All that you need to know is that if a bumblebee ever comes up to you in Dunkin’ Donuts, it might want a medium French Vanilla iced coffee with three creams and three sugars. If you don’t give the bug its beverage, you might leave the coffee shop with a new hole in your body, one that’s stinging, itchy, and a blotchy crimson that definitely won’t disappear for a couple of hours. This is just a fair warning for you coffee lovers out there: do not anger the bees. There are many types of insects that are yellow and black, but do not, I repeat, do not assume that what you are seeing is a mostly harmless bumblebee, and that therefore grabbing its hindquarters will allow you to temporarily immobilize it. For instance, you might be grabbing an ant …show more content…
in the latest Steelers apparel. Or you might be grabbing a wasp. If you grab the wasp, please set it down as carefully as you can and walk slowly away from it. Because wasps are bumblebees on meth, and they should not be messed with. There are many different types of bees, or insects in the same family as bees. There are honeybees, bumblebees, carpenter bees, and killer bees. Honeybees and bumblebees really aren’t the type that need to be feared. Africanized killer bees, on the other hand, although very similar to bumblebees and honeybees in appearance, are something to be frightened of because they sting in colonies, and multiple bee stings at a time lead to multiple stingers embedded in your skin, and if you don’t get all those stingers out in time, you could get an nasty infection and die. They really live up to their name. But the smaller bees aren’t the ones you need to worry about. Unless you’re deathly allergic to them or something. As I said before, wasps are bumblebees on some really powerful drugs. One type of wasp actually kills tarantulas and feeds them to its young, but thank whatever being out there that created everything in universe, I live nowhere near these digger wasps of genus Pepsis, and I don’t have to worry about them maybe mistaking me for a tarantula. I might not have eight legs or a really hairy body, but I don’t understand what goes on a wasp’s brain, and they might just be really angry for some reason that doesn’t involve me, but then suddenly does involve me when I cross their path. Knowing my luck, it could definitely happen. If wasps are bumblebees on drugs, then hornets are bumblebees who snort ecstasy daily and take performance enhancing steroids. These guys make nests in the ground and in bushes, and they get really mad when you accidentally trod over them when you’re walking or when you’re picking blueberries for the pie your mom’s going to make for dessert tonight. If you see a hornet, you best be running. Forget about the slowly backing away you did with the wasps, run for the hills like you’re a witch in Salem in 1692 and don’t look back. Just stay away from them, alright? We don’t need you bleeding or dying or having to be rushed to the emergency room. Just-just stay away from bees in general, and you’ll be fine. Just hang out with your friends and avoid the species entirely. Except maybe don’t get coffee with your friends because for some reason, bees like that and will sting you for it. Especially the medium French Vanilla iced coffee with three creams and three sugars that you got from Dunkin’ Donuts. Because a bee- some of type of bee, any type of bee- will sting you. I was always taught never to go near bees because that’s what’s going to get me stung.
They just don’t want your curious eyes on their striped bodies, and they’ll make sure you know that by sticking their hindquarters into your skin. So it definitely wasn’t my fault when I was stung while sipping at my medium French Vanilla iced coffee with three creams and three sugars, minding my own business while my best friend ranted on about something that obviously wasn’t that important because I don’t remember now. Summer had just begun; we were enjoying our first few stress free weeks of summer, speaking of summer assignments we received and vacations that were going to be had. It must’ve been at least two in the afternoon since I never get up before noon during the months I have off from my education, but my best friend and I had been hanging out for a while leading up to the trip to Dunkin’ Donuts. We were just minding our own business when abruptly, my friend quivered in her seat, her eyes wide with fright. Naturally, I glanced behind me because I hadn’t seen nor heard what she was suddenly so scared of, so of course whatever it was must’ve been to my back. I turned slowly, setting my coffee down on the table in front of us, and searched for whatever it was that set her off. But I only caught sight of a small fruit fly zooming around my head, so I swatted at it until it flew somewhere else to fulfill its
needs. It wasn’t long after when, again, my friend turned into a deer in headlights. This time, I heard the familiar buzzing of a common housefly, and I only had to glance in its general direction to my right to see its black form against the cafe backdrop. I shifted my gaze back to my friend and rolled my eyes at her, but she didn’t see because her gaze was glued to her cellphone. I picked my coffee up and began to sip at it, anticipating the end of the evidently very important conversation she was having with whoever. I heard the fly again just after she finished, and I swatted in its general direction, listening to my friend. But it came back, closer this time to my body, and I hastily waved my hand near my left ear, frowning around the straw of my iced coffee. Still, it continued to buzz around my head, so I set the beverage down in front of me and used both hands to tempt it away from me. I must’ve looked like an octopus waving its tentacles back and forth, only I just had the two arms, but I couldn’t have cared less about my appearance as long as the pesky insect was elsewhere when I finished. Maybe it was a little my fault that I ended up getting stung, thinking of it now. I was swinging my arms so excitedly around, assuming I was hitting away the housefly, that I did what I was always taught never to do; I bothered a bee, or someone in the extended family of the bee. In my defense, I thought it was an irritating insect trying to suck the blood out of me and leave in its wake an extremely itchy sensation along with a bump that protuded from my skin due to the bite. I definitely did not think it was a member of the bee family. It must’ve settled on my shoulder when I finally gave up flailing my arms around and reached for my iced coffee again. Taking a sip, I heard another bout of buzzing, just near my left ear, and quickly, I reached up and smacked- myself in the shoulder because the bug had flown off just before my hand made it there. Obviously angered now, the bee lashed out and stung the skin of my neck that lay a few inches below my ear. Oh my Gosh, did it hurt. I’m willing to bet that it wasn’t a bumblebee, it hurt too much, yet all the signs pointed to it; I had swelling in the stung area, and my neck was a furious red color for at least three days afterwards. After it happened, I stood up, hissed in pain, and then held the plastic cup dripping with condensation to the sore spot. My friend immediately asked what was wrong, chanced a look at the sting, and confirmed it was most likely a bee. I’ve been more careful about bees ever since. I’ve even grown a small grudge against the species. Bees are said to be insects that are predictive of what is going to happen to the human race and therefore should be protected at all costs, but honestly, with my luck since the sting in Dunkin’ Donuts, I can’t honestly care less whether they’re important to my life or not. I was stung again last March, on my right hand; I couldn’t draw or write correctly for a week. A colony of wasps are building a second nest- because I annihilated the first one using a garden hose and the pointed bottom of a Tiki Torch- in the space between my two back doors; my bedroom is right beside these doors. Maybe they’re trying to tell me something. Maybe they’re trying to communicate that something is coming to destroy the human race. Maybe they should go find someone who actually wants to listen.
like the other bees are so serious, they started getting mad with the conduct of the
I also don't own the idea, it was requested to me by the wonderful Amanda. Thank you so much! I hope I did this idea justice.
...auers, Sandy. "Mystery Killer Silencing Honeybees." Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA). Feb. 7 2007: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.
Rena Cohen had returned from camp high-spirited, anticipating her long-awaited senior year of high school. With only two days left to catch up with her friends, Rena called Malka Koenig and Lizzy Zimmerman and set up to see them at Cafe Bonjour. She couldn’t wait to hear how Malka enjoyed her lessons in computer programming and how Lizzy enjoyed her stay in camp. At the cafe, Rena realized something was wrong. Lizzy and Malka looked uncomfortable around each other and after just a few minutes, Malka got up and walked out. Lizzy refused to tell Rena what was wrong, so Rena got up and left too. When school began, things only got worse. Malka insisted that Rena was her best friend, Lizzy insisted that Rena was her best friend, and Rena wasn’t so sure she was friends with either of them. One thing was for certain: they were no longer the inseparable threesome everyone envied. As her year progressed, Rena grew more and more distant from her once undisputed friends. Their silence baffled her and she felt lost in the crowd; by twelfth even the loners had found their place in the grade. Malka became close friends with Tzipporah since they were both G.O. heads. Lizzy became friends with a girl named Riva. One day Malka approached Rena and told her she wanted to tell ...
It was a sunny day with a sweet aroma of blooming tulips. The sunlight glittered on their faces as the breeze rattled the chestnut tree above. There was an occasional giggle as they talked, but there was also a hint of discomfort and awkwardness between them as they peeked at each other’s face and recoiled when the other looked up. When the bell rang twice, I saw them say goodbye and walk away from each other. In the darkness of the crowd, a glimmer flashed into my eyes from Hannah’s cheeks.
Six little Indian boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.
Arriving at Lacey’s house I walk to the backdoor letting myself into the house. Lacey was putting on tanning lotion in the kitchen, “Lacey,” I called to her, “my mom wants me to pick up snacks for the beach, do you want to go into town with me?”, “Sure,” she replied, “do you mind if my cousin comes with us?”, “Of course I don’t mind,“ I answered, “but we have to get moving, my dad only left me the car to use ‘til noon.”
I walked in and my stomach made a flip-flop like riding “The Scream” at Six Flags. Everyone was staring at me! With their curios eyes and anxious to know who I was. I froze like ice and felt the heat rise through my face. My parents talked to my teacher, Ms.Piansky. Then my mom whispered “It’s ti...
The initial reactions to a swarm of honey bees are fear and distress. Honey bees are frowned upon because of the annoying noise they emit and the pointy stinger on their abdomen. To the mainstream population, honey bees are just pesky insects whose primary goals are to sting random individuals and make honey. Honey bees are not another species of pesky creatures that deserve to be fumigated into extinction; they are insects with fascinating lives. The honey bees that buzz noisily around an office have a much more complicated life than annoying people for petty amusement. The honey bee’s meticulous lifestyle inside of their colonies, their vital need for communication with each other, and their species-dependent form of fertilization makes them
Thomson, Diane. "Competitive Interactions between the Invasive European Honey Bee and Native Bumble Bees." JSTOR. Ecological Society of America, Feb. 2004. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.
The odds of being killed by a sting from a bee, wasp, or hornet are 1 in 79,842, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, many people die from bees in the United States every year. While it is uncommon, but if you are like me an allergic then you do not need to be swarmed by a mass of bees for it to kill you. In most cases, bee swarms attack out of defense. The normal bee is not an aggressive bug, while wasps and hornets are commonly more aggressive. The most common way for you to get attacked by bees is for you to do something to upset them, like swatting at them either by accident or on purpose. Although the African bee is matching in appearance to our traditional
The first thing I am going to talk about is the traditional bumblebee. When I think of bees, the bumblebee is what pops into my head. These bees were all over my backyard in the springtime and during summer. Like we discussed in class, the bumblebee is a eusocial organism that lives in colonies that consist of multiple castes to divide the tasks of the colony. They are very important pollinators for agriculture. Bumblebee species vary according to how they store pollen and feed developing larvae. Pollen storers accumulate pollen for later use, often re-using vacated cocoons for this. The queen and workers feed each larva individually, opening their brood cells to regurgitate a mixture of pollen and nectar for them (Colla, Richardson, Williams. 2011). The common eastern bumblebee is referred to as Bombus impatiens (L). These are the type of bees that I would capture and store in plastic bottles when I was a kid. They are not as aggressive as honeybees and will only sting you if they are disturbed. Since I was capturing bees while they were feeding on nectar from plants, this would be considered disturbing because I would get stung even if I had my gloves on. Nectar is the prima...
Emerson, E.. Honeybee death suspects spotted. Science News. Volume 177, Number 13, 19 June 2010, Page 15.
Many aphid species are partners in mutualistic relationships with several ant taxa (Flatt and Weisser 2000). The degree of this mutualism can be either obligate or facultative depending on several ecological and physiological factors (Stadler and Dixon 2005). Aphids produce nourishing, sugar-rich honeydew which ants can procure by stroking the aphids’ anus or nectar organ with their antennae (Yao and Akimoto 2001). In return, ants offer the aphids protection from predators and parasitoids (Yao and Akimoto 2001). Ants also can perform hygienic services for the aphid colony by removing exuviae and excrement which decreases the risk of fungal growth (Detrain et al. 2010). Honeydew-collecting ants involved in these interactions include the subfamilies Formicinae and Dolichoderinae, as well as several species in the Myrmica and Tetramorium genera of the Myrmicinae subfamily (Stadler and Dixon 2005).
turn on me,” but she is still clearly convinced that they pose a threat. She suggests that