But let me put the incident into context:
I had been outside tending to some caterpillars and apparently she landed on my sweater. I didn't notice her, and I went back indoors while she hitched a ride. I felt a little chilly, so I folded my arms- and felt a sharp pain on the back of my hand! (Which, admittedly, is a very sensitive place.) The bee, being stuck between the crook of my sleeved arm and bare hand, must have felt trapped/threatened, because from what I've heard, that's the only time the natives will sting. My knee-jerk reaction was to fling the offender off myself, and that's when I saw it was one of these beautiful coppery-green bees.
She landed on my floor. I know native bees are very unlikely to sting, so I decided to give her a 2nd opportunity... sort of like a test. I do all this talking about how- under normal circumstances- native bees don't sting, so I better have some experience to back myself up, right? I held out my finger to let her climb on so I could place her back outside where she belongs. She was hesitant at first, but she climbed on, and made no indication that she felt threatened and did NOT try to sting me again. That's the thing with these bees... you *can* handle them (to a point) and they're gentle and docile 99% of the time.
The 'welt' she left on my hand is tiny and almost unnoticeable- I was going to take a picture and post it here, but honestly it is more of a small red mark than a welt, not even half the size of a mosquito bite, and is hardly worth the effort of "showing it off." I'm also quite certain had she stung me in a more fleshy area, it wouldn't have hurt very much at all. But a sting is a sting, and never a pleasant experience. After placing her back outside, I put a little ice on the back of my hand and in less than 5 minutes the pain was gone.
And now that I'm done writing this quick post, the mark is completely gone and I can't tell where she stung me to begin with. Considering that over the past few years I've done a TON of gardening outside while being surrounded by all kinds of bees and wasps, and gotten up close and personal with them to photograph them, and let many of them climb onto my hands and fingers, and this accident has been the only time I've been stung- I'd say the odds of an average gardener or bee enthusiast getting stung are pretty darn slim ;)
