Discussion
Bumblebee Queens Breathe Underwater to Survive Drowning, Revealing How They Can Live Submerged for a Week
xattt: Source paper: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/293/2066/202...
PlunderBunny: Bumblebees don’t sting, but they can bite, as I discovered after many years of picking them up when I saw them on the ground in a vulnerable spot.
gnabgib: They certainly do: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_sting> A bee sting is the wound and pain caused by the stinger of a female bee puncturing skin. Bee stings differ from insect bites, with the venom of stinging insects having considerable chemical variation. (..) Bumblebee venom appears to be chemically and antigenically related to honeybee venom.Wasps both sting and bite (welt size is a good indicator)
taneq: Huh. I also have grown up thinking bumblebees don’t sting, but:> Female bumblebees can sting repeatedly, but generally ignore humans and other animals. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BumblebeeSo they can sting, they just don’t want to. Further proof, if any were needed, that bumblebees are Best Bees. :)
lll-o-lll: TIL that bumblebees actually can sting. Not only can they sting, they can sting repeatedly (unlike the honey bee). They just choose not to.Genteel bees.
