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| Garden Chair |
On Friday afternoon, my daughter and I visited the Descanso Botanical Garden. We had a lovely time and on the way home, we picked up some Thai food for lunch. But, I will write about that in another post;
On Friday evening, M was here to tend to the garden. I went out to the garden to chat with him and sat down on this chair that he had just vacated. And I felt a sharp pain on the left side of my behind and I wondered if a piece of the chair had broken off and pricked me. I shifted in the chair and felt another sharp pain, and I wondered if I had sat on a rose thorn. I wondered if M had pruned a rose and somehow, left a thorn on the chair and got up to see:
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| Do you see anything? |
I cried out to my daughter who was seated on another chair that something bit me and she came to see:
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| Do you see it now? Two tiny black legs? |
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| Bumblebee/Carpenter Bee? |
M thought it was a bumblebee, but, it was black and we think it is a carpenter bee.
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| Carpenter Bee |
Fortunately, I am not allergic to bee stings (I've been stung by a bee once before, when I was a young girl and while my finger swelled where it was stung, nothing else happened). Also, bumblebees and carpenter bees do not have barbed stings so, there was no sting embedded in me Although the sting was painful, some antibacterial ointment and an icepack helped. M says he gets stung at least once a month! Poor M!
On Friday, I was grateful for:
- Not being allergic to bee stings!
- Daughter was with me to help apply the ointment and bring me an ice pack, etc.
- A lovely visit to the botanical garden
- Daughter treating me to lunch and an almond croissant
- A safe drive to the botanical gardens and back
I will definitely check the undersides of my garden chairs before I sit in them from now on!
Have you ever been stung by a bee or a bumblebee or a carpenter bee?
Ouch! Stings are never fun. And in the bottom. Not only do stings hurt, after the initial pain, they itch. Hope you heal quickly. I'm surprised that you have only been stung once before since you love to garden.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I have never seen a black bumblebee before.
Thank you, June. The pain went away after I took two Tylenols and everything is fine, now. I am surprised, too, that I have not been stung since that first sting when I was about 10 or 11 years old, until yesterday. I checked the chair today and the carpenter bee seems to have moved on!
DeleteOh Bless, I do hope you have recovered ok. We have the exact same chairs, I shall check the gaps in the seat now, before I sit down!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Angela; yes, I am fine now. Good idea to check the underside of the chairs before sitting down! I checked the chair, today, and the carpenter bee seems to have moved on, thank goodness!
DeleteOh, bee stings do hurt! It's good you are not allergic. I've been stung once or twice but fortunately I'm also not allergic. I didn't get the chance to comment on your last post, and how lovely the stumpery is! As someone else noted, it's quite mysterious!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Celie. According to my daughter, one has to be stung twice to find out if one is allergic to bee stings or not. I'm very thankful to find out that I am not allergic!
DeleteThe stumpery is coming along nicely, isn't it? I'm so pleased with it. :)
I hope the discomfort subsides soonest. That was not kind, hiding under a chair to ambush you! Yes, I was stung when I was in junior school. I was sitting on the playing field, leaned back and put my hand on a clover where a bee was busy. I had to go to the school nurse who pulled the sting out, and gave it to me wrapped in cotton wool. My hand swelled up a bit but soon went back to normal.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lady Ella; the pain went away, helped by two Tylenols that my daughter urged me to take. I'm glad you recovered from that first bee sting and I hope you haven't been stung since. And if you ever are, I hope you don't have any allergic reactions!
DeleteOh my, bless your heart! When I was a teenager, (I am 69 now), I got stung on my baby finger by an angry wasp! It hurt like crazy for a long time after!
ReplyDeleteI hope this doesn't happen again, dear friend. In my case, fortunately I had no reaction but even after the stinger was removed it was still painful for hours! Finally the pain subsided.
Thank you, Linda. Those stings are painful, aren't they? I hope you never get stung again! My garden is full of bees and wasps, but, I've not been stung until now! I hope I won't get stung again!
DeleteOuch! I'm sorry to hear that. Glad you aren't allergic
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sharon. Yes, I'm glad I wasn't allergic! That would have been scary!
DeleteOuch! That would have hurt. I really hope it's no longer sore for you.
ReplyDeleteI went my whole life without being stung. Then, what would you know - 3 times during the summer a couple of years back! X
It did hurt, but, the pain went away after a bit. Oh, no! Poor you! Getting stung 3 times in one summer! Ouch, ouch, and ouch! Hope you weren't allergic to the stings!
DeleteA sting in that area is an attack on your dignity! That bee is huge, and I'm glad that you're okay afterwards. I wonder if she was a queen looking for a place to nest.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, Lyssa, it was an attack on my dignity! LOL. If that was a carpenter bee, it has no business lurking under a plastic chair! They are supposed to nest in wood (as their names suggest).
DeleteWe have chairs just like that, but they usually stay inside the screened gazebo. I shall certainly be checking them for passengers before they go in there!
ReplyDeleteAt first, I wondered if it was a spider, because I've spiders everywhere in the garden. I didn't expect a bee to be hiding under a chair! Yes, better check your chairs before you put them in the gazebo. :)
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