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Bees will not sting unless they perceive a threat to their immediate safety, the safety of their queen bee or of their hive. If a bee is away from its hive searching for pollen, it is only likely to sting if attacked by a bird or another insect, or if it is taunted by a mammal. When a bee is near its hive, it may attempt to sting any living thing that gets too close.
The only other reason that a bee might sting would be if it picks up on attack pheromones released by another bee from the same hive. Bees that have gone into attack mode release powerful pheromones, which signal other friendly bees to join the attack. A bee drawn to its prey by pheromones will attack its target until the bee is killed, the prey is killed or the prey flees far enough from the hive. -
A bee's stinger consists of a large central spike with two tiny barbs, one on each side, near the tip. When a bee stings another bee, it can slip the central spike in between the slats on a rival bee's armored coat and retract it immediately after the attack. When this happens, the barbs never get set in the body of the other bee, and the attacker can keep its stinger and live to fight another day.
When a bee stings any mammal, bird or other perceived threat with skin, the barbs on the stinger will begin to undulate as soon as the tip of the central spike touches the skin. These barbs move independently and opposite one another as a means of burrowing the central spike deep into the flesh. Once the barbs are set, the bee will only be able to fly away and escape by detaching itself from its own stinger. When this happens, the attacking bee bleeds to death within moments.
A few bee species, including bumblebees, do not have barbs on their stingers, enabling these bees to sting multiple times without dying. -
As soon as the stinger is set, venom begins pumping into the flesh of the prey. The first doses of venom come in a series of short bursts; as the undulating barbs move as a means of burrowing the stinger, they open and close small pores through which apitoxin, or bee venom, flows. The apitoxin releases in small pressurized pulses each time the barbs reach deeper into the flesh, causing immediate pain, swelling and itching. To people who are allergic to apitoxin, this can cause serious and life-threatening reactions.
When the bee pulls loose from its stinger, more apitoxin is released from around the stinger's root, which can drip down into the wound. Attack pheromones are also released at this point.
A sac of apitoxin is also located at the base of the stinger. Sometimes this is crushed or detached when the bee pulls away from its stinger, but if it is left intact, it can continue pumping apitoxin into the wound for several minutes. If the stinger is removed with a pair of tweezers, the sac may be squeezed and the entire remainder of the apitoxin may rush into the wound. Stingers should ideally be removed as quickly as possible by scraping or flicking them from the side, so that the sac will not get emptied into the site of the sting.
