Bees Can Sting Repeatedly!

I experienced the weirdest thing today, at least to me. Gardening in my own backyard, (for a change) I felt a sting on my left ankle. I yelled (it hurt!) and shooed away a fat bumblebee as I don’t like to harm bees. It rewarded me by coming back and stinging me again. In the same ankle! I was unaware that bees can sting repeatedly.

I retreated out of my backyard thinking I had disturbed a nest or something, but the darn bugger followed me, stinging me again even though I was now 50 feet away. Once again I yelled “Ouch” (don’t believe that) and ran up the slight incline to my front yard with the bee in pursuit. It was quicker than I and stung me a fourth time!

I now have two stings on each ankle! The small red spot at the bottom is a recovering bug bite I got at the cottage. My poor ankles are taking a beating…

I bet I will someday think this was funny; if I had a video of the episode I’m sure I looked and sounded very funny. Lucky for me that I am not allergic to bee stings.

That was enough gardening for today.

Instead, I came into the house and visited Mr Google looking for information on why bees might attack or at least sting repeatedly. I have been stung repeatedly before, (lucky me!) so am aware it is possible, I just want to know why me. After all, I’m the one that wears the “Save the Bees“ t-shirt and purchased bumblebee necklaces for my granddaughters.

Back to the research…

I came across this article that says that bees recognize human faces! If that’s the case, I might be doomed…my backyard is not that big!

And another article says angry bees produce higher-quality venom that may help in the treatment and study of osteoarthritis and Parkinson’s disease. Maybe I should go donate blood as this guy (I am assuming it was the same one stinging me repeatedly) was obviously angry.

Interesting stuff.

Well, the swelling and the pain have subsided. When hubby arrived home from work I sent him out to the backyard to check for nests in the lawn or garden. He found nothing.

Photo credit: Pexels Free Photos