Why Do Bees Die After Stinging?
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Bee stings are painful due to the venomous toxin melittin injected by honeybees, causing redness, swelling, and even death to bees after stinging. Different types of bees, wasps, and hornets have varying stings due to their venom composition and use of ovipositors, affecting humans, elephants, and conservation efforts.
Insights
- Honeybees die after stinging due to their stinger's design with two barbed lancets that get stuck in the skin, tearing out muscles, nerves, and parts of their digestive system, leading to their demise.
- Africanized bees, a result of breeding between African and Brazilian bees, are ultra-aggressive and lethal, with swarms reaching up to 800,000 bees, posing a significant threat due to their behavior and sheer numbers.
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Recent questions
Why do bee stings hurt so much?
Due to the venomous toxin melittin injected by honeybees, causing redness and swelling at the site of the attack.
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Summary
00:00
Bee stings: venom, barbs, and pheromones.
- Bee stings are painful due to the venomous toxin melittin injected by honeybees, causing redness and swelling at the site of the attack.
- Honeybees die after stinging due to their stinger's design with two barbed lancets that get stuck in the skin, tearing out muscles, nerves, and parts of their digestive system.
- Honeybees can remove their stingers when stinging insects due to the amount of fiber in the animal's skin causing the stinger to lodge.
- Stingless bees, like the Meliponini found in subtropical regions, cannot sting but defend themselves by biting and clinging to enemies.
- Stingless bee hives can consist of 3,000 to 80,000 workers, with some species producing enough honey to be farmed by humans.
- Bees decide to sting based on pheromones, with alarm pheromones released after a sting alerting other bees to threats and instructing them to attack intruders.
- Africanized bees, a result of breeding between African and Brazilian bees, are ultra-aggressive and lethal, with swarms reaching up to 800,000 bees.
- Wasp stings, unlike bees, are not barbed and can be used repeatedly, with a different set of toxins that rank slightly more alkaline on the PH scale compared to bee stings.
- People allergic to bee stings may not be allergic to wasp stings, and vice versa, due to differences in toxins.
- Hornets, a type of wasp, are larger and more painful when they sting due to their venom containing a high amount of acetylcholine, causing intense pain.
13:39
Elephants fear bees, used for conservation.
- The stingers of insects like bees, wasps, hornets, and ants are actually ovipositors, which are modified for different purposes. Queen bees have smaller, un-barbed ovipositors for laying eggs, while worker bees can use theirs for reproduction.
- Elephants are afraid of bees due to their ability to attack sensitive areas like the trunk, mouth, and eyes. Conservationists use this fear to protect elephants by bordering farms with beehives, deterring poachers and farmers in 80% of cases.
- Apitherapy, or bee venom therapy, involves medical treatments through bee stings, with up to 40 stings in a session. The therapy aims to trigger an anti-inflammatory response in the body, potentially benefiting conditions like MS, although a clinical trial showed no significant difference in outcomes.
- Despite elephants' fear of bees, they can differentiate between active and empty beehives, showcasing their intelligence. This fear is utilized by conservationists to protect elephants, with farmers using real beehives to deter them from their land.
