Well stop running over all their damn clover!

:c Our clover is like.. Months gone. Over half our backyard is dirt because of our dogs xD But it was scary as hell to suddenly be swarmed by them. I panicked and bolted. I know water gets them away, but me freaking out made me forget that, soooooo. Pain. Lots of pain :c

They might be yellow jackets. They like to make their homes in the ground, so when you roll over top of them their house collapses.

They understandably get upset about that.


You can avoid them stinging by:
A: Finding out what type of bee it is. Most people think honey bees are the only ones worth keeping alive, but many types of bees help in pollination. So just because it's not a honey bee don't mean you should go out and destroy them ASAP.
1: chances are if they where stinging you more than once, they are not honey bees. Honey bees have the misfortune of dyeing after stinging, and you would see the stinger left in you if it was.
B: Find out were it is exactly they live. You may need to sit out in the yard and watch for it for a little while, but generally you pick one bee and fallow it. It'll take you to it's house.
1: Also, once you find it and they are in fact yellow jackets, try not to tromps all over the entrance to their house. Nothing will anger them more than spending hours trying to un-dig their burred sisters.
C: Bees are not aggressive unless you are messing with them. Wasp? Yes. They're little shits that will go out of their own way to fuck your day up, but bees are workers. They have better things to do than go around being aggressive and stinging you. When you 'freak out' they take that as an act of aggression. As hard as it may be to do, try not to 'freak out' when a bee comes near you. They have all sorts of reason they may want to check you out (Do you use a very perfumy body spray? Or a floral soap? Are you wearing bright colors? Are you eating something with sugar in it?) and I can assure you, stinging you is just not on top of that list.

Once you've found your bees, you can make a note to avoid that area with the mower. They'll get to live and you wont get stung any more.

Found the nest, and it's definitively underground. As to what they are, father and I think they might be yellow jackets. They did indeed die after they stung me, as I saw their corpses. As for not freaking out- it's hard as hell for me not to. My mother is lethally allergic to bee venom, and my family doesn't know if I am allergic to venom to some degree or not. I've been stung before, but the baking soda paste was put on almost immediately. Yes, I could still breathe, but I just don't know if I have any reactions to it :x I was shaking violently and barely able to walk before the paste, but I'm seemingly fine right now- for the most part. Little nauseous and light-headed, but that's as far as the symptoms go. Well, I'm a little more paranoid and jumpy than normal, but that doesn't count, does it? :P

I think the oddest part about it is that we've been through that area multiple times, and even let our dogs back there with no problems. Not even a single bee. Suddenly there's a hive there, and I get the lucky (or unlucky?) deck of cards and face the brunt of the attack. I'm waiting on him to see what we'll do about this, because having a hive there and trying to mow the grass on the other side of the fence might stir them in to attack mode again, and we don't need that. Our neighbors have young ones that could get stung :x

Ok, so it's a ground bee. There are a few types of bees that have been known to make the ground their homes. It would be helpful if you could gather a body and photograph it for me, I can help identify it for you.
In lieu of that, where they a dull yellow and covered in hair? Honey bees are 'fuzzy' looking, as if they where covered in a very fine fur. The color is also a muted yellow, not a bright caution sign yellow. Some honey bees have very little yellow on them at all, but all of them a furry looking.
Was it bright bright yellow with no hair? They can be any arrangement of bee if that's the case. Photos would help greatly.

It's unlikely a yellow jacket. Those don't die after stinging. In fact few bees do die after stinging. Those bodies you saw may have likely been from the mower and your subsequent hasty retreat. If you can pick up one of the bodies and examine it. If you squeeze the abdomen (be careful, a dead bee can still sting you.) and see a stinger pop out, they did not die from stinging you.
The reason honey bees die after stinging is because the stinger itself gets ripped out of them. They have a barbed stinger, so once it's in they can't pull it back without pulling their own intestines out.
Yellow jackets and wasps don't die after stinging because they have a smooth stinger. It can go in and out without catching on anything, and there is no limit to the amount of stings they can deliver, which is what makes them more dangerous. Not evil, just more 'I should respect this animal and give it it's space, like a bear or a wolf' kinda dangerous.


I'll be quite frank with you, baking soda is great on bee stings, but if you're allergic to a bee sting you'll show it. All the baking soda, mud, and lavender in the world wont help you. If it worked that well, there would not be a need for the heavy duty Epinephrine shots that some people need after even the smallest sting. Chances are if you've shown no bad reaction by now, baking soda or no, you don't have a bee allergy.

The shaking paranoia is not a symptom of bee stings anyways. Now blowing up like a balloon is one. In fact likely the only one. If you're having a reaction that is not turning you red and puffy, it's not a bee string reaction.
What you experienced is a phobia. You're deathly afraid of bees, not allergic to them.

No, they are not beautiful and majestic like a deer, or a wolf, or a fox, but they are very important to our ecosystem. You're only punishing yourself and everyone else who relies on bees for pollination by killing them.

We haven't killed them- yet. I honestly don't know what's going to happen when it comes to taking care of the hive. I just know I'm not going near that area again xD As for pictures- I cant take any. They were either killed and dropped in to a toilet, or the garbage can. As for the corpses, they must not have been yellow jackets then. I know that the two that stung me died. If they had fuzz on them, I didn't see. Hasty retreat from sharp, pointy things and lots of pain was my priority. So was the baking soda, and a shower to get rid of the attack pheromones. But yeah- you're right. No reaction by this time means no allergy (thank gods). Lucky end of the deadly stick there, since- like I said before- my mother is lethally allergic to the venom. I think its a relatively new hive, as there wasn't really that many bees there to begin with- maybe 40, I think. I know two stung me, and two were stuck to my clothing, and that my father saw a bunch out there. But from what I could see- it wasn't really a whole swarm of them. Not really sure how many, but it was enough to out to keep me from wanting to go in to the backyard for the rest of the day.

At least I now know what my greatest fear is- bees! xD

Stand corrected on not being able to take pictures... Just found more in the bathroom :c http://www.furaffinity.net/full/8303733/