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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Bees: Why Do They Hate Us? |
| 2005-08-27 |
| Via Drudge As many as 15 adults and children are being treated for what authorities said was an attack by a swarm of yellow jackets on a Washington-area elementary school. Montgomery County Fire spokesman Pete Piringer said it happened shortly before noon at Montgomery Knolls Elementary School in Silver Spring. Officials said the children were walking in a wooded area with adults from their day-care center when they apparently moved a log, which turned out to be the nesting spot for the yellow jackets. That got the yellow jackets buzzing, and before everyone could escape, 11 of the 15 children were stung, along with three adults. According to Piringer, the children range in age from 3 to 5 years old. Three of the children were stung repeatedly and had reactions. Eight others were stung once or twice. All 11 children were taken to Holy Cross Hospital to be checked out. Now, what have we learned today, children? |
| Posted by:Chris W. |
| #11 You are all the diet coke of evil!! I am the queen!! I Jihad on you!! Sting, sting, sting!! |
| Posted by: Q. Bee VII 2005-08-27 21:40 |
| #10 There were mud daubers all over My grandparents' place in Indiana and they never stung anyone there. The regular (reddish bodied) wasps sure did, and bees of course. Of course, maybe our "mud daubers" weren't really that and were some other kind of critter. They looked just like the stinging wasps, but were blue-black. Their nests looked like Pan-pipes made of mud. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-08-27 19:51 |
| #9 LOL |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-08-27 19:30 |
| #8 Our continued support for Raidisrael may explain why the Beeslastinians hate us. |
| Posted by: The Angry Fliegerabwehrkanonen 2005-08-27 17:05 |
| #7 #6 I've been stung by both yellow jackets and honey bees, and the yellow jacket sting was MUCH less painful. But the swarm factor could be a problem What? Yellow Jackets are ground hornets trainned killers of the wasp world - they're also non-suicidal a can getcha multipule times. Youse mistake but buzzers or got a mutant. I've been hit by a mud dauber wasp in Ohio. It was no honeybee sting, I can tell you that (the only time I ever leapt 6 feet straight up over a bridge embankment wondering what had happened). I was going to say that yellow jackets are members of the paper wasp family that make their nests underground, but it appears Shipman beat me to it. Nevertheless, wasps can sting you multiple times and not die. Honeybees suicide when they sting because the stinger is barbed and the venom sac is pulled out of the bees body killing it when it tries to pull away. The venom sac continues to pump the venom into the victim through subsequent spasms. Honeybees only sting when they have no other choice (African killer bees notwithstanding - they're exceptionally irritable) as it kills them. Wasps are natures' psychopaths - stinging on a whim - and they can keep it up all day. Thanks, LC FOTSGreg |
| Posted by: LC FOTSGreg 2005-08-27 16:50 |
| #6 I've been stung by both yellow jackets and honey bees, and the yellow jacket sting was MUCH less painful. But the swarm factor could be a problem What? Yellow Jackets are ground hornets trainned killers of the wasp world - they're also non-suicidal a can getcha multipule times. Youse mistake but buzzers or got a mutant. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-08-27 15:59 |
| #5 The NCAA would suggest that the surly Yellow Jacket attitude comes from the insensitive use of their name in school mascots. What else could it be? Nature? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-08-27 15:45 |
| #4 When I worked at a copper mine in NW Alaska in the late 60s, we had a big, mean yellojacket nest right near the door of the blasting cap shed. Needless to say that many countermeasure options were discarded as clever and diabolical, but impractical and downright dangerous. We finally hosed them down with Blazo (white gas, naptha) on a foggy day (high humidity). The gas soaked into the nest and ruined their day. Even after we removed the nest, dozens of those that were gone during the raid came buzzing around, saying "WTF?" |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-08-27 14:21 |
| #3 I've been stung by both yellow jackets and honey bees, and the yellow jacket sting was MUCH less painful. But the swarm factor could be a problem... |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-08-27 13:59 |
| #2 Got that right,AP.Those buggers will attack if you give them a harsh look and the sting hurts like hell. |
| Posted by: raptor 2005-08-27 13:59 |
| #1 Uh, yellow jackets, why do they hate us? Now THERE is an insect with an attitude! |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-08-27 13:32 |