Do bees know they'll die if they sting?!

[Myusernameismud]

DS10 has just tried to rescue a lovely, fuzzy bumblebee. It was lying on the pavement, still alive so he scooped it up and put it in the garden, next to a puddle of sugary water. It became clear shortly after that it had no sting and died within a few minutes (RIP little fuzz all).

I explained to DS that it had died because it stung someone in Self defence. He looked slightly puzzled and asked why they bother stinging at all then, if they're going to die anyway? Do they know that they'll die if they sting someone, and if so how scared do they have to be before they'll actually sting?

I said I genuinely don't know, and DS said 'ask those mums-on-the-net if they know'

So here I am, mum's-on-the-net. Any bee psychologists out there? Do bees know they're going to die when they sting someone? Please understand the gravity of this situation and advise as appropriate.

*RIP little fuzzball

I’m no expert but I would think it would be instinct to then

I'm interested in this too, they sting less often than wasps but I like to think that's because they're nicer.

Or it could have been a male bee. They're not all female!

It may be an involuntary reaction to stress, as opposed to a conscious choice.

Making this up on the spot but from an evolutionary point of view it doesn’t matter if the individual bee dies after stinging, as long as the hive is protected. So that would be the “point” of stinging and dying anyway IYSWIM.

Goodness, @Twistedbiscuit - that’s absolutely right and actually very moving.

ontheedge I didn't say it was a female!

whowantstoknow ah that's even sadder then! They involuntarily sting and then shortly after think 'oh shit, what's happening? Ah I'm dying, fabulous. Just what I wanted for a Thursday afternoon'

Bees pass on their genes in a different way. Species like humans want to have their own offspring to further their genes. Bees help their parents to create more siblings to pass on their genes. So the life of an individual bee matters less.

According to Bee Movie they know 😆

But do they know?! We know that if we walk into burning lava then we're almost certainly dead, but only because that knowledge has been passed on to us.

Can bees communicate such things?

'Dad, what happened to Uncle Frank?'
'He died son, because he stung someone. Just the way it is.'
'Sure hope I never inadvertently sting someone'
'Me too son. Me too'

Bless your son for trying to revive with the sugar and water .

Few years ago on my way to a DFs house I passed another DFs house and a bee was alive but struggling on the pavement . Knocked and it was given sugar and water and eventually flew away , Just a few days ago I saw one on my windowsill looking like it was dead but nope , revived with the sugar and water and that too flew away
Regarding if they know one sting will kill them I do not know . I do know if I am in the garden and they are in and out of flowers they show absolutely no interest in me,

According to Wikipedia, 'Female bumblebees can sting repeatedly, but generally ignore humans and other animals.'

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblebee

So we have to back up a bit and check whether this was, in fact, a bumblebee and if so which sex

www.hunker.com/13428128/how-to-tell-if-a-bumble-bee-is-male-or-female

Bumble bees can sting as often as they like.
Something I found out only last week!

They have no sense of self so no, they don't 'care'.

Bees in a hive are all related. So even if they die (stinging or being squashed for stinging), their genes are passed on and that's all evolutionarily influenced behaviour does; pass on the gene.

No idea about bumble bees though.

Bees are very clever and actually communicate a lot of things to the other bees in their hive.....like where is good forage for pollen. They do it by wiggling the bodies and making a vibration on the honey comb.

I would imagine they do know stinging will cause their death - in honeybees a sting also emits a smell which warns other bees there is danger and to attack.

Evolutionarily it makes no sense. Humans, elephants, apes avoid death because of genetics. We need to pass our genes down and look after young in the herd/troop.

Bees social structure doesn't work that way. A fear of death would be counterproductive and therefore bred out.

Watching this thread with interest as it was a question that crossed my mnd last summer,when I saw a dead bee on the pavement,minus it's stinger and lower abdomen.

Aren't most UK bee species solitary bees? So they don't have a hive.

It’s only honey bees that die after they sting, not all bees. As to wether they know, I imagine not. They can sting insects and survive fine, it’s human skin that’s the issue and stop them pulling their sting back out.

A honeybee's stinging organ is an evolved egg laying tube or ovipositor - worker bees are all female, but sterile, the queen is the only one capable of laying fertile eggs ( upto 2000 a day at peak times!). The sting is barbed so when they sting something with elastic skin ( like a human or other mammal) the barb causes the sting to remain in the skin and as the bee tries to fly away it pulls the venom sac out of the bee's body. However, if they sting something with a non elastic exoskeleton, ie a wasp or a bee from another colony trying to raid theirs, they are able to withdraw their sting without ill effect and sting again repeatedly. Wasps can do this to elastic skinned 'victims' too since their sting has no barb. And, yes, bee stings have a very distinctive acid smell which acts as an alarm signal to other bees - but bear in mind that bees , and wasps, normally only sting as an act of defence if they or their colony are at risk.
To answer your question; clever though they are I do not think bees have the cognitive ability to know that by stinging us they are signing their own death warrant.

Incidentally, male bees (drones) are lazy buggers, contribute nothing to their colony, scoff all the food which the workers bring in, loaf about doing very little and have only one function in life which is to mate with virgin queens from other colonies. In the autumn the worker bees chew the drones wings off and throw 'em out of the colony to die....
Now there is a plan for the many on here whose husbands or partners sound similar!

Just realised - your question relates to bumblebees! Bumblebee stings, like those of wasps ,are not barbed so they too can sting repeatedly without eviscerating themselves in the process

'Dad, what happened to Uncle Frank?'
'He died son, because he stung someone. Just the way it is.'
'Sure hope I never inadvertently sting someone'
'Me too son. Me too'

This really made me

I love this thread.
I didn't know female bumblebees can sting repeatedly. I've learned something.
How do we know for sure they have no sense of self?