Author Topic: Are Bumblebees our friends?  (Read 1306 times)

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Online Orbert

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Are Bumblebees our friends?
« on: April 15, 2017, 12:08:40 PM »
I'm sitting at the computer and I hear a weird sound coming from... over there, towards the stairs.  Hard to describe; lots of white noise but some kind of fluttering or modulation, frequency is pretty constant though, thus so is the pitch.  Yes, I think like a keyboard player 24/7.  I'd opened a window upstairs earlier because it's nice out; am I hearing something out there?  Just to make sure, I head over to the stairs, and I hear the sound again and it's coming from the bathroom just past the stairs.  Go in, and there's a huge bumblebee, very angry, buzzing against the closed window.  It's very loud up close.

I go into full reactive mode.  Not panic, no, pretty much the opposite.  Presence of mind, weigh the options, back out and close the door to contain the threat, upstairs, grab the fly swatter hanging by the kitchen, grab the wasp spray under the sink, note my stocking feet, do I want shoes on for this?  No, but a slipper would make a nice backup weapon in case the swatter can't do the job, grab, wait, are bumblebees our friends? Is this guy actually a stinging threat, or should I try to find a way to get him outside. No time for that shit, and I don't know, giant black and yellow striped buzzing bug, so in we go, shaking the spray can in my right hand, swatter and slipper in my left hand, slide the shower door open all the way, grab the towel and bath mat hanging there, toss them in the corner, open the toilet lid, gonna need it, there he is, huge and buzzing against the window, loud as fuck, blast him with the spray, down he goes on the windowsill, but he's still moving, blast him again, now he's covered in poison foam, he turns over and gets up on his feet, blast again, soak the motherfucker, he drops and rolls, he's breathing in the poison, he's on his back, his legs start curling, I notice the foam oozing down the shower wall from the windowsill, he's still moving but slowing down, he's still moving, he's still moving, fuck I have no time for this, I have tunes to work on today and this is harshing my buzz, slip the fly swatter under him, his legs are still moving but the poison foam helps stick him to the swatter, carry him over to the toilet and drop him in, flush!

Rinse everything off real good, good thing it's a shower stall, ha!  Double-check the toilet, no revenants.  Success!!  I have removed a threat to our species!  Wait, are bumblebees our friends?  Still no time to Google it, I have to tell DTF about my latest adventure.

Offline MrBoom_shack-a-lack

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2017, 12:57:42 PM »
 :-\ I love bumblebees. They're fascinating little insects. So many species though so I guess some might be more aggressive than others. Those I usually meet dosen't bother humans at all, they're too busy working.
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Offline TioJorge

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2017, 12:59:06 PM »
That moment when Orby posts finding a bumblebee as if he is apart of the elite death squad that took down Osama.

Fucking gorgeous.  :heart

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Offline Snow Dog

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2017, 01:23:34 PM »
I'm usually not too bothered by bugs outside for the most part. Sure, mosquitos are annoying, but it's not like other bugs where you'd feel threatened. As soon as they come into my house, though, it's a goner whatever it is. I'll usually let things be until they start invading. Except for wasps. Those fuckers can die in a violent hellish torrent of poisonous foam as Orbert described. Once I see the nest, I'm absolutely Hot Shotting that bitch that night.
« Last Edit: April 15, 2017, 02:14:18 PM by Snow Dog »

Offline Phoenix87x

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2017, 01:47:31 PM »
Without bumble bees, doesn't the world die or something along those lines? They never really bothered me honestly. They kind of do their thing and I do mine, so there really was never any huge beef or anything.

Wasps can burn in hell though.

Online Orbert

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #5 on: April 15, 2017, 04:08:08 PM »
See that's the thing I'm not sure about.  I know some bees are good guys, most, I think, but if I see giant black and yellow making loud buzzing noises in my house, it has to die.  Casualty of war.

Offline ReaperKK

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #6 on: April 15, 2017, 05:51:19 PM »
Don't mind bees at all, they are great for the environment.

Without bumble bees, doesn't the world die or something along those lines? They never really bothered me honestly. They kind of do their thing and I do mine, so there really was never any huge beef or anything.

Wasps can burn in hell though.

Pretty much, bees are essential to our food supply.

Offline Zook

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2017, 06:09:10 PM »
See that's the thing I'm not sure about.  I know some bees are good guys, most, I think, but if I see giant black and yellow making loud buzzing noises in my house, it has to die.  Casualty of war.

That's how I feel about spiders. Trespassers will be stomped. I was watering the garden last night and sprayed this tree we have next to the sidewalk that leads to the stairs and as I'm spraying the leaves a bunch of spiders drop down on their webs!

Anyway, as far as bumblebees go, I rarely see them, but we have at least one that flies around the yard every so often, and it's YOOJ!

Offline pogoowner

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #8 on: April 15, 2017, 06:55:18 PM »
Bumblebees can definitely be intimidating since they're so big and noisy, but I've never had an issue with one, even though we always had quite a few in our garden when I was growing up. Hornets and wasps, on the other hand, must be dealt swift justice.

Offline Phoenix87x

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #9 on: April 15, 2017, 07:15:28 PM »
Yeah, the bumblebees I've encountered never seemed aggressive or anything. Just buzzing around, pollenating stuff. In contrast, The hornets and wasps always tried to start shit though. those fuckers

Offline Loop

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #10 on: April 16, 2017, 03:34:52 AM »
I have a bumblebee who keeps coming in through my open window. Every day. Sometimes more than once. I nearly fell off my chair in a panic first time I heard the huge bugger buzzing next to my head, but now I'm used to him and he just finds his way out again. He's no trouble.

The wasps, though. They come in and fucking dive-bomb you. Angry little bastards. I want this shirt.


Offline Phoenix87x

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #11 on: April 16, 2017, 05:01:03 AM »

Offline Loop

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #12 on: April 16, 2017, 05:22:39 AM »


See, he's even smiling. Don't see wasps smiling do you. Twats.

Offline TempusVox

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #13 on: April 16, 2017, 06:27:38 AM »
There are over 4,000 bee species in North America. Nearly all are extremely beneficial (necessary actually) pollinators. Bumblebees included. Most people probably aren't aware that until European settlers brought honeybees over, there were no large quantity honey producing bee's in NA.

And what some people think is a bumblebee might actually be a carpenter bee. The most notable difference in appearance is bumblebees are fuzzy/ hairy looking on their abdomen, and carpenter bee's are not so they look shiny or glossy black on their abdomen.
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Online Orbert

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #14 on: April 16, 2017, 07:10:47 AM »
This was the big fuzzy kind.  I know he was probably beneficial in general as a pollinator, but he couldn't be in the house, and I didn't know if there was a stinging risk, or how great that risk was.  Unfortunately, summary execution was the only option.

Offline gmillerdrake

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #15 on: April 16, 2017, 08:35:13 AM »
They do sting but personally, I make a pretty big effort to get any insect other than flies (wasp, bee,spider) caught and returned outdoors. They don't really want to be in your house any more than you want them there. So, I generally catch and release.

I've tried to spread the word in my subdivision about giving me a call or text when a snake is found as well. I'll run over to wherever they're at and catch it and take it to the woods. Nothing more infuriating as a reptile lover than someone who just arbitrarily kills a snake because they've been misinformed and conditioned by society to 'fear' them. Kingsnakes, black snakes, Garter snakes are species of snakes that you WANT around your homes yet when one is seen it's immediately a 'copperhead' or 'water moccasin' or some other highly venomous snake. Never what it truly is...

sorry for the snake rant. Learned yesterday and saw pics of the 6 foot Prairie King snake a neighbor of mine killed. He said, "you want to see pictures of the huge copperhead I killed?" And sure enough, it's a beautiful Prairie King snake chopped in half cuz another jack leg thinks that's  the right thing to do.
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Offline Phoenix87x

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #16 on: April 16, 2017, 09:09:43 AM »
Did somebody say snake?


Offline Cable

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #17 on: April 16, 2017, 09:40:02 AM »
Bumblebees look soft and cute, and I respect their work.

Wasps can go eff themselves. Wasps seem more often aggressive, and pretend to pollinate stuff. They also are ugly, and they frequently nest outside my work office window. They are doing so again this year, and I frequently hear them crashing into my window.
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Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #18 on: April 17, 2017, 08:11:45 AM »
One good way that I have found to help prevent bees coming inside the house is not opening windows.
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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #19 on: April 17, 2017, 09:34:53 AM »
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/11/509337678/u-s-puts-first-bumblebee-on-the-endangered-species-list

Not that I blame you for killing the thing, I can't stand them, but knowing how beneficial they are and their dwindling numbers, I think my first reaction would be to try not to kill one now.  Granted, I make youtube videos of shooting bugs with nerf guns so I should shut up now :lol

Offline MinistroRaven

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #20 on: April 17, 2017, 12:43:40 PM »
I am sure Bumblebee it's a good fella


Offline Phoenix87x

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Re: Are Bumblebees our friends?
« Reply #21 on: April 17, 2017, 01:12:40 PM »
And lest we not forget that Honey is so yummy in my tummy  ;D