[big_load]

I've been fascinated for years by the diversity of wild bees in AZ. Here in NJ we don't have nearly as many species. On my last trip, I saw one with an intense orange band on its abdomen (perhaps Bombus rufocinctus, which I think is featured in the HAZ "bumblebee" photo), but it wouldn't hold still for a picture. There aren't many bees documented yet, but I hope to push up the numbers as the opportunity arises. First I need to figure out how to reliably get a decent picture.

[Dave1]

First I need to figure out how to reliably get a decent picture.

"Raid" seems to slow them down.

[Alston Neal]

What is the bee we have here with the fuzzy red/orange body?

[big_load]

"Raid" seems to slow them down.

It probably doesn't result in a very natural pose, though.

What is the bee we have here with the fuzzy red/orange body?

This is the one I was talking about: http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=19827

[paulhubbard]

Maybe Bombus huntii? http://www.bumblebee.org/NorthAmerica.htm

[Alston Neal]

Aha! That's the one. Although I remember it being brighter. Maybe it was how the light hit it or seasonal color/pollen.

[azbackpackr]

I used to keep bees when I lived in Hawaii. It was truly a fun hobby. I would love to do it again, but there is nothing much for them to eat up here. I would have to feed them about 9 months of the year. I used to get stung quite a bit, but it didn't bother me.

You thought I was tough before?

[big_load]

One of my NJ hiking buddies (a former NPS ranger) started keeping bees a few years ago. He lost all of the first batch, but his luck improved after that. I don't know if I could do much messing with the hives, especially robbing the bees.

[azbackpackr]

Well, if your hives are healthy it doesn't bother the bees too much when you harvest. When I thought about getting back into it, I would want to also have the centrifugal extractor (with, of course, a proper little building for it to be in.) I really don't need all that much honey anyway. I just like the bees.

[Mattrgrs12]

Me and my buddy both got stung by a bee the other day. I got hit on the left arm and he got hit on his forehead. I didnt see the hive and i just about stepped on it. surprised the whole hive didnt come after us

[paulhubbard]

surprised the whole hive didnt come after us

I would say LUCKY the whole hive didn't come after you! They must not have been Africanized, I had a hive of them at my house and they were extremely agressive... I noticed them when three or four wouldn't leave me alone, then I saw 4+ more joining the party, at which point I ran inside. It took the exterminator 3 hours to get rid of the hive, and he said they were the most aggressive he's seen all summer. Scary!

[chumley]

When I was about 12 or so, I was at summer camp in the Adirondacks in New York state. About 15 of us were hiking to a campspot along the Hudson River (far enough north where it looks a lot like the Black River in the White Mtns). Anyway, I was 3rd in line. First hiker steps on an old half-rotten log crossing the trail. Apparently there was a hive in that log. The first two hikers escaped. I never saw a single bee, but the kids behind me told me it looked like a black tornado cloud coming out of that log. I ditched my pack and ran more than half a mile to the river and jumped in. They were hornets. I got stung "only" 14 times, but I looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger. (This was back when Arnold was eating steroids for breakfast). That was some serious pain, and it lasted for days.

I counted myself fortunate however because one of the others that got stung was allergic to bees, and there was a stressful rescue attempt that involved four adults carrying the kid on a stretcher for several miles to a waiting ambulance.

[chumley]

That was a bad experience but doesn't come close to the trauma I endured when I was probably only 4 or 5. Stepped on a yellow-jacket in the lawn, and it flew up my shorts and stung my inner thigh. I ran inside crying and my mom proceeded to take my pants off in front of 6 or 7 girlfriends she was having some kind of coffee social with. All those ladies saw me in my spiderman underoos!

The sting hurt, the vinegar helped, but the mental scar lasts forever!

[Dave1]

Camelback Mountain climbers escape bee attack

by Ofelia Madrid - Nov. 20, 2010 09:43 PM
The Arizona Republic

Bees attacked two out-of-state rock climbers Saturday afternoon as they tried to climb the north face of Camelback Mountain, authorities said.

Phoenix fire avoided a potentially dangerous and long air rescue had a separate climber not helped the two being attacked, said Capt. Scott McDonald, a fire spokesman.

The experienced climbers were climbing a mountain designated route in Echo Canyon around 3 p.m. when they reached the third pitch of a four-pitch climb, McDonald said.

This is area is known by local climbers to have bees, including the spot where the climbers were attacked.

"They kept their wits about them and set up a rope to rappel down the mountain," McDonald said.

They got down about 100 feet, but were still at least 50 to 100 feet above the ground when they ran out of rope, he said. "This whole time, they were being stung by bees."

Another climber helped the climbers set up another rope and make it to the base, where Phoenix fire was waiting.

"It would have been hours for us to get to that spot, if it weren't for the citizen stepping up and helping," McDonald said. Although the climbers were stung multiple times, no one was transported to the hospital.

Phoenix fire hasn't responded to a bee attack in a while, McDonald said.

Traditionally, reports of bee attacks happen in the spring time, he said.


Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoe ... z15tUkdNDS

[MtnBart01]

First I need to figure out how to reliably get a decent picture.

Follow me around for awhile. I found out I was severely allergic to Hornets in Oregon after putting in a fence and being stung. The next year I was stung by the same variety on a hike. This summer after visiting v162 (the ruins you just visited with Randall) I headed to the other side of the Sierra Anchas to the Nordhoff-Hope site and got stung at least 30 times (see Sierra Ancha Bee's ) Evidently, after posting I found out from Hank that Randall was stung at those ruins as well. Less than a month later I was getting into my aircraft and a baggage slinger swatted a wasp with a life jacket and I got stung on the hand.
Do Keet Seel in August when the bee flowers are lining the hike and you can hear the buzzing from a hundred yards away they are so thick. They didn't bother us at all and that was before I realized that I was only allergic to hornets.

@Dave1
Didn't a climber die in that spot a few years ago after being attacked while climbing? (Hart Route?)

[te-wa]

The experienced climbers

see next line

ran out of rope

haha!

This is area is known by local climbers to have bees, including the spot where the climbers were attacked

here's your sign..
these stories are too funny, keep 'em coming Lucky

[juliachaos]

This is area is known by local climbers to have bees, including the spot where the climbers were attacked.

Yep, PRG has a notice on their bulletin board about those bees. And yes, at least one climber has died due to those bees.