Listeners keep us straight on bees, yellowjackets
You never know what's going to garner response from listeners. The one thing I have learned in this business is that people often respond to stories you least expect to get any reaction.
An example of this occurred Monday. Our Morning Edition host, Scott Graf, read a sad story about the founder of the Charlotte Business Journal dying from a bee sting. In subsequent references, the "bee" was referred to as a yellowjacket. In fact, a yellowjacket was responsible for the sting.
However, yellowjackets and bees are not interchangeable. They have some similar markings, but they act differently – and yellowjackets don't have near the pollinating powers of bees.
One listener, a beekeeper, sent us the following:
In the report, it was stated that a yellow jacket caused the sting. Yellow jackets are not bees. Yellow jackets are aggressive and will sting without provocation. The local honey bee is not aggressive and will only sting to defend itself or its hive. Further, the yellow jacket venom is far stronger than that of the honey bee.
And here's a comment from another listener:
In your story about the death of a local man from a yellow jacket sting, the newscaster does a real disservice by referring to a yellowjacket (wasp)as a bee. Given the current and ongoing crisis in the diminishing population of honeybees, and the generalized fear of bee stings and mistaken notion of the (overstated) proportion of alleged allergies to bee stings and related deaths, such laxity in reporting is irresponsible.
Well, the responsible thing to do was correct our mistake, which we did in several subsequent newscasts. Thanks to the listeners who pointed out our mistake.
An example of this occurred Monday. Our Morning Edition host, Scott Graf, read a sad story about the founder of the Charlotte Business Journal dying from a bee sting. In subsequent references, the "bee" was referred to as a yellowjacket. In fact, a yellowjacket was responsible for the sting.
However, yellowjackets and bees are not interchangeable. They have some similar markings, but they act differently – and yellowjackets don't have near the pollinating powers of bees.
One listener, a beekeeper, sent us the following:
In the report, it was stated that a yellow jacket caused the sting. Yellow jackets are not bees. Yellow jackets are aggressive and will sting without provocation. The local honey bee is not aggressive and will only sting to defend itself or its hive. Further, the yellow jacket venom is far stronger than that of the honey bee.
And here's a comment from another listener:
In your story about the death of a local man from a yellow jacket sting, the newscaster does a real disservice by referring to a yellowjacket (wasp)as a bee. Given the current and ongoing crisis in the diminishing population of honeybees, and the generalized fear of bee stings and mistaken notion of the (overstated) proportion of alleged allergies to bee stings and related deaths, such laxity in reporting is irresponsible.
Well, the responsible thing to do was correct our mistake, which we did in several subsequent newscasts. Thanks to the listeners who pointed out our mistake.
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