The death of the bumble bee

[matthew123]

I was walking down the road the other day, and watching where I walked when I saw a bumble bee flat on it's back. Now I don't know about you but I always think a dead bumble bee is a good bumble bee. Imagine no more bee stings, or incessant buzzing, or no more summer headlines of south american killer bees cutting loose.

Of course the bumble bee is an important tool for polynation, sits somewhere in the food chain.. etc etc

Anyway, I digress, I'd be interested to know what other species, if any, people wouldn't shed any tears over if they become extinct and why? (putting aside for a moment their integral part in the universe..)

[Asset]

didn't Einstein say that if the bee goes mankind has four years left to live, so be careful what you wish for.

How many people on here have been stung by a bumble bee?

Personally I could do without wasps.

[louisiana]

The "south amercian killer bees" you mention (so-called 'Africanised bees') are nothing to do with bumble bees. I can't possibly understand why you want to kill bumbles. I've come across Africanised bees in Cuba, and they didn't do me any harm either.

I may have been stung once by a bee (not a bumble) when I was a child (so decades ago).

As Asset says, be careful what you wish for.

[RosieH]

yes, I thought bumble bees didn't sting (or is that an urban myth?)*

I love bumble bees: defying the laws of physics with their cuddly furry flight - they're the happiest of insects - matthew123 I think you might be a little bit dead inside...

I recommend a course of a host of golden daffodils and 15 minutes beautiful birdsong administered three times a day until you see the error of your ways

*edited because I have just looked up bumble bees and apparently, yes they can sting, so I have been conned - still lovely furry little feckers though

[bigbadwolf]

I have been stung by a bumble bee and a Hornet. I disturbed a Hornets nest when I was little in Sherwood forest and it was very painful. My dad was bitten by a venomous snake whilst on desert manoeuvres in Oman and survived by the skin of his teeth.

[PeckhamRose]

I am allergic to bee stings.

Got stung once by a Killer Kamikaze Kiwi bee on north island of NZ and 2 days later could not get my motorcycle jacket on as arm had swollen and the swelling was moving into my chest. The pharmacist said basically I needed to see a doctor. Now! But it was a Sunday morning and both doctors on the south island of NZ were away. What would this doctor prescribe, I asked? "Steroids. Now." was the reply. I had emergency ones on me for asthma attacks and so took some according to pharmacist's suggestions.

Having said that, I await Orlando's honey who is the man who makes Nunhead honey on Ivydale Road. Local honey helps with hayfever.

I could do without Staffordshire Bull Terriers when owned by people who really don't understand dogs.

I could do without the species of human who doesn't care for other humans too.

[Brendan]

If you want lots of bumble bees in your garden plant lots of purple flowers.

Speaking of illogically making animals extinct regardless of the ecological consequences, I could do without sharks. Some people say I have a phobia of sharks. A phobia is an irrational fear of something. What?s so fucking irrational about being afraid of a giant fish that can eat you?

[Tony.London Suburbs]

Asset Wrote:

Personally I could do without wasps.

Don't worry they seem to be less and less of them with each passing year.

[siousxiesue]

I personally like bees, wonders of nature etc. A lot of bees around this time of year are not dead but simply 'drunk' on pollen. I always rescue them, putting them somewhere safe! I won't kill any insect, just because something usually can feed on it so why not live and let live. Hornets are quite a different matter-I hate them...

[Mikecg]

Bumble bees are not agressive like honey bees can be and if they are left alone they leave you alone, wasps are totally different they will sting at any given oppertunity. The African honey bees are the most aggressive and now there is a mojor problem in south and north america with them, A brazillian bee keeper imported them to brazil and created a hibrid which is now known as the Africanized honey bee because of the high levels of honey production, this has caused the bees to spread right into the united states and they have been known to kill people. The guy who imported them was almost in tears because what has happend, and says he wishes he had never imported them to the Americas.

[Keef]

Spiders anyone? Except for the huntsman that I developed a truce with in Sydney.

[Mikecg]

I don't mind putting them out the house with a glass and a sheet of paper but I'm not much of a fan of them, Australia has some real nasty ones.

[woofmarkthedog]

Police horses ( hypothetically )I went to the footie yesterday and the "offending horses" had plopped everywhere. So they can go into the "do without book"......

(That's an idea put the police on giant bumble bees at football matches, 1st sign of trouble & they could launch a "sting operation".....)

W**F

* I know *

[HAL9000]

Asset Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> didn't Einstein say that if the bee goes mankind

> has four years left to live, so be careful what

> you wish for.

Although widely attributed to Albert Einstein, there is no evidence to support that view. The quote doesn't appear in any literary database before 1994 - Einstein died in 1955. More at Einstein's Bees

[mockney piers]

Bumblebees are wuvverwy.

[matthew123]

They do seem to have a problem with Police Horses at the Emirates - last season I had to squeeze past a pair of them and they are massive! They should really be working the fields rather than stopping ticket holders entering stadium.

After yesterday's football RosieH, I think I might indeed be dead inside, so I am now open to your remedy of 'golden daffodils and 15 minutes of beautiful birds administered three times a day'...

[Robyn0312]

The UK is apparently having a Bee crisis! It even made it onto the news a few weeks ago. Apparently some fungal disease is killing them off and experts are worried that agriculture will be seriously affected...

I've never liked bee's personally, I think years of my childhood spent practicing epi-penning potatoes in case my very allergic father got stung put me off a bit...

[Cassius]

I like bees - could do without wasps and hornets as mentioned, and to add to them horseflies, bluebottles, rosemary beetles, slugs and anything else that eats my veg shoots.

[HonaloochieB]

matthew123 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I was walking down the road the other day, and

> watching where I walked when I saw a bumble bee

> flat on it's back. Now I don't know about you but

> I always think a dead bumble bee is a good bumble

> bee. Imagine no more bee stings, or incessant

> buzzing, or no more summer headlines of south

> american killer bees cutting loose.

>

> Of course the bumble bee is an important tool for

> polynation, sits somewhere in the food chain.. etc

> etc

>

> Anyway, I digress, I'd be interested to know what

> other species, if any, people wouldn't shed any

> tears over if they become extinct and why?

> (putting aside for a moment their integral part in

> the universe..)

Absolute poppycock Matthew, bees are our friends.

Without them, no honey, no 'the birds and the bees' (and the flowers and the trees and the moon up above, and a thing called love), no Honey Monster adverts with John Cooper-Clarke, no Eric the half-bee, and what would poor old Rupert Brooke have done, 'is there jam still for tea? Sandwich spread?.

No Matthew you're confusing bees with wasps who are utter bastards. They only exist to spoil picnics and frighten small children and hysterical adults.

Get a grip, man.

[Moos]

Honaloochie speaketh sooth. And what would poor Rimsky-Korsakov have had to work with? You have to think these things through.

Slugs, on the other hand, I could do without. I'm hoping to grow some lovely hostas later this year, and would prefer them not to look like the sandwich platter at the end of a corporate lunch.

[Mark]

http://www.saveourbees.org.uk/

I agree with the consensus about wasps, pointless and irritating, midges too.

[Jah Lush]

Nothing wrong with bees. Bees make honey unlike the wasp which is an irritating little bastard that just wants to sting you.

[Brendan]

And without honey there would be no Waggle Dance or Honeydew.

[bigbadwolf]

Or more interesting 'grown up' DVD'S

[HonaloochieB]

Or indeed the group Bees Make Honey.