I swear they smell my fear

Well, I'm pretty much back into bee phobia mode. I grew up terrified of bees and for half my field work career, I ran the other way when I encountered a bee or went out of my way to avoid them. I would say I outgrew the phobia about 2 summers ago. I was confident around the bees and I didn't go out of my way to avoid them. But that damn sting last week knocked me down a few pegs.

I was out bright and early this morning to check nest boxes and band chicks. I had just pulled 3 chicks out of a nest box when a BUMBLE BEE landed on the box.



I inwardly cursed, but hoped by the time I finished banding the chicks, the bee would have moved on. No such luck. I stood there for a few minutes and watched the bee move up and down the box. That bee wasn't going anywhere. So I called Bug Lady and asked her what I should do. She suggested I grab something with a handle and flip the lid off the box in attempts to scare the bee off. I asked her if the bee would come after me and sting me if I swatted at him. She didn't think it would sting me, but she knew I was a bit gun shy after my sting.

I shoved the lid off the box and while the bee did fly off the box, it returned to the box and flew towards the top.



Crap. What if it went INSIDE the box? To make a long story short, after consulting Bug Lady yet again, I obtained a towel to throw over the bee but managed to get Stream Girl to swat at the bee with the towel. That damn bee would NOT move! So I ended up placing the chicks inside the box and drilling the lid back on standing back as far as possible. That bee was a stubborn cuss. It sat there the entire time, even with the noise and vibration of the drill, it would not move.

I'm convinced these bees can smell my fear.