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Bumble Bee 'Jasper'

Bumble Bee Jasper is actually a trade name for this Fibrous Calcite with yellow, orange, and black banding from Indonesia. The orange and yellow colors are mainly caused by finely dispersed arsenic sulfide. The black stain is caused by pyrite.

Note: Bumblebee "Jasper" is a misnomer, as this material contains no quartz at all.
 

Information obtain from mindat.com

Reference:

• Fritsch, E., Ivey, J. (2015) Mustard Jasper or Bumble bee stone. Proceedings of the 34th International Gemmological Conference, 2015, Vilnius: 149-150.

• Attard, J., Petrov, A. (2017) XRD analysis of material.

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Disclosure Statement

Bumble Bee Jasper contains Arsenic!! 

 

We see Bumble Bee Jasper online without a disclosure statement. Maybe they don't know or haven't researched?

 

Although most of what you see for sale is polished and safer than 'raw/rough' Bumble Bee Jasper specimens you should still wash your hands after handling. You should never, ever wear Bumble Bee Jasper against bare skin!  If you are buying cabochons to be used in jewelry, please make sure the area that will be touching bare skin is completely covered. 

 

Personally, we feel it's better to be careful than to be sorry later, especially since Bumble Bee Jasper is such a beautiful stone!

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