# Wasp vs. Bees = Really Stupid People RANT, long



## midkiffsjoy (Sep 29, 2005)

First off I want to apologize. Itâs probably the fact that the kids are sick and Iâm coming down with it that has shortened my patience and made me feel the need to share my frustrationâ¦.but I just had to know if it was just me, or if these people really ARE as stupid as they seem to me.

Okayâ¦.. Now, Since we made the decision to add beehives to our farm I have been ingesting information. Mostly in the form of library books (we are lucky in that our library has a NICE selection and itâs a GREAT way to go through the âmust haveâ book list and see which ones weâd actually USE), BUT weâve decided to go with Kenya Top Bar hives, and Iâve not been able to FIND ANY books on top bar hives so Iâve been scanning the internet for any and all beekeeping information. Iâm sure thatâs pretty much how we all start out when trying something new. 

In my search for knowledge I have found MANY posts where people will mention being stung by bees and some âpersonâ will start spouting obscenities, proclaiming that âperson Aâ was NOT stung by a bee, that bees DO NOT EVER sting, and that they are just too STUPID to know they were REALLY stung by a WASP. Iâve also noticed in several of the books Iâve read that âmost claims of bee stings are really wasp stingsâ. 

Now, When I was two years old my mother taught me about wasps and bees. It took the amount of time it took her to move cloths from the washer to the dryer and fold the cloths from the dryer. She showed me blue wasps (dirt dobbers) and taught me that they are docile and really really just want to be left alone. She showed me red wasps and taught me that they are more aggressive than dirt dobbers and will defend their home, but that they really donât want to be bothered any more than I do. She taught me to be very careful around yellow jackets, and stay away from them and that they, being more aggressive than red wasps, take a more âproactiveâ approach to defending their homes, and that if I see the paper nest of the hornet, wellâ¦.to turn tail and run my butt back home. Grin. She taught me the difference between honey bees and bumble bees (though I didnât learn about mason bees until recently.), that honey bees have WAY too much work to do to be bothered with me and to leave them alone. That they donât want to sting me anymore than I want to be stung. Iâve have NEVER had a problem telling a bee apart from a wasp. They look distinctly different than one another. Wasps have long, thin (think âwaspishâ giggle) bodies. They look like they are so fragile they could just break. Their wings are long, and thin like tissue paper and tend to look like a personâs eyebrows when theyâre mad â¦.. you knowâ¦like a V. Bees are not so terribly thin, more proportionate, like a rifle shell. 

Having once been young and stupid Iâve had my share of stings. I learned the hard way when I climbed a shelf rack in the barn, turning it over and dislodging several wasps nest. They didnât care for me destroying their homes, and I got a couple of stings as I ran from the barn (AND STAY OUT!). I was even stung once by a poor little dirt dobber who I stepped on bare foot (I cant blame him, if some moron crushed me to death, Iâd sting them with my last ounce of strength too). Once when I was five I was told to stay in the truckâ¦.and I didnât, and while runnning back and forth like a mad girl, I stepped on an underground beehive (bumblebees can look HUGE to a 5 y/o). Understandably they swooped up on me. I received over 100 stings (it was 105, I believe). They got tangled in my hair, stung me between my fingers even. Luckily Iâm not allergic. Mikeâs grandpa was and died after mowing over an underground beehive with a riding lawn mower. In both instances the bees were protecting their home. Iâve also been stung by a bumblebee who flew into me as I swung back on a swing. We collided. It was a âwe were both in the wrong place at the wrong timeâ sort of thing. My little sister has even been stung by a honeybee (she picked it up in her hand and squeezed. Donât ask me WHY she was so stupid, but she got hers).
.
Okayâ¦..My POINT here is â¦â¦Are there REALLY people out there who CANâT tell the difference between a WASP and a BEE??? And WHY the *(yeah Iâm thinking it)* do people INSIST that anyone who says they were âstung by a beeâ is an IDIOT that is just TOO STUPID to know that they were REALLY stung by a WASP??? Do these people REALLY think that bees NEVER sting??? Do they not realize that people really ARE capable of dying from bee stings if they are allergic??? Are there REALLY âthat manyâ STUPID people in the world or is my browser just bringing up every one they come across??? Grin. 

Having grown up on a working cattle ranch, face to face everyday with âstark realityâ I was annoyed by the boy who KNEW meat grew in plastic wrapped packages on the tree behind the Brookshire Brothers where DH worked. I was FLABBERGASTED by the 80 YEAR OLD woman who DID NOT KNOW where eggs come from and when told DECLARED that she would NEVER eat eggs again (DH couldnât stop laughing while he told me about that one). But darned if it just doesnât blow me out of the water that there are people so stupid that they are going âpeta likeâ on people because they are CONVINCED that bees NEVER sting, and keep saying over and over that âit was a waspâ AS IF they arenât EASILY differentiated!!!!! 

ACCKKKKKKKKKK

Sorry folksâ¦â¦I just reached my *reach out and smack an idiot* point and needed to hear that SOMEONE out there knows the DIFFERENCE between a wasp and a bee! Grin. (mutter mutter mumble swear swear mumble mutter) Grin.

-Joy


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

I have been stung a lot by honey bees. I don't like to smoke them and I also look in the hive at this time of year when they are very protective.
Yes there are people that don't know a yellow Jacket is a wasp. Shoot I even had my daughter in law start to argue with me when she said they had a swarm of honey bees at their place and come get them. they were indeed yellow jackets in the ground. September is the month I get calls daily about the hive of bees living under the sideing of the house. I ask when they first noticed them. Most say just a few days ago. Honey bees do not just move in around Sept. first.
I tell them to do the coke test and call me back. Coke test you ask? Simply set out a bit of coke in some thing. If the so called bees go to it it isn't honey bees.
The news media don't help matters either. Head lines in a news paper declare, WOMAN KILLED BY BEES
Reading the story she was mowing her lawn and ran over a (in the story) nest of yellow jackets. They changed the story on the web site after I ripped into them but the damage had been done, bees kill people. I can't count on all my fingers and toes the amout of people who tell me they are alergic and don't carry an epipen. I guess they just like playing russin rollet or don't know chit from shoe polish.

Yup there are people, growen adults who think choclate milk comes from brown cows only. All honey bees are probably killer bees just waiting for the chance to kill some one who is doumb enough to step out the door with out an epipen.
What is an epipen they ask.

 Al


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## midkiffsjoy (Sep 29, 2005)

alleyyooper said:


> Yup there are people, grown adults who think chocolate milk comes from brown cows only.
> 
> Al



Giggle!!! Some moron said that to Katie once. giggle. They thought it was cute to say that to a 2 y/o. I thought it was even cuter when she told them that that was nonsense. 'Course I also thought it was hilarious when she told the PETA person that she LOVED bunnys because they were GREAT as fajitas! giggle. Oh well. 

It is just BEYOND me HOW people can make it to adulthood without learning the difference between wasps and bees!!! Like the difference between a goat and a sheep. Subtle and important differences. giggle.

Mom gave up her eppie pen to a lady who was allergic to bees and had received a sting once. It was at the renn festival and the lady had locked her purse in the car instead of dragging it around, and her pen was in the purse. Really scared mom, cause the lady was in her last trimester and she didnt want to get sued if something went wrong, but the hubby begged and she handed it over.

(Mom's not allergic to bees, she's allergic to poison ivy, and carries her eppie pen everywhere)


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## dcross (Aug 12, 2005)

That explanation your mom gave you only works if you have an interest in insects. 

Most people don't. The few that do are likely to try keeping bees

When people find out you have bees, they will tell you:

1. I'm allergic to beestings and so is most everyone I know because I/they got stung once and it itched and swelled.

2. Look, a bee! As they point to a wasp. Or a fly. Or a sparrow.

Wait until somebody calls you to come and get the swarm of bees they found. Even had somebody who kept bees in the past identify 'em. They'll be wasps most times.

BTW, they're writing a book on TBH's on beesource.com


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## midkiffsjoy (Sep 29, 2005)

COOL!!!! That'll be awesome. I figured there probably WHERE books out there but that they were probably only available to people by Peace Corps or other such projects in "undeveloped"countries. grin. 

Honestly, I was never interested in insects. But I was VERY interested in not being stung. Being stung hurts. It helps to know what is pretty much safe and what to give a wide berth. grin. To tell the truth, my mother is in SHOCK that I want to keep bees. I never went so far as to try to kill them in mass, but after being stung "in mass" as a kid, I stayed as far away from them as possible. But, darn if i dont like honey.....and honey in the comb......and local honey in the comb the best. And theres not really anywhere to get it here anymore. Grimes county used to be called "The land of milk and honey" for all the dairies and beehives. But not anymore. And I came to the realization that it just doesnt make any sense to ignore beekeeping in a small diversified farm plan. I started reading and the more and more I read, and shared with DH, the less and less reasons I could come up with WHY we didnt have beehives yet. 

I mean, heck, my skin turns red and swells every time I go outside. No matter if it's just sunburn, or getting nicked while building fence or what not. And paying attention to what youre doing, working slowly and carefully, reduces the chances of getting stung. That's what nets and suits are for. (I'm not scared of wasps either, because I know enough to not antagonize them. grin. I'm not more scared of dirt dobbers than I am butterflies.)


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