User talk:Brer10

Carpenter Bees - I no longer believe the males are stingless
Okay, I have researched this subject as much as I can on the internet and on Wiki. EVERY article says the males do not have stingers. I disagree.

We regularly have these bees bumbling around our patio. Big, black, behaving like male carpenter bees supposedly do...coming right up to head and face, hovering a while and hanging around. Never more than one at a time.

Yesterday, despite my best efforts to prevent it, my German Shepherd snapped at one and left it in two pieces...head and wings, abdomen section. It was at least an hour before I found them. Admiring the copper colored wings, and curious (a serious failing I continually regret), I pick up the abdomen. Despite its long separation from the "mother ship", it stung me. What? They aren't supposed to have stingers. Still curious, but now in some serious bee sting pain, I handled it some more, but carefully. The stinger is inside the abdomen. It extrudes when needed and retracts completely. I waited a day and did a little dissection (yup, still curious). Indeed there is a stinger hidden deep within that big ol' bee's hiney!.

I have the photos to prove it but cannot figure out how to upload them. Brer10 (talk) 21:26, 10 June 2015 (UTC)