Stung by a Bee By
Even though I am not allergic to bees, other people are. Honey bees, paper wasps, and yellow jackets tend to have venom that causes people to have an allergic reaction. Where have all the bees gone? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) describes something called Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD. (https://www.epa.gov/pollinator- protection/colony-collapse-disorder) “Colony Collapse Disorder is the phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a colony disappear and leave behind a queen, plenty of food and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees and the queen.” The EPA tells us that there have been many factors as to why the bee population is decreasing. They include the following: • “Increased losses due to the invasive varroa mite (a pest of honeybees) • New or emerging diseases such as Israeli Acute Paralysis virus and the gut parasite Nosema …. • Changes to the habitat where bees forage • Inadequate forage/poor nutrition” Bees have a complex life with Colony Collapse Disorder and people being allergic to them but let me tell you my feelings about bees. To me bees are just things that don’t bother you if you don’t bother them, which is understandable because people can be like that too. They just seem pretty harsh if you step on them or swat at them. I understand bees are important to the environment; however, they don’t give off an image of “friendly” to me. I fully acknowledge that there is a common threat to bees and we should be mindful of their space or privacy because they’re a key part of our ecology as pollinators in crop growth .
Dorien Wallace
Are all bees killers? Are they dangerous? Or are they just innocent pollinators? All of these are questions, maybe they even wander into the minds of bees. To be more specific, why do they sting human beings? Let’s dig deeper, shall we? There are many types of bees . They would include honeybees, bumblebees, western honey bees, apidae, carpenter bees, andrena, etc. (https://www.gardenbetty.com/bees/) According to https://petpedia.co/, “there are between 80 million and 100 million managed beehives within the global bee population.” The sting that started it all happened at a young age. This story starts off with a younger version of Dorien, maybe at the age of 4, 5, or 6. I was playing with a friend whom I just met, which wasn’t weird at all, because I was shy. We were at our daycare’s slide on the side of the building. There was a beehive either underneath it or the stairs coming up the slide. My friend goes down perfectly fine, my turn comes and everything seems good until I am greeted by a honey bee stinging me in my left arm. After being stung, I let out a big scream and started crying, which got the attention of a daycare employee who called my mother. Years later I am still feeling the aftershock. At the age of 17, I am a little bit scared of bees even now. Every time I see a bee in my backyard, I tend to back up or tense up. The feeling of being stung by a bee is like a pinch, as if someone with tiny hands is trying with all their might to make you feel their wrath.
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