Bee Sting

[Overman]

I outside at lunch with a coworker the other day, and a bee came by.

I mentioned just stil still, and it probably won't bother you, and as I look over, she is holding her breath and panicing.

I started laughing, and asked what she was doing...

She said if you hold your breath that a bee won't be able to sting you because your pores close.

I said BS, but don't have superior knowledge of Skin, or Bees, to convince her...

Do you?

[Oualawouzou]

Bees and other insects that sting pierce the skin. They don't need a hole to put their needle in: they make one.

And what does breathing have to do with skin pores anyway?

[Lisa Simpson]

Maybe the idea is the pores close so the bees can't smell you anymore. Dunno. My niece was told by a teacher that bees are blind, but I'm pretty sure that's a myth too.

[Overman]

Bees and other insects that sting pierce the skin. They don't need a hole to put their needle in: they make one.

And what does breathing have to do with skin pores anyway?

Her other wacky theory was that holding your breath closes your pores!!!

:jaw-dropp

[Ivor the Engineer]

Maybe the idea is the pores close so the bees can't smell you anymore. Dunno. My niece was told by a teacher that bees are blind, but I'm pretty sure that's a myth too.

IIRC, bees can see into the UV spectrum.

They also do that waggle dance thing to tell all the other bees where food is.

ETA: Love the idea that holding your breath closes your pores :D

[fls]

Her other wacky theory was that holding your breath closes your pores!!!

:jaw-dropp

Maybe she has us mixed-up with worms.

Or insects.

Linda

[Magic 9-Ball]

Well, it's a proven fact that holding your breath helps you lose weight, so maybe it helps pores, too.

And just in case anybody doubts my facts, if you hold your breath, no food can get in your mouth. Bingo! You'll lose weight. I would imagine the longer you keep your mouth closed, the more weight you lose.

[Dan O.]

A bee that is foraging is usually quite docile. As long as you don't swat at them or accidently swallow them because they crawled into you soda straw after a sweet drink you will be OK. If you make yourself smell like a flower you should expect the bees to buzz around you looking for the nectar.

Bees are sensitive to being breathed on. The hot CO2 ladened breath is one of the triggers that says the hive is being attacked and the bees will swarm out to defend the hive. Bees don't have a lot of mental processing power so it's possible that you could trigger the defense response by trying to blow the bee away from your lunch.

If you hold your breath you will still have to exhale sometime (unless you expire first and then you still exhale). It's best to breath normally and direct your breath away from the bees.

[Michael Redman]

If you hold your breath you will still have to exhale sometime (unless you expire first and then you still exhale). Sure, but at that point you don't care if you're stung, so its win-win.

[shemp]

Bees are not blind. They wear little tiny contact lenses. Except the nerdier ones wear glasses.

[Slimething]

You missed an excellent opportunity to point out that it was a hornet, after all! :D (and that hornets are attracted to anoxic humans with closed pores but everyone knows THAT!)

[arthwollipot]

There once was a man from St Bees,
Who was stung on the arm by a wasp.
When asked "does it hurt?"
He replied "no it doesn't,
I'm so glad it wasn't a hornet!"

[Cuddles]

And just in case anybody doubts my facts, if you hold your breath, no food can get in your mouth. Bingo! You'll lose weight. I would imagine the longer you keep your mouth closed, the more weight you lose.

You can open your mouth while holding your breath.

[SezMe]

They also do that waggle dance thing to tell all the other bees where food is.
That is no longer the accepted (mostly) explanation for bee food foraging.

[Magic 9-Ball]

You can open your mouth while holding your breath.
True, but the problem with that would be the likelyhood of having the urge to take a breath, or in relation to the thread, having a bee fly into your mouth. Both are drawbacks to holding your breath.

I've been stung by a bee, before, but I doubt it was attracted to my breath when it flew up my pants leg before it stung me behind my knee.

[Corsair 115]

That is no longer the accepted (mostly) explanation for bee food foraging.Wait, you mean the bee dance doesn't indicate where pollen sources are to the other colony members? Then what's the latest theory on what it does represent?

[skeptigirl]

That is no longer the accepted (mostly) explanation for bee food foraging.I thought it was now controversial but I wasn't aware there was any consensus debunking it. Has something changed recently?