...I’d imagine dogs can handle stings better than we can with their fur, would that be right?
You'd think that but it's not that simple.
Angus the Airedale, our last but sadly late dog, when we first adopted him had a thing about bees, especially bumble bees.
If he heard one, he'd chase it round the garden and try and catch it and eat it.
We kept telling him it was a bad idea and tried to discourage him from doing it, but he was a Airedale, and anyone who has owned an Airedale will understand exactly what I mean.
The word
wilful springs to mind.
However, as you might know, I also keep honey bees.
Well, Angus in his infinite wisdom decided he'd have a go at one of them one lazy day.
He only did it the once.
Unlike Bumbles, Honey bees, or more specifically the hive guard ones, gang up when there is a threat and also release a pheromone when they sting which other guard bees can then home in on and sting again until the threat goes far away from the hives.
And since one of the main predators of honey bee hives over the years have been bears, honey bees have evolved to attack any threat on what they see as the face, especially around the eyes and nose, and also on the sphincter which on many animals such as dogs is often exposed....
After that incident, unsurprisingly, Angus always kept a wary distance from them, but for years after, if he thought a bee was on his coat, he would go into a state of some agitation and near panic with his tail firmly clamped down between his legs...
