Last night- I was topping up my garden pond with water- and decided to fish out some pond slime. I had my hand right under water when : WHAP! Stung! I pulled my hand out and saw a black spot where the pain was coming from on my finger- before I could think I scraped it off. It was so unexpected, had I had time to think I would have examined the stinger better.
I am 99% sure my hand was deep under water when I got stung. It was just after dark- and there were no bees visible anywhere at the pond. I think: my hand brushed against a drowned bee underwater and that’s how I got stung. There is a small chance a bee was snoozing on the surface pond scum and I woke it when I plunged my hand in- but I doubt it.
unless there is some type of aquatic stinging bug- that leaves a stinger in the victim- then I am pretty sure I got stung by a dead bee.
Heck of a sting too: today my finger is well swollen and stiff. I googled and yes: dead bees can sting. Who would have thought?
G’day Jack, I got stung myself by a dead bee while extracting a couple of weeks ago. I saw the bee was dead, head first in a cell near where I grab the frame. That was a wake-up call for me. Like yours, this one also hurt. That’ll teach me not to be complacent with live OR dead bees.
do they lose their stinger? Because there was a stinger in my hand… I think it was a bee- during the day there are hundreds of bees there drinking. I think one had just recently drowned and I was unlucky enough to hit it when I put my hand in. Either that or it was on the surface and I brushed it on the way down. Sure was an unexpected sting- and nasty- two days later and my hand is still plump all over.
If a bee stings hard enough and the barb on the singer enters the skin then the stinger, the venom sack and the muscle that pumps the venom comes out of the bee, Then the bee soon dies. If the sting is not done with force then the bee has the opportunity to have another go at you.
I have had stings over the years where the reaction I suffer varies from severs swelling and itching to being mildly irritated. I am thinking it depends on what the bees are foraging on as to the strength of the venom.
Bees also seem to have the ability to give a warning ‘bump’ as well.
I haven’t so far had a sting while wearing a sting proof 3 layer suit
Cheers Jack
