Bumble Bee (Bombus sp.)

English name and Scientific Name: Bumble Bee (Bombus sp.)

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta

Observation:  As I stared at the purple color and got closer to it, I realized that this was a bumble bee on the plant.  I thought to myself if I get closer to it is it going to sting me but surprisingly it stood still long enough for me to take at least 3 pictures of it.  I have found with flying insects they don't stay still for too long.  I think that as children we were told to stay away from them that we've developed this fear to get away from it because of the potential sting factor.  I thought the the bee sitting on top of the flower was actually a nice picturesque view of nature.

Questions:
1. why do they sting?
2. how exactly do they sting?
3. Are bumble bees afraid of honey bees?

William M. Schaffer, David W. Zeh, Stephen L. Buchmann, Suzanne Kleinhans, M. Valentine Schaffer and Jeb Antrim. 

Competition for Nectar between Introduced Honey Bees and Native North American Bees and Ants, Ecology, Vol. 64, No. 3 (Jun., 1983), pp. 564-577.  Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1939976.

Are bumble bees afraid of honey bees?

Honey bees have been observed to drive off other species of bees as well as hummingbirds.

Websites:

http://www.bumblebee.org/

http://www.pestproducts.com/bumble-bees.htm

http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/bbumbleb.html