What's With The Bees?

Lori here~

Any of you remember the "urban" legend of the 1970s that predicted the US would be overrun with South American killer bees?

It hasn't happened...and yet, in recent months, I've seen news about bees overtaking buildings everywhere. Just a couple weeks ago, the rest stop in Wasta, South Dakota was closed due to an influx...of bees. Evidently the bees buzzed out of their shipping containers when the semi truck they were housed in stopped for a little R&R. They sought out greener pastures and swarmed the rest stop. All that yellow clover in the field behind the crapper must've seemed like bee heaven...until they died.

My oldest daughter got stung by a bee last week and it swelled to the size of an egg. The doc gave her antihistamines because she's allergic to bee stings. Umm...isn't everyone allergic to bee stings? Yeah, I know it can be very dangerous and deadly for some people, but how do you keep away from bees when they're everywhere?

And don't get me started on the X-Files "bee" mythology.

So, share your insect bite story, FOFO's, and convince me bees aren't as evil as monkeys.

Oh, and when you're sitting around at a barbecue, or a rodeo, or a parade, or a family gathering, or a class reunion, or watching fireworks this 4th of July weekend, complaining about the heat, the bugs, the economy and the potato salad, remember the families missing their loved ones who are serving this country in the armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Comments

[Karen Olson]

Lori, the bees are dying. The honeybee population is dying out, which is very bad for us. No one really knows why they're dying. So it's likely that they've just banded together for one last party at that rest stop in South Dakota.

Seriously, here's a link about it:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126954.600-honeybees-under-attack-on-all-fronts.html

[David Terrenoire]

And if the honeybees go, we won't be far behind.

[Wilfred Bereswill]

Yes Lori! All the honeybees are dying. And without them, there will be no honey! (Except taht somebody will invent some synthetic crap and try to pass it off for honey.) AND without new honey, all the sweetness in society will evenually leak out and life will be very dark and dreary. AND eventually everybody will die.

[Jim Winter]

Not bees, but stinging insects just the same.

When I was a kid, we used to go to my Uncle Gary's house for barbegue several times a summer. My uncle had a large willow tree out behind his house.

One time, it rained, and me being a kid, thought it was funny afterward to yank on the willow's low-hanging branches.

The hornets nesting in the willow did not think it was funny, and I ran screaming out into the backyard being chased by a cloud of hornets.

I never went near that tree again.

[Wilfred Bereswill]

On a serious note, many years ago I was on a float trip in central Missouri. We were at least 10 miles by canoe from anything. A lady in the group went off in the woods to take care of business when we heard screaming. The type of hysterical screaming you hear during an axe murderer attack.

The woman burst from the woods swinging and waving her arms surrounded by a cloud of hornets.

She was able to find a deep pool in the river and the hornets broke off the attack. I think we counted 50 or more stings. Luckily she wasn't very allergic and we paddled like hell to get her to the car.

Months later, she told us she must have tinkled on the nest setting them off. She also admitted that she had over 20 more stings on her ass.

[Patti Abbott]

I used to get upset to find a live bee in the house. Now I keep finding dead ones inside. Is my house toxic? Or is that the bees are dying?

[AlisonGaylin]

I got stung in the neck by a yellowjacket last weekend. Not fun at all. Yes, the honeybees are dying, which is really scary. And the bees that are still hanging around seem to be nasty, aggressive mofos with a big chip on their shoulder.

[Wilfred Bereswill]

It's George Bush's fault.

[Bee Sting Cure]

Sting season has begun! Learn how to cure stings instantly at www.BeeStingCure.com/order

Bee Sting Cure Field Testing on
www.YouTube.com/BeeStingCure

George Ciccarone of Cincinnati's WKRC-TV interviews founder Ray Baker, a pharmacist and others about the effectiveness of Baker's Venom Cleanser on stings in people as the stings occurs. This is a must see amazing video about how to cure bee stings with Baker's Venom Cleanser.

[David Terrenoire]

I agree with Mr. Bereswill.

[Jeff Shelby]

Two words: Cicada Killers

[Lori Armstrong]

Jeff, I remember seeing those cidada killer holes at your house when we visited you...YOU WIN! Those suckers are nasty.

And we got spam on here because of my bee post? ALL RIGHT!!

Alison, I feel for you and the sting. Lauren was miserable.

Will - so good to see you here :) The only thing I can compare to the woman with multiple stings was when we lived in Texas when I was a child and a kid fell into a fire ant mound. He got like a billion bites and they had to rush him to the emergency room (which is sort of an oxymoron in the middle of nowhere TX)because I guess the poison can actually stop your heart, especially in little kids.

And I do understand the big picture of the bees dying and the issues it would pose for the fertilization of crops, etc. and I wholeheartedly support gov't stipends for honey producers, aka the guys who put the bee traps out in the fields to aid in pollinization.