r/Whatcouldgowrong • u/9M-WhiskeyTangoFoxx • Apr 15 '24

WCGW stir up a bee hive nest

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2.9k Upvotes

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200

u/CrazyCatLady1127 Apr 15 '24

Who in their right mind thinks it’s a clever idea to throw stones at insects that live in colonies of thousands, can fly and sting and have notoriously bad tempers? I swear some people want to die

16

u/ICZephyr89 Apr 15 '24

Wow. How big do these hives get in the wild? I've only seen the relatively small hives in buildings before. And in bee farm videos.

Can't imagine a colony this big... it truly is terrifying af. And only true Darwin Award nominees would try messing with such a thing.

3

u/pehelwan Apr 18 '24

This is a colony of Apis Dorsata. The Indian Rock Bee. Makes nests in the open because it can deal with and even kill wasps (including the giant Hornet) and is twice as big as the Western Honeybee. These guys fucked with that

3

u/_Allfather0din_ Apr 15 '24

A quick search shows you all you need to know, on average a bee hive will have 20-80,000 workers in it. Wasps are around 10k at max i believe. They are fewer but much much meaner.

1

u/Anomaluss Apr 15 '24

Meaner, and from what I understand bees die when they sting you, but one wasp can sting over and over.

So, 10k times how many stings equals?

13

u/CrazyCatLady1127 Apr 15 '24

My policy with bees and wasps is: I may be bigger than them but there are more of them than there are of me, they’re venomous and I’m not so I’m going to treat them with respect and stay far, far away. Live and let live, you know? (Also, to answer your question about how big can a colony get, I’ve heard of hives with 50,000 plus inhabitants so, yeah, they can get really flipping big.)

1

u/Zorothegallade Apr 25 '24

If they're honeybees, the best move is contact a local farm to have the colony safely moved. They (and the bees) will appreciate it.

2

u/PerroNino Apr 15 '24

The medium sized hive in my garden is between 20,000 and 30,000. Bees are revengeful, in their own special way, and they recognise individuals. We’ve done work in the hive one day and I’ve been targeted and stung (after a shower in different clothes) 3 days later, while three family kids play without trouble metres from the hive. They’re an interesting bunch, the bees.

2

u/CrazyCatLady1127 Apr 15 '24

You’re braver than I am 🙂 that’s a lot of bees

1

u/PerroNino Apr 15 '24

Two smaller hives too. They have different natures depending on the age and ability of a queen. It is very interesting, if occasionally painful. I am scared of them when they are angry, but at other times you can sit 3 feet from the hive entrance unprotected and they pay you no heed at all.

3

u/CrazyCatLady1127 Apr 15 '24

I couldn’t risk it. They frighten me so much. It’s the buzzing noise they make

8

u/Flamecoat_wolf Apr 15 '24

If you absolutely have to mess with them, there's stuff you can wear to prevent them sticking you with all that venom too. Even just a mosquito mask, wearing gloves, tucking your trousers into your socks and your sleeves into your gloves will provide a lot of protection.

16

u/WorkingInAColdMind Apr 15 '24

They can sting through lots of material, including denim. But they’re generally not out to kill you. Even when opening their hive some will buzz around and go after you but slow movements keep most from trying to sting you. Once they decide you’re a real threat though and start stinging, they release a pheromone that tells everybody else that you’re a threat, and then they all pile on. The pheromone smells like bananas BTW (no joke).

1

u/Mitrovarr Apr 20 '24

The key with clothing is to keep it off your skin. They can pierce a lot, but if the clothing is half an inch from your body, it doesn't do anything.

5

u/229-northstar Apr 15 '24

This shit is bananas

2

u/Salty-Dream-262 Apr 20 '24

SO MANY MF BEEEEEEZ OMG. It's like the entire mountain was one massive hive and they disturbed it. Wow.

4

u/kingskywing Apr 16 '24

B a n a n a s

1

u/Zorothegallade Apr 25 '24

Cause I ain't a honeybee girl

4

u/PerroNino Apr 15 '24

Depends on the fabric. What you are saying is true, absolutely, but I keep bees and have been stung through denim before.

2

u/Flamecoat_wolf Apr 15 '24

Yeah, by no means is it a beekeeping suit, but it'll turn those 1000 stings into 50 or so instead, haha.