To keep or kill a bee

[NecessaryCatharsis]

We had a bee come into the office today, which caused me to jump up and race for the flyswatter. I'm very allergic, the office is only 1/2 hour from a hospital so getting stung wouldn't be fatal but would still cost me a couple days of work, some pain and stress so, flyswatter. My coworker immediately started yelling at me not to swat the bee, not to kill the bee, love the bees!!!!
We made a deal, I would go outside and promise not to kill it, she would deal with it, name it, pet it and figure out how to get it outside. Three minutes later she comes running out, "It got me! It stung me!"

We return inside, and sure enough, the bee was in the ground, wriggling around dying. And my coworkers thumb is swollen and she couldn't type for the rest of the afternoon. I would have killed it quicker and less painfully.

[MoonCat]

I wonder if it was a bee, though, or a hornet? Hornets, aka yellow jackets, are more aggressive than your average honeybee. Either way, if you're allergic you definitely shouldn't be anywhere near it. She should have been able to catch in a paper cup or something, not with her bare hands.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I say, kill it. I'm also allergic to bees, and also phobic. If one flies into the petrol station, I run out back screaming, "KILL IT! KILL IT!" and let someone else deal with it, whether they want to catch it and set it free, or squish it.

[notalwaysright]

I usually try to shoo bees outside through a window or door. It's worked well, and I've never been stung while doing this. If someone wants to kill it, that's fine, as long as they do it fast. I don't want to be in a room with a pissed off bee.

[LillFilly]

If it was dying after stinging it was a honeybee, as their stingers are barbed and usually remain stuck in thick mammal skin after stinging, pulling out the venom sack and intestines in the process.

Bumbles, wasps and yellow jackets have smoother stingers and can sting again and again and again.

Bumbles also hold a grudge; they sting you and scent you with a chemical marker so they can track you...for hours. (Jerk wouldn't let me out of the house!)

She probably really had to piss it off bad for it to sting her.

[MoonCat]

The thing is, honeybees are still in trouble. They have been dying off due to a couple of nasty diseases. I was told by a beekeeper that it's not quite as bad as the media sometimes makes it out to be, but it is definitely still a problem. Honeybees pollinate plants; they're needed in the ecosystem.

That said, if anyone is allergic to a bee, don't take chances. Get away from it and let someone else deal with it.

[bainsidhe]

I'm going to shriek like a little girl at any creepy crawly, and will take to ducking and diving from any flying, stinging insect. There are now some folks in our office that would consider it a challenge to squash any bee with impunity. And that's fine with me.

[Kit-Ginevra]

A bee or not a bee-that is the question? Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the stings and yowls of outrageous hornets,or to take arms against a sea of buzzers,and by a-swotting,end them.
To die,to sleep,no more....

[RealUnimportant]

I do hope the bee was properly licensed...

(Where are BeeMused and An Haddock when you need them?)

[Nunavut Pants]

Half a bee, philosophically
Must ipso-facto half not-bee
But can a bee be said to be
Or not to be an entire bee
When half the bee is not a bee
Due to some ancient injury?

[NecessaryCatharsis]

I guess she wasn't shoo-ing it, she was trying to capture it in her hands that she had placed paper towel in. She thought the paper towel would prevent the bee from getting scared. Seems like an awkward idea to me, except I've done that with pieces of paper from spiders that are known to bite when taking them outside, so who am I to judge.

Love the bee poetry much more than actual bees

[Nunavut Pants]

It wasn't exactly a poem...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVhXkQu5_Ig

[dendawg]

I would only keep a bee if it's name was Boo.

[dalesys]

I would only keep a bee if it's name was Boo.

You just like the swellings.

[Librarybabe]

Lilyfilly is quite correct. A single worker honeybee's death will not affect the colony in any way. I'd also err on the side of caution and swat it in your circumstances.