Bees have nearly 16,000 different species and they can be found on every continent except Antarctica.Even though bee colonies look very simple, they are rather complex with different bees doing different tasks. These bee colonies settle around a beehive, where the queen bee is the most important part of the colony.Bees are very useful as they help pollinate flowers. They have a specialty of living in colonies and stinging but not every bee stings and the majority of bees are solitary bees. Usually, their stings are not poisonous but still, it is very painful when a bee uses its stinger. If a large concentration of this venom is injected into human skin, a person who is allergic can die if precautions are not taken immediately.A bee releases pheromones which attract males and helps the colony become stable where a hive can be built around. Honey bees collect nectar and pollen from flowers which are used as a protein source for the entire colony. It is quite interesting that only female bees have stingers and these stingers have venom. Bee stings are usually self-treatable and bee stings are different from insect bites as not all insects have venom. Bees can also sting other insects, not just humans. If the bees have smooth stingers, they can sting repeatedly and some examples are bumble bee stings or queen stings.Bees usually don’t sting unless they feel as if they are in threat. It is not always necessary that a bee will die after using its stingers and it will depend on how deep the stinger goes inside the skin. It is quite painful if the stinger is stuck deep inside the skin, meaning the abdomen of the bee is separated from its body. One common misunderstanding which people might believe is the difference between honey bees and bumble bees. Although both belong to the same species, that is the Apidae family, they can be very different in various aspects. According to science, insects can be very different depending upon the way they look, their anatomy, or even the way their stinger is designed in the case of honey bees and bumble bees. Like other insects, bees also have different species among them. Bumble bees are fuzzy and round and look a little heavier than normal honey bees. Honey bees die after they sting, it’s almost certain for them to die after they sting. The same cannot be said for species with another type of stinger. Bees are also extremely important for the environment and help the ecosystem to flourish. A decrease in the number of bees and bee hives signals ecosystem damage and needs to be looked into to ensure that the vegetation around is not affected.If you enjoyed this article, why not also read about why do cats lick each other or why do birds sing here on Kidadl?Do all bees sting?It is primarily assumed that all bees do sting and we also think that all bees live in colonies. Bumble bees, mason bees, and carpenter bees are some examples of solitary bees. These bees don’t have a hive and usually live inside their self-made nest. Science says that evolution has meant that only female bees have stingers. Even though male bees don’t have stingers, they play a large role in a colony.Only female honeybees can sting, ranging from barbed stingers to smooth stringers. Barbed stingers cause more harm comparatively. A bee has an inbuilt defense mechanism that is majorly constituted of hormones that are released when the bee feels like it is in a threat, which makes it aggressive and ready to attack. The stinger is not attached directly to the digestive tract of a bee but when a bee is stuck deep inside human skin, the sting always detaches from the abdomen, making it impossible for a bee with the barbed stinger to survive. Solitary bees usually have smooth stingers which increases their chances of survival. Bees with such stingers are the queen bee and bumble bee because they can’t get stuck deep inside human skin. At times, it goes so deep that the venom is injected into muscles or a nerve which can cause a lot of pain, sometimes numbness.A bee sting by a honey bee species can be very painful, affecting the muscles and nerves. Nonetheless, average honey bee stings are safe and people generally do not die after they get stung. Bee stings are common as this is their only defensive mechanism. Some bees sting more as they are more aggressive, some might not sting that often. Some bees die after they sting, some don’t. The usual sting which humans receive in the park or while they are near a hive is by a honey bee. This species, honey bees, are the most common to sting humans and victims all across the world. Some bees don’t sting unless they are aggravated, like throwing hot water at their hive or playing with their hive. A honey bee can sting simply by being disturbed as they have a certain kind of nature. A honey bee also has a different kind of stinger.How long does it take a bee to die after stinging?As the abdomen is detached when you pull a bee from your skin, death is very painful and instant. At times, it can take up to several minutes compared to wasps. Wasps live longer than bees as their abdomen doesn’t detach when you pull it out of your skin.It’s a known fact that bees die after stinging and a bumble bee sting is defiantly going to kill the bee. Nonetheless, human death by a bee sting only happens in certain cases. It can be possible that all species of honeybees are not prone to dying after giving a sting. The only case in which bees die after stinging is when the skin of the victim where the sting went in very thick. There are several species of honeybees with two barbed stings. The wasp bite is small barbed.Bees die after they sting in a matter of few minutes due to their barbed stinger. Once a honey bee stings, they lose their abdomen into the skin of the victim due to their barbed stinger. Cases when a honeybee dies after it stings only happens when the skin is thick. Bees die a painful death in just some minutes.Can a bee survive stinging?When bees die, it’s strictly because of their stinger. While their stinger plays an important role in defending their hive or themselves, it might even kill them in some cases. A honey bee may not survive stinging a human or an insect because their stinger is barbed in two ways. However bumblebees might survive because their sting is not as barbed. Other insects who sting are wasps, however they do not die when they sting. Dying after stinging is strictly dependent on the stinger type.It basically depends on the type of stinger an insect has. Usually the ones with a barbed stinger have a higher chance of dying compared to the ones with smooth stingers, which are all females. A male honeybee has a greater chance of dying after stinging. Wasps don’t have two barbed lancets, meaning they survive after stinging, unlike the bumblebee sting. In all the cases where bees die after they sting, it is only because these species of insects have a barbed stinger, which makes it difficult for humans to pull a bee off their skin after they have stung. The abdomen of honeybees doesn’t get pulled and stays stuck in the skin of humans and that how bees die after they sting.Not all bees die after they sting. Some have a stinger that is smooth and doesn’t result in death once they perform a sting on humans. A honeybee can survive stinging a human only if its stinger is smooth. There is no other way known to science.Do bees know they die when they sting?Like humans, bumblebees also have a conscious that keeps them aware of their situation or surroundings such as an attack on the hive, where they protect their queen. This species of insect is highly intelligent and is not just a normal insect. Bees die when they sting as honey bees’ stingers stay stuck after stinging.Nonetheless, this species of insects don’t know that they will die after stinging. Only a honeybee dies after they sting a human and only honey bee stings result in death. The same can’t be said for bumble bees. Honey bees die when they sting but they don’t know that their stinging will result in death. As bees have a nervous system, they can feel pain so clearly when you pull a bee out of your skin and it detaches its abdomen. It is more painful for the bee compared to the human, unless the human is allergic to bee stings.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for why do bees die after stinging? learn cool bee world facts then why not take a look at why do moths like light? mazing moth insects facts], or why do dogs have wet noses? cool animal facts to know.
Bees have nearly 16,000 different species and they can be found on every continent except Antarctica.
