It was a planned hit...it had to be.

OldsRecording · Post by **OldsRecording** » Wed Sep 26, 2007 5:42 pm

Scooby Tuba wrote:
OldsRecording wrote:I'm sure when a British wasp stings you it says "Dreadfully sorry, old chap. Guess the old upper lip wasn't quite stiff enough, was it? Well, cheereo, then." Then it tips its little bowler and flies off.
Really? I was picturing a little, tiny skinheaded insect in a set of miniature Doc Martins stinging you and then kicking one of your teeth out!

I suppose it depends what class of wasp we're talking about, whether it kicks your teeth in or possibly elbows you in the ribs while saying "Nudge, nudge, know what I mean, know what I mean?"

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Wed Sep 26, 2007 6:01 pm

"'tis but a flesh wound!"

Rick Denney · Post by **Rick Denney** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 3:23 pm

windshieldbug wrote:Possibly, immediate removal of the stinger was the difference...

Do wasps leave their stinger in the wound as do (only some) bees?

Rick "who thinks wasps would be less aggressive were it so" Denney

sloan · Post by **sloan** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 4:53 pm

Rick Denney wrote:
windshieldbug wrote:Possibly, immediate removal of the stinger was the difference...
Do wasps leave their stinger in the wound as do (only some) bees?

Rick "who thinks wasps would be less aggressive were it so" Denney

Wasp stingers are smooth.

Bee stingers are barbed. Bees can sting *other bees* multiple times, but when they attack a mammal, the barbs prevent the stinger from pulling out, and the stinger instead detachs from the bee. The bee dies within minutes.

Interestingly, the bee stinger has enough of a nervous system that it continues to penetrate and inject venom for some time after the bee has gone. This is part of the reason that IMMEDIATELY removing the stinger is a good idea.

OldsRecording · Post by **OldsRecording** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 6:57 pm

"Alright, then, give me a bee license."
"A license for your pet bee? Called Eric? Eric the Bee?"
"No."
"No?"
"He's called Eric the Half-Bee. He had an accident."
"You're off your chump."
"If you intend by that obscure colloquialism to deny the semi-existance of my little chum Eric the Half-Bee, I shall have to ask you to listen to this! Take it away, Eric the Orchestra Leader!"