creative project paper

The bee is a fascinating creature that has sparked my interest since I was a little kid. Like I discussed in my story, bees played a big role in my childhood. The two primary types of bees that I remember from my childhood are the bumblebee and the honeybee. With all the plants and flowers in my yard, these two types of bees were sprinkled throughout my yard feeding and pollinating. To provide background for my story, I am going to discuss the bumblebee and honeybee, as well as Africanized bees and what it means to have an allergic reaction to a bee sting.

The first thing I am going to talk about is the traditional bumblebee. When I think of bees, the bumblebee is what pops into my head. These bees were all over my backyard in the springtime and during summer. Like we discussed in class, the bumblebee is a eusocial organism that lives in colonies that consist of multiple castes to divide the tasks of the colony. They are very important pollinators for agriculture. Bumblebee species vary according to how they store pollen and feed developing larvae. Pollen storers accumulate pollen for later use, often re-using vacated cocoons for this. The queen and workers feed each larva individually, opening their brood cells to regurgitate a mixture of pollen and nectar for them (Colla, Richardson, Williams. 2011). The common eastern bumblebee is referred to as Bombus impatiens (L). These are the type of bees that I would capture and store in plastic bottles when I was a kid. They are not as aggressive as honeybees and will only sting you if they are disturbed. Since I was capturing bees while they were feeding on nectar from plants, this would be considered disturbing because I would get stung even if I had my gloves on. Nectar is the prima...

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...rican bees that my brother said were killer will not kill you with one sting, they just send more bees to attack you and that is how they got their nickname. The final thing I learned and the most important, is that I did not have an allergic reaction to the bee sting. It was just a moderate reaction compared to the mild reactions that I had previously experienced.

Works Cited

- Colla, Shelia. Richardson, Leif. Williams, Paul. 2011. Bumble Bees of the Eastern United States. Pollinator Partnership. 103

- Horn, Tammy. 2008. Honey Bees: A History. New York Times Blog

- Voeller, Dylan. Nieh, James. 2005. Analysis of Honeybee Aggression.

- Crane, E., 1990. Bees and beekeeping: science, practice, and world resources. Ithaca, New York, Cornell University Press, 109-111.

- "Allergic Reactions to Insect Stings, Bee Stings." WebMD. WebMD, 03 Jan. 2000. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.