I went to music in the park Saturday evening. The place was packed for one of the best local bands, East Bay Mudd. Every spot was taken by 5:30. The band played from six to 8:30.
At about 7:00, my friend came over to me on the dance floor and said a bee had stung her on the thumb.
“I was eating my salad, and I swatted it away from my food.”
“Was there meat in your salad?” I asked as she nodded her head. “It was a yellow jacket, not a bee.”
She continued to call it a bee, but don’t blame them. Unless you’re covered with nectar or pollen, a bee isn’t interested in anything you’ve got.
How do I know this? Girl Scout Camp. The unit leaders would often open a can of dog food and set it out in the woods, away from the picnic tables so the girls could eat their lunches in peace while the yellow jackets devoured the dog food. The sugary red punch didn’t help, either. Yellow jackets are attracted to sweet things as well.
Back when my assistant-college-professor daughter was a toddler (see what I did there?), we visited Iowa. We were enjoying a wading pool in my mom’s front yard when a yellow jacket came out of a crack in the porch and stung one of us. I can’t remember if it was me or her, but I know it was painful. If you’re a mom, you get it. If you’re kid is hurting, you’re hurting, too.
Bees are important to our food supply. Honey bees make honey, nature’s perfect food that never goes bad, but bumblebees do more pollinating. They pollinate dozens of crops for us, and without them, we will lose those crops. Bee keepers rent out their bee hives to farmers with orchards to make sure their trees get pollinated. We’re talking walnuts, almonds, apples, pears, etc. As the bees go from flower to flower, the pollen sticks to their legs and they cross pollinate the blooms as they go. Bees also pollinate berries.
Bumblebees do more pollinating than honey bees. Honey bees make more honey than bumblebees. Bumblebees nest underground. Honey bees nest above ground. Yellow jackets nest underground. A Girl Scout stepped on a yellow jacket nest at camp and was stung repeatedly. Honey bees only sting once.
The moral of the story is stay on the trail.
When a yellow and black buzzing thing is buzzing around your food, remember that yellow jackets are aggressive and can sting repeatedly. Don’t swat at them. Put a napkin or cloth over your food until the thing flies away. If it persists, move indoors or save your food to eat later. I know that’s a bummer, but yellow jackets can get nasty, and who needs that on a beautiful summer evening with great music and good friends?
No one, that’s who. Learn the difference between insects. Honey bees – good. Yellow jackets – bad. Bumblebees – good. Don’t eat a salad with meat in it at the park. At least, not in the fall, when yellow jackets are active.
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