Why don't they sting or bite?

11 years ago

I've been watching a ton of documentaries about different insects. When I was little my dad would hold bumble bees and even pet them. He's also been known to play silly buggars with the wasps at dinner. - never harming them of course. He never gets stung.

There is a video on youtube with a guy hand feeding a wasp, and another of a guy with a whole handful of wasps eating the fruit on his hand. I watched a few shows with a guy who held a giant huntsman spider and several different species of scorpions with his bare hands.

I just really want to know why they don't sting or bite? I absolutely love learning about insects and spiders - it's my new hobby. My friend won't open my emails after 9pm cause she knows it will be a bug of some kind lol. I've always been pretty scared and sometimes terrified of them, but I'm not so sure anymore.

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Comments (8)

larry_gene
11 years ago
Away from the hive or nest and eggs/larvae/young, many stinging species are not as aggressive. That and the persons in the videos have lots of experience handling these, perhaps they were stung as beginners. The handlers are probably being gentle with no sudden movements or squeezes. The various critters you mentioned may even appreciate the extra food and warmth.
Fori
11 years ago
I agree with Larry. Be gentle, practice, and don't play with the truly obnoxious species--I don't think there is a good way to interact with an imported fire ant, for example.

Now, petting something with a stinger is pushing it for me, but the thing about bumble bees is that (unlike honey bees) many of them are male and incapable of stinging. So, if you know which ones to pet, you're safe. :)
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zzackey
11 years ago
I got stung on my thumb years ago by a bumblebee when I had my hand up in the air. I was doing nothing to freak it out.
zzackey
11 years ago
I got stung on my thumb years ago by a bumblebee when I had my hand up in the air. I was doing nothing to freak it out.
larry_gene
11 years ago
Were you actually stung, or did the bumblebee fly into your hand at high (for a bumblebee) speed, and it felt like a sting?

Or did it do a gentle (for a bumblebee!) landing on your thumb and you flinched, and were then stung?

Or was it just an evil bumblebee, as in the old Searchers pop hit song?
zzackey
11 years ago
Yes, it stung. Just like a honey bee does and it hurt like hell.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
11 years ago
In all my years of working out and about in yards and gardens big and small, I've never been stung by a bee, hornet, or wasp. Well, there was that time that I stepped on a Cicada Killer wasp with my bare foot, lol.

I just nudge honeybees aside when working. I've even had paper wasps collect building material from a book I was holding in my lap! That was really neat; she came back several times to collect, making the funniest little noises as she moved up and down the edge of the page.
zzackey
11 years ago
You're very lucky, Rhizo1! I worked in a garden center in Pa for 4 years. When I watered the pansies the honeybees would fly straight up. I never got stung then. I worked in 3 plant nurseries since then and never got stung. Most of my bee stings were in Pa for some reason. I'm not a hand waver-get away from me bee person either. Maybe they are more aggressive up north?