Wow that's super interesting! What a novel mechanism.

If you're careful with the index fingers of opposite hands, you can remove the stinger from your skin without killing the bee.

I don't think I've ever been stung in such a convenient position as to allow that.

as opposed to index fingers of the same hand..

Not the same hand, he's talking about two hands on the same side

There’s only one frood who could pull off that extraction.

but I need my second left hand to film for Insta! :-P

Not really. The bee that stings you will flap her wings very vigorously, and it will rip its stinger off in less than a second trying to get away from you. Unless you're deliberately trying to get stung and save her, you won't have a chance.

Depends on the colony. The bees that have stung me have always taken 5 or 10 seconds to start trying to dismantle themselves in earnest, which (depending on location) is usually enough time to rescue them. (I'm not sure whether they survive my rescue, but at the very least they can fly away, and their stingers don't remain in my skin.)

Nature’s design is often elegant. But also (sometimes) cruel.

Yeah, I was hoping the article would mention this, but no dice. :(