Yesterday Ellen and I took a field trip to the home of beekeeper Mary Duane. We were collecting images for the bee book and I stumbled into what seemed to be great luck…
We were hoping to capture “the perfect sting” image: a honey bee with stinger inserted in human skin and sting gland and entrails readily visible. You will recall we attempted this image once before, using my forearm for the “human skin” bit. But that bee, in her death throes*, fell out of the frame. Our shot is good, but not perfect.
Yesterday we tried again. And this time … here is where the great luck comes in … Ellen offered to take the hit. (Is she not the best ever?) Ellen is sensitive to hornet stings and has not yet been stung by a honey bee, but she was determined to just get the whole sting thing over with. “I’ve got my Epi-pen,” she said. “Let’s do it.”**
And we did. Mary caught us a bee with her tweezers. Ellen rolled up her sleeve. I held Ellen’s camera at the ready. Bee abdomen was pressed to human arm. Bee stung. Human winced. Writer (emphasis here on writer) snapped photos.
The good news is that Ellen hardly reacted to the sting at all. And, technically, I got the shot. It’s just that the shot is, well, not anywhere at all near in focus. Sigh.
Guess who got to be “human skin” the second time?
* After stinging, when the bee attempts to flee the scene, her sting gland and guts are ripped from her body. She dies from these wounds, which is why honey bees can only sting once.
** Please note we are not crazy. Every bee expert we have spoken to has assured us that it is highly unlikely for a person who is sensitive to wasp and/or hornet venom to also be sensitive to honey bee venom.
*** Okay. Maybe we are crazy.