I Love Bees, and They Love Me Back! A Freestyle Collage for LMAC
Bee Happy, But Please Don't Bite
This freestyle collage was inspired by a visit to a lovely garden (see highlighted in my Weekend-Experience post), and by a bee sting. The visit was lovely. The sting, not so much.
Why Do Bees Seem to Sting Some People More Than Others?
The day I got stung I was working in the backyard. So was my daughter. Bees swarmed me, and barely swarmed her. Yesterday, while I walked to my car, my daughter called,"Watch out Mom. A bee is swarming you."
Sure enough, a bee was circling one of the few pieces of bare skin I had left vulnerable--my hand. Despite the heat, I had decided to wear long sleeves and pants outside. The bee sting had been only the final insult after a barrage of other bug bites.
Bugs love me. If only I could bottle that affection elixir and figure how to make it work with people :))
The 'bee' that swarmed me was actually a variety of yellow jacket which is a wasp, not a true bee. Although, in the vernacular we rarely distinguish between the species.
German Wasp, (Vespula germanica)
Credit: Alvesgaspar. Used under CC 3.0 Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
An article published in New Zealand Entomologist, 1993, Wasps Actually Recognize Human Faces, reports that men in a study were three times more likely to be stung than women. The authors of the article suggest that human behavior may explain the difference. However, the authors also add there are likely reasons that remain obscure.
One man, for example, who was stung more than anyone else, was also apparently targeted by a wasp for no discernible reason. A quote:
Once, when people were not involved in wasp work, a passing wasp, apparently without provocation, singled out and stung the male who had received the most stings in our survey. This suggests some other factor or factors, such as natural
odours or clothing colour, could elicit an aggressive response from wasp.
It is possible the wasp that swarmed me on the way to the car was the same one that stung me in the backyard. Wasps may actually recognize human faces. According to ars.technia, "Wasps with many queens will remember your face as they sting you".
The wasp is a social insect and recognizing each other in the nest is an important part of their social behavior. The facial recognition ability among wasps, it has been suggested, extends to recognizing human faces.
Oh no!!!
My Collage
As always, this was fun. The first collage reflects my sense of peace when I'm at the beach in a natural setting. The second collage, with frantically swarming bees, was made for extra fun.
Some steps toward completing these collages:
LMAC has kicked off its summer contest hiatus with a sort of freestyle jamboree. Anyone can offer a freestyle collage until the fall season begins. We have received may brilliant pictures in the last week. These inspired me to create my own.
I thank the following LMAC regular contributors for providing pictures to the LIL gallery. These pictures were essential to completion of my collage:
@yaziris
flower garden
https://www.lmac.gallery/lil-gallery-image/7647
and
garden flowers
https://www.lmac.gallery/lil-gallery-image/7645
@muelli
buddha
https://www.lmac.gallery/lil-gallery-image/6172
@marilour
xerophytic landscape
https://www.lmac.gallery/lil-gallery-image/5757
@redheadpei
chipmunk
https://www.lmac.gallery/lil-gallery-image/6318
Two elements in the collage were my own. One came from LIL: @agmoore
miami horizon beach
https://www.lmac.gallery/lil-gallery-image/9930
Others, such as the osprey, pollinator sign, bee, speedboat and bird, will soon be in the library (my next LIL post--coming soon).
You can see that LIL, the LMAC Image Library, was an essential part of my collage creating process this week. Everyone on Hive can contribute to the library and everyone can borrow from the library. Learn about the procedure here.
I wish all my readers peace and health, and a bite-free summer.
You have done a great job, sitting in front of these flowers and this beach can give you a perfect feeling.
Thank you! @itwithsm. When I make a collage I get lost in the place, so that is also a pleasant experience for me. It only takes place in my head, but it's 'real'.
Good work, as always, your writing reminded me of an experience I had on a farm, where some bees got angry because they disturbed their hive, they went on us and I received more than 20 sting
20!!!!! Oh my heavens. How did you treat that?
Thank you for that eye-opening comment :))
I still remember the bees flying over my head and me running😂😂😂😂😂Good thing I'm not allergic to these stings.
hello agmoore
Very nice your collage, especially the animated one.
Oops, the wasp looks like one of those that came from Asia, but this one is European.
Hello @innfauno12,
Thanks for the kind comment. That second collage is a bit zany, but my husband prefers that one also.
I think those wasps look a lot like each other. In any event--stay away!
Sorry you got stung by the bee but I heard it is good for some health issues to get stung.
“ Bee venom contains several active molecules such as peptides and enzymes that have advantageous potential in treating inflammation and central nervous system diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.”
Source.
A lovely seascape collage with animation, bees, beautiful flowers and birds.
Thanks for including my lil image of the chipmunk but I couldn’t find him in your collage. 😊
I wasn't really dismayed. She (they say only the females can sting) didn't give me a full sting. I was wearing nitrile gloves and I think the wasp landed on the edge...got mostly glove. However, it did smart :))
I think I must be maturing because I didn't even want to kill the insect. I was just very annoyed. However, when one chased me on the front lawn I was indignant😆
As for your lovely little chipmunk. Master of camouflage, as you know. So the little critter is camouflaged in the pictures. Note where I have drawn a box around its appearance in each of the collages.
Thanks for all the beautiful pictures you offer on LIL (especially the animals).
Hope the weather is treating you well. It is searingly hot here today. I am sheltering inside, with air conditioning.
Thanks, I see the chipmunk now. We are also having hot humid weather but I wouldn’t complain after winter. 😆 Yes, air conditioning is needed to sleep at night. I try to stay out of the sun too.
Summer goes by so fast much like how the years slip away.
Have a wonderful day , my friend. 💕
This is really a great job you have here I must confess
Thank you, @biyimi! Making these was great fun.
Hi @agmoore 👋
Wow. I love your animations! So also this one, of course. They are always so lovingly crafted and with attention to detail. :-)
The swarming bees look very realistic. And the scene has a wonderfully relaxing atmosphere. It's fun to watch the activity.
Trully a beautyfull collage. 👍
I'm sorry to read you were stung by a bee. And I hope the pain has gone away quickly.
It's always doubly bad because most of the cases a bee sting is the result of a fatal and very last misjudgement made by the bee.
I'm glad your post had an educational part this time too. Because it was completely new to me that wasps might have the ability to recognise human faces.
Mind-blowing and fascinating!
Have a nice weekend, @agmoore 🤗
Hello my friend, @quantumg!
You are kind. I love making the still collages and the animations. My husband encourages me to make, as he puts it, 'a GIF'. He finds them interesting. I'm very happy you feel it worked out well with those frantic bees 😄
My sting wasn't that bad. I think she (the wasp) mostly got my glove. Hydrocortisone applied immediately helped to keep the swelling down. Also, since it was a wasp, there was no death scene. They get to sting over and over again until they run out of venom (do they run out of venom? I can't imagine it's an endless supply. Plus, I wonder if it doesn't use up precious energy to be stinging someone. I feel a science blog coming on😃.)
I was astonished also to learn that a wasp can remember us--up a to a week after stinging, I've read. We do underestimate the other creatures on the planet, don't we?
Kind of you to stop by and encourage me in my collage making. I've learned a lot from you--a lot more to go.
I hope you, your wife and Frieda have a most wonderful summer weekend.
Warm regards to the three of you🐝
Hmm, I wonder how they test the bees' ability to recognise human faces.
Love the fun collage. it's like my greenhouse, a hive of activity. (sorry)
My neighbour keeps 5 hives on a hill overlooking our property so we have bees in abundance. I watch them at work as I water and prune and yet I've not been stung...so far.
I'm very happy you like the 'fun' collage, because it was fun to make. Busy bees indeed. I used as a model for that bee the picture of a real bee I took. Only, of course it's much smaller in the blog so it looks more realistic.
Your greenhouse. Sounds like like a peaceful, challenging, rewarding life. I'm happy for you and all the chickens :)
Not especially pleasant and also with results I question. However, I'm willing to give wasps credit for this. Seems like a useful survival mechanism.
https://www.science.org/content/article/humans-wasps-seem-recognize-faces-more-sum-their-parts
I'm sorry to hear that you got stung by a bee. It sounds like you were having a lovely time in the garden, and then the bee sting ruined it. I can understand why you would be frustrated.
Thank you! I really wasn't having a lovely time :) I was washing the back of the garage and must have disturbed them. Perhaps they had settled under the slats. They do that. Anyway, I survived!
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Well I think I always learn something when I read you @agmoore, I didn't know that wasps could recognize human faces, I always try to stay away from them for the same reason, it was a my childhood that I remember I was stung by one in the middle of two fingers ( and the whole hand swollen haha), the little angels are my favorite to appreciate, hehehe, beautiful collage and spectacular movement, just as they move :D
They were after me again today! I must be so sweet, they can't stay away😆 I was careful though and escaped.
I think we all have a bee story. I guess we should be glad we are not among those who have a catastrophic reaction.
Thanks so much for your kind comment about my collages. I intend to do one at least every week, freestyle, for fun. Also, to stay in practice.
Looking forward to seeing all those you will offer this summer. Hope you are having a good summer.
Oh super, haha, if I told you, in my house they have even made nests of beehives, we have to scare them away, because or else it would be a real danger, I also have that in mind, but I'm done with all the images of the contest, do you suggest any ideas?
What I'm doing is looking at pictures I submitted, or will submit to LIL. I found these interesting to begin with, obviously, so there must be something there that captured my imagination. Look over your own LIL contributions. I'm certain you will see in many of those a spark that will give you ideas. That's were my last collage came from. I am getting a LIL blog ready and used the idea of the bees and flowers from a picture I am contributing to LIL.
Good luck! Here to 'talk' if you need encouragement.
Those are evil-looking little dudes. Good thing your daughter saw the rascal and with a bit of protection, you didn't get the whole enchilada from the wasp. I've gotten chased by bees a number of times because I couldn't help myself after spotting their hives on trees. Not a pleasant experience and it lasts a while. At least the experience provided some inspiration for creative work.