What Happens To Bees After They Sting A Person Or An Animal?

What Happens To Bees After They Sting A Person Or An Animal?

It is well known that a bee can die as a result of stinging a person or animal. However, the truth of the matter is not as clear cut as some think. There are many different species of bees, and many of these species possess stingers that are designed differently than others. The manner in which a bee’s stinger is designed can be a factor in whether or not a bee will live or go on stinging other things.

For example, the stinger of a worker honeybee is barbed, and as a result the stinger will remain in human skin after the initial puncture. However, the worker honeybee does not lose its stinger when it stings certain animals, such as insects. If a worker honeybee punctures an insect, then the bee will simply pull its stinger out of the insect’s wound and go on stinging other animals. Despite this the worker honeybee should know better than to sting humans or animals with thick skin. This is because the worker honeybee’s stinger will break off in the skin of its victims, but the stinger is not the only part of the bee to break apart. Since the worker honeybee is not able to pull its barbed stinger from thick skin, the bee will lose its entire backside trying to escape the sight of the wound.

It should also be noted that only female bees are capable of stinging. In fact the stinger belonging to a female bee is also an egg-laying tool. Female worker bees are born knowing to instinctively sting every threat that it encounters in order to protect the queen. The stinger belonging to the queen is, unlike the stinger of the worker bee, not barbed. This means that queen bees are capable of stinging you repeatedly.

Have you ever been stung by the same bee more than once?