Quote of the Moment

You do ill if you praise, but worse if you censure, what you do not understand.
- Leonardo da Vinci

Monday, August 07, 2006

Retraction

It appears I have provided some inaccurate information regarding the stinging habits of yellowjackets. They can and will, if provoked, sting multiple times, and they don't die after doing it. Rats.

The good news is they do die after a nighttime dousing of Wasp-B-Gone.
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sadly, the bees that die after stinging are honey bees. Honey bees are nature's "one-hit wonders": they sting, it rips them up, they die. Honey bees are delightful friends to us, but we humans often have had ugly experiences (like yours) and thus lose our ability/desire to enjoy them.

I have no such feelings about the yellow jackets. They, too, are natural wonders who cross-pollinate and create amazing structures, but they are no friend of man.

I speak as the daughter of a self-taught naturalist and beekeeper. He was an outspoken environmentalist who took on the Wisconsin DNR more than once.

I hope you're feeling much, much better, and I'm glad you found out about how to remove stingers safely.

The Mad Knitter

11:03 AM
Ann said...

Well, it has been five days since my sting and the finger is still not completely back to normal, though much better. My father called this morning to say he, too had been stung this morning while turning his compost.

Honeybees are wonderful - all the pollinators are welcome, just not these aggresive babies with my own kids and neighborhood children so often coming through our back gate next to the nest.

Thanks for the bee info!
Ann

1:04 PM

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