I had the opportunity to pet this friendly bumble bee the other day. Another collector had told me that you could do it without getting stung, so adhering to the adage of " if your friend jumps off a bridge and tells you it's fun" theory.... I tested it and the bee seemed quite calm through out the entire 1 minute of petting. The wife got irritated and angry because I touched the bee long before the bee ever did which proved my hypothesis that bees have more patience than wives. :-)