BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???

Subject: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: GUEST,Bemused & Bewildered
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 01:54 PM

South West Coast England, 18 January..

Just captured a bloody huge hairy buzzing BEE as it ambled across our front room carpet !!!


..how's that then.. ?

aint they supposed to be deep asleep for the winter ?

..any chance theres a hive under our floorboards or in the walls..????

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: GUEST,Bemused & Bewildered
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 01:58 PM

..and since yesterday I've also been afflicted
by 3 very irritating bites on my lower ankles..

mosquitoes !!!???

in January !!!!?????

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: Raptor
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 02:16 PM

Welcome to global warming!

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: bobad
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 02:37 PM

Fleas bites usually occur on the lower legs around the ankles.

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: Little Hawk
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 02:43 PM

Matter of fact, I saw what appeared to be a hornet flying around one of the lights in the basement 2 nights ago...and it's the middle of the winter here. I can't make out where he could have come from, and I haven't seen him since...nor have I seen any others.

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 03:10 PM

I went to put on a clean sweatshirt yesterday and found a live, but rather torpid, wasp inside of it. Luckily I spotted it before it had a chance to sting me. I assume that it must have entered the house earlier in the year and then a cold spell put it into a state of 'hibernation' (if that term applies to insects?). The slightly warmer weather, we've had recently, must have woken it up and it decided to take refuge in my sweatshirt.

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 03:10 PM

Some bee species are "carpenter bees". They chew a hole in something wooden, like a house beam, and deposit their eggs in it. Then the larvae feed on the wood until they pupate. They usually don't emerge until spring, but if they're in the wood in your house they may be emerging early because the house is artificially heated. If the bee was walking, not flying, it's probably because the heat has caused it to emerge prematurely. It may look like an adult, but its wings may be underdeveloped.

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: GUEST,Bemused & Bewildered
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 03:21 PM

it was about an inch in length from nose to arse,
quite round and fat,
and a very dark colour.
Very difficult to make out any yellow stripe
until held close to a bright light..

wife was terrified it was a cockroach..

until she'd stopped screaming long enough
to be persuaded that the critter was safely trapped in a jar,
so she could get a closer look to ID it properly..

then released it out a window..

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: katlaughing
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 03:26 PM

There's a neat article about an 80 yr old man who keeps bees in Florida. It says the drones get kicked out of the hive in the wintertime, left to die after *servicing* the queen.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: Becca72
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 03:42 PM

LOL kat...sometimes that happens here in northern New England, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: open mike
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 04:45 PM

the lady bugs here are out flying today..a warm day which has been preceeded by freezing and raining weather. I also found a very slow moving carpenter bee..or other type large black bumbly thing which
chews holes in wood leaving little piles of sawdust below the hole.
I have many many wasps (both paper nest types and mud nest types)
and have found a spray that helps get rid of them...Victor brand..
it mainly contains menthol oil...and is non-toxic to humans.
http://www.victorpest.com/

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: Bee
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 05:08 PM

I am not bizzarre!













well...maybe a little...

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 06:46 PM

My son found a caterpiller the other day. Odd time of year. And I've seen lethargic little geckos on sunny days here in the last couple of weeks.

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: Raptor
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 07:50 PM

Great Band Name "lethargic little geckos "!

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: Riginslinger
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 08:45 PM

"I am not bizzarre!"


                   Bee - Maybe they're talking about something you saw.

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 01:15 AM

In the winter they ball up together and sqiurm to create a heating friction They are not asleep.

My son said he saw a bee last week.

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: DMcG
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 02:07 AM

There were hedgehogs in our garden last night. Like the bee that started this thread, they should still be hibernating...

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: DMcG
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 02:08 AM

Not that the bee actually started the thread itself, you understand.

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 04:18 AM

The bees and wasps you see early in the year seem to be huge - that's because their often new queens looking for a nesting site. Insecticide early in the year means that a whole nest doesn't get the opportunity to form.

We've had a very mild winter so far - I saw daffodils actually in full bloom last weekend (OK, so it was the south coast and near a 'sub tropical' micro-climate) but even my pot plants at work are confused. My Clivia plant that usually flowers whilst I'm on holiday in May, is in full bloom now in January.

Anniehoo... Beemused, your bee sounds like it was a queen who wandered into your floorspace for some hibernation and has become confused by the relatively mild weather outside. As she's just woken up, her directions are a bit off.

Also, the lower ankle is the primary site for flea bites rather than mosquitos. Do you have a pet or have you been visiting someone with a pet?

Animal fleas don't normally bite humans but inexperienced ones that are newly hatched will take a grab at anything with a pulse that ambles by. The eggs fall off the animal or settle in its bedding, they wait in the cracks of soft furniture or carpets and hatch when they feel vibrations. The larvae (like tiny, transparent maggots with a black dot at one end, about 2-3mm long) can be found under seat cushions, pet blankets, in rugs, wherever the eggs settled. These hatch into the tiny black fleas. They don't get the golden bums until they've had a few good meals or got eggs on board.

Regular vacuuming and flea treatments for pets will keep them under control.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 04:54 AM

Where on the south west coast???

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: gnu
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 05:36 AM

Fleas.... is it correct that they cannot reproduce if they only have humans to bite?

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: GUEST,Bemused & Bewildered
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 07:17 AM

hi. and thanks for replies..

Somerset coast..

and there are no pets in our house..
but the wife does work in an infant shool ..
so fleas & lice may be an occasional occupational hazard !!!

Spent last night in very interesting google research on Bees..
'ours' seemed too dark to be a "Bumble" but not dark enough to be one of the "Carpenter" types..

the wife now feels very guilty because, in her panic at mistaking it for a cockroach
she dropped a stack of solid beermats on top of it
before screaming for me to come downstairs to remove it.

it didn't look too injured.. in fact it was a very strong powerfull little creature..

but mrs is worried now she might have mortally wounded it.

even more so now that she knows her visitor was a young royal 'Queen'...






but the wife does work in an infant shool ..

so fleas & lice may be an occasional occupational hazard !!!


anyway, is there a definite visual difference to distinguish mozzy from flea bites ?

..and something else I've never found a conclusive answer..

can mosqitoe bites apear as a delayed reaction over several days latere
from the actual mosqitoe attack ?

or do they only show up immediately after being bitten..????



and i've now got more on my legs, and now a very itchy cluster on my abdomen .. grrr!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: GUEST,Bemused & Bewildered
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 07:20 AM

ahh.. b@llocks !!!.. pressed enter key while trying to clean up

copy/paste edits...

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: Janie
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 08:33 AM

Bed bugs are also making a huge come back.

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: jacqui.c
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 08:49 AM

B&B

Some people are more susceptible to flea bites than others. From experience it sounds like you have some of the little @^$#%^# in the house. In general the bites really show up within 24 hours of the attack and last for a few days.

Liz is right - keep on vaccuming the floors and emptying the bag outside after every use. When I had an infestation I sprayed lavender water all over the place - read somewhere that fleas are repelled by the stuff and I believe that rosemary can be effective as well.

The infestation I had came when I moved into a house whose previous occupants had a dog. I had no animals, but it took me a good two years, and a visit from the local councils pest remover to finally clear them out.

Good luck.

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 09:00 AM

The ones on your abdomen could be from a flea infestation in your bed... they like soft furnishings where animals have lain. You may have brought in one from somewhere and it's happily living in your furniture. They prefer animal blood but will bite humans if nothing else is available.

Try a glue trap on your floor... a wide shallow bowl like a plant saucer, with something sticky like double sided tape or honey in it. The fleas jump in but can't jump out again. At least you'll be able to see what you're dealing with.

Have you an animal nearby that visits you? Any suspicious flattened, warm patches and opened windows you might not have noticed before?

Mosquitos will go for any visible flesh but fleas will crawl around inside clothing.

Good luck!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: gnu
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 11:50 AM

B&B... "can mosqitoe bites apear as a delayed reaction over several days latere from the actual mosqitoe attack ?"

Although nothing is impossible, no.

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 12:37 PM

Have you bought a new rug in the last few weeks? We bought a set of bathroom mats from Ikea, laid them out in the bathroom and in a week the bathroom was infested with fleas. The eggs will only hatch if they feel vibrations and that's how we got them... eggs in the pile of the rugs hatched out once they got into our nice warm bathroom.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: gnu
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 01:07 PM

Have you contacted Skarpi to ask for compensation?

Subject: RE: BS: Bizarre Bee Sighting !!!???
From: Art Thieme
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 10:14 PM

Someone call the roach whisperer!!!!!!!!!

Art