:

"Mummy, why am I walking round in circles?"

"Be quiet or I'll nail your other foot to the floor."

On 11/7/08 18:08, in article , "Bob Hobden"
wrote:

On our allotment site one gardener wanted to start keeping bees. Our Council
who rent out the plots wrote to everyone and asked if they minded the
keeping of bees on the site. Needless to say all the "old " gardeners said
yes, with some enthusiasm, we could see a significant increase in crops due
to better pollination. Let alone the availability of local honey.
Unfortunately one of the "new" plot holders has objected saying he is
allergic to bee stings. Our Council have therefore refused permission for
bees to be kept on our site. (no democracy there!)

My understanding is that when a child he was stung by a bee on the hand and
eventually, after a couple of days or so, he got a dark line running up his
arm and had to have medical treatment.

I thought that if one had an allergy to bee stings, once stung, the
situation was serious and needed immediate medical help and also that
sufferers carried a special pack around with them just in case.

So, is what he experienced an allergy to stings or blood poisoning?

Coming into this a bit late, Bob as we've been away for a few days. I'm
extremely allergic to bee stings and carry an Epipen at all times now. But
I never had this dark line thing. I had an increasingly bad reaction each
time I was stung but the marks of the stings remained localised. My problems
was that last times my bees attacked me - my own fault - and because I had
so many stings, I had a truly horrendous reaction so was warned not to get
stung again.
It was the rest of my body that reacted, no dark line. I had all the
symptoms of flu and my eyes were swollen to the point where I could only
hope one a tiny glimmer. I don't think your plot holder is allergic in the
dramatic anaphylactic sense to bee stings. At least, I doubt it very much.
If the hives can be sited some way from his plot there is no reason for him
to fear the bees. I don't worry overmuch about bees now but I do keep clear
of weeding parts of the garden where they are especially active, just in
case I put my hand on one by accident. In fact, someone - who didn't follow
through on it - asked us if she could put some up in the field behind the
car park and I was all for it.
I think your friend had blood poisoning, or the start of it and in fact, I
wonder if it was a bee sting or a rose thorn or something similar that 'got'
him. I say this because I do know of someone scratched by a rose thorn who
ended up in hospital close to death. The only thing anyone could think of
was that the roses had recently been sprayed but the dark line thing is
exactly what he had and kept ignoring. But it was *not* a bee sting.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon