of general intrest

-------- Original Message --------
From: Catherine Plowright <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Aggressive bumblebees
To: Multiple recipients of list BOMBUS-L<[log in to unmask]>

From: [log in to unmask] (Laura Smith)
Date: Sat, 29 May 1999 14:06:22 +0100

Hi
I'm from Scotland and  run a small non-profit making web site dedicated to
bumblebees (address below).  Recently I've received a few e-mails
from people in the US asking for advice about aggressive bumblebees.
This is not something I've ever come across in this country, nor have I
read about aggressive behaviour towards humans (unless they are
disturbing a nest) in books or papers, consequently I do not know what
advice to give.  Have any of you come across aggressive bumblebees, or
aggressive insects that look like bumblebees.  I've had reports that the
bees chase them indoors.  They are always described as hairy, use a
single exit hole, and usually nest above ground in wooden buildings.
This is part of the latest e-mail:
"I have bumblebees in my yard that I believe are nesting in a wood shed.
I've heard, and read on your pages, that they are not aggressive and
don't sting easily, but these ones seem to be swarming.  I've seen about
10 at a time, and they all chase each other in the air wildly.  They are
always angry.  Not only am I worried about getting stung when I go into
the shed, but yesterday 4 flew into my face while I was gardening about
10 feet from where I think their nest is.  They were buzzing very loudly
- I backed off quickly!  I really don't want to poison them, but we have
big parties at my house with children, etc.  If they scare me, an avid
gardener and nature lover, imagine how a 6 year old playing would
react!"
I hope someone can help shed some light on this.
Sincerely
Laura Smith
[log in to unmask]
http://www.mearns.org.uk/mrssmith/bees/bees.htm

Comment from RCP:
Yes, Laura, it is one of the sad facts of this world that some of the
bumblebees of the New World are far more aggressive than their European
counterparts.  The species of the subgenus Fervidobombus--all of them,
so far as I know (although I do not have any data for the huge B. dahl-
bohmi that occurs in Chile and Argentina), but especially B. fervidus,
pennsylvanicus, californicus and sonorus in N. America, and B.atratus,
mexicanus, etc. in Central and South America, are exceedingly vicious
and will often sting with no apparent provocation (even when they are
FORAGING!).  It is not safe, for example, to sit unprotected within 5-
metres of a medium-to-large colony of B. pennsylvanicus (as one might
wish to do, for instance, when recording nest-entrance traffic).  All
too often, a returning (or leaving) forager will decide that human
scientists that have the effrontery to seat themselves within spitting
distance of the colony should be taught a swift and painful lesson.
  The S. American Fervidobombus species, B. atratus Fkln. is well-known
for its extreme aggressiveness (although the N. American B. pennsylv-
anicus, which also produces huge colonies, can probably come close in
terms of sheer unprovoked viciousness).  When we naintained a labor-
atory culture of B. atratus, we had to take extreme precautions: we used
red light all the time when we had to handle them, and we found that an
unprotected observer couldn't even enter the same flight-room of even a
very small atratus colony!
  Of historical importance is the fact that in pioneering days, horses
were routinely killed by the stings of B. fervidus in the northern parts
of the USA and southern Canada.  Why?  Because B. fervidus, like the
European species of the subgenus Thoracobombus (B. pascuorum, muscorum,
humilis, sylvarum, and ruderarius) regularly makes its nest on the
surface of the ground (in a rodent's nest in a grass tussock, for
example).  At hay-making time, when the poor horse was required to pull
a mower across the fields . . . for some reason, I am more sorry for the
horse than for the pretty little yellow B. fervidus workers.
  It might be worth adding that one of the British Bombus species, B.
muscorum, has also attracted a small-scale reputation for ferocity, but
I am sure that even a large muscorum colony (and I have reared quite a
few) is absolutely no match for a healthy N. American Fervidobombus
colony.
  The bottom line?  Treat _all_ stinging insects with great respect, and
_never_ ever convey to people that bumblebees are in any sense "safe".
Too many people, over the centuries, have succumbed to anaphylactic
shock, and I am told that sometimes it only takes one single sting.
  Regards, Chris Plowright.