this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2026
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Science Memes

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top 21 comments
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[–] akwd169@sh.itjust.works 5 points 5 hours ago

WE NEED CAT SIZED BEES STAT

[–] Amro@piefed.social 5 points 10 hours ago

"Igor, bring me the CRISPR machine!!! Let's manipulate some fuzzy genes... Muhahaha!!!"

[–] el_abuelo@programming.dev 19 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

People dying from getting stabbed by their pet bees.

[–] addie@feddit.uk 9 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Bad for the bee as well...

[–] AnyOldName3@lemmy.world 5 points 10 hours ago (3 children)

Bumblebees can sting repeatedly, but generally avoid doing so. Dying after one sting is specific to honey bees.

[–] BambiDiego@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 hours ago

Not even Honeybees. They can sting many times, the problem is human skin is too "grabby" for their barbs so often while trying to wiggle free or being forcibly removed, the guts come out with it.

If you give them a chance and they didn't sting too deep they can often wiggle free to sting another day.

[–] prettybunnys@piefed.social 7 points 8 hours ago

They don’t always die after one sting.

They can remove their stinger, just … often times in that sting moment there’s a lot going on.

Once stung most animals aren’t patient enough to let the bee pull out for a second go.

[–] addie@feddit.uk 2 points 9 hours ago

Now I am wiser! Thanks AON.

[–] Gork@sopuli.xyz 36 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

I would not want a wasp the size of a kitten though.

[–] jim_v@lemmy.world 4 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Would you rather fight one kitten-sized wasp or 100 wasp-sized kittens?

[–] Gork@sopuli.xyz 3 points 4 hours ago

One kitten-sized wasp. I only have two arms and defending against a single thing is a lot easier than defending against 100 mini kitties hell bent on my destruction.

[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 20 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Australia could use them to help with the rat problem.

[–] Drusas@fedia.io 4 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Along with probably every city in the world.

[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 9 points 14 hours ago

Well yeah, but every other city would be horrified by plagues of rat-sized wasps killing and laying eggs in the wildlife.

For Australia thats not even notable.

[–] Drusas@fedia.io 6 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I've seen this before and love it, but I'm pretty sure that bumblebees do not form colonies like this.

[–] tae_glas@slrpnk.net 6 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

bumblebees do form colonies with worker bees & drones & brood & a single queen, much like honeybees, but they're much tinier than the ones you'd see honeybees in! sometimes they take over old bird boxes that've been abandoned, and they typically don't even use up all the space there.

they're smaller colonies population-wise, too. there'd be like tens to hundreds of bumblebees in their colonies, compared to tens of thousands of honeybees in their colonies.

idk how to add pictures to comments, but i recommend looking up pictures of them, they're cute! bumblebee cells are just spheres, since they don't have the numbers to require the intense efficiency of the classic honeybee hexagonal cells :D

[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 8 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

CW mild trypophobia

spoiler

[–] cosmictrickster@lemmy.world 2 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

Would you rather…groom a kitten-size bumble bee or be kitten-sized being groomed by bumble bees?

[–] prettybunnys@piefed.social 3 points 8 hours ago
[–] Smoogs@lemmy.world 1 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

how....how many bumblebees?

[–] cosmictrickster@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

Enough to be pleasant, not enough to be terrifying.