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.

as the bee concerned was a female she would be a dad & it wouldn't be a son but a daughter & uncle frank would be an auntie - hang on a minute this could go into a completely different discussion on another part - like feminism? I read on one science site re a new journal research article that bees can count..

A honeybee's stinging organ is an evolved egg laying tube or ovipositor

Does that mean the males are stingless?

Yes Errol, drones are unable to sting. The curious thing is that if a colony becomes 'queenless' for some reason, and it can happen, one of the workers may start laying eggs, but they will be unfertilised - however they will still hatch, but will all be useless drones which do no nectar or pollen gathering duties. I believe it is also known that some species of lizard can actually lay eggs which will hatch, or give birth to live young, without having been fertilised by a male. Need a herpetological expert to clarify this though...

I like your DS. I've always thought it's a fatally flawed (literally) defence system if you're going to die anyway. Better risk surviving whatever the threat is without taking any action

I can’t remember the genetics because I’m utterly useless at retaining information from non-fiction books, but bumblebees are fascinating in that respect.

“A Sting in the Tale” by Dave Goulson is well worth a read for anyone with an interest in bees. Even for those who don’t I found it such an engaging book. So many brilliant facts (which I have forgotten- see above).

Beekeeper1 thanks so much! That was all really interesting 🐝😊
I never really thought about it much before, well done to your caring, thoughtful son OP!

It seems I've been spreading misinformation to my offspring. It was most definitely a bumblebee, so possibly it was just too far gone to save. But I've had a very thorough bee education this afternoon and I'll be sure to stop telling the kids at work 'they won't sting you because if they do they'll die!'

On another note, we've had time to examine the deceased bee and see quite how fascinating they are. Got my magnifying glass out and everything. It was a proper little afternoon science lesson. Normally they're flying about so you can't see them up close, and the only dead ones I've seen before now have been squished.

And yes, DS is a lovely little fella. My very best creation ❤️

Can’t answer the question, but I rescued 2 bees this afternoon. They were on the pavement, after moving them to a hedge they livened up.

I think human skin is so thick that if you are stung and instinctively knock the bee away the sting detached with fatal consequence.

How ever bees are more interested in using their sting on other perceived threats and can sting them happily.

myusername if your son is interested in insects and enjoyed looking through the magnifying glass then I can recommend a microscope that attaches to the computer and gives you the most amazing images on the computer screen. They’re only about £13 from eBay and we’ve looked at so many things now it’s fascinating. My favourite are spiders. Tiny jumping spiders are just amazing close up. Really furry with eyes around their heads like an alien spacecraft. We also looked at a dead bee.

I also had no idea that bumble bees can sting with no ill effect. That pleases me!!! Beekeeper how does the Queen know she’s a Queen? I’d ut a democratic process and she’s elected to her position or is she just born with a crown on her head? Also are there a few queens born and they just kill the ones they don’t like?

Only female honey bees die after stinging. The rest e.g. bumblebees don't.

Why do they sting then? The stinger was originally meant to numb the 'victim' so the bee could deposit her eggs in the host. Fortunately, they no longer do this.

I don't wish to hijack the thread but just one quick question about bees and nectar. I have been watching the bees in my garden, certain bees go for particular flowers. The bumble bees love the passion flowers and the worker bees go for the geraniums etc. However once a bee has been to a flower another may come along and decide not to land on that particular flower and find another, fair enough all the nectar has gone, however a while later a bee will land on the same flower and feed. So my question is how long does it take for a flower to make more nectar?

This is EASY!

Bees bumble around (whether or not they are indeed a Bumble Bee). They are lovely.

Pollinate, pollinate, honey, Queen, honey.

Bzzzz. Bzzzz. Bzzzzz. Sleepy sleepy Bzzzzz

Lovely

Then...

Some idiot (who needs glasses) decides a bee is a wasp and starts freaking out, swattting and garrotting.

Mr / Mrs Bzzzzz get rightly distressed.

🐝 DANGER DANGER 🐝
🐝 ATTACK! ATTACK! 🐝

They sting to survive.

They die. 😢🐝😢

Plants die. We die.

Twats (who need glasses) kill the world.

😕😕😕😕

Wasps are different.

Wasps are the Charles Bronson of the insect world.

Wasps give ZERO fucks about the world and it’s pretty flowers.

Wasps enjoy inflicting pain. They seek it out. They are not sleepy.

Wasps are cunts.

Sheshoots thank you for your question which I will try to answer without it becoming a lecture! There is only one queen in each colony ( this is honeybees, by the way), who from hatching until death may live as long as four years and is basically an egglaying machine with a short break from mid autumn until early spring. She is born royal rather than being elected as she hatches from an egg layed in a special cell by her regal mother, cossetted by the nurse bees, fed on royal jelly as a grub until she pupates. A day or two before she hatches her mother, the reigning queen, will depart from the colony, taking about half the worker bees with her, a 'swarm' which will settle temporarily in a bush, tree or similar and send out scouts looking for somewhere to make a new permanent home - hollow trees, chimneys and air vents are favoured places.
The virgin queen hatches in the parent colony and will immediately tear down any other queen cells and kill the occupants -brutal isn't it? She will then go off on a 'wedding' flight, meets up with males from another colony at a rendezvous known as a 'drone congregation area', mates with several of them and then heads home to take up her regal duties. This is the one and only time she mates or, indeed leaves the colony, except possibly as an older queen to lead a swarm away when she is about to be usurped by one of her own daughters!
Once a colony is 'queenright', with a vigorous fertile laying queen, all is serene, calm and harmonious.
Bees are brutal though and if a queen's fertility decreases the workers will decide it is time for a new one - they will encourage the failing one to produce her own successor by producing a special cell and once she has laid an egg in it, once again, feed the developing grub on 'royal jelly' to create their new queen and the whole process starts again. The workers may even commit regicide and kill the old queen when the new one is about to hatch. The workers can also create a new queen if the reigning queen is lost somehow, for example accidentally crushed by a beekeeper being clumsy when examining frames. Provided there is a grub, even a worker grub, three days old or less, by feeding it on royal jelly they can turn it into a queen. Clever aren't they? And still so much we don't know about them.
As for bumblebees and wasps, although similar social insects, their queen/worker dynamic is slightly different in respect of breeding and how queens are replaced. I have lectured enough for today so will direct you to the bumblebee conservation trust for further information on this!

I have a big Lavendder bush outside my front door. It was looking a bit bland, but the bumbles have come to visit and made it all lovely and purple.

They greeted me and DD home earlier. I love watching them fly about.

Wasps however can fuck off.

Bumblebees and honey bees are quite distinct species.

Also bees don’t have consciousness in the same way that humans do, so they don’t think of themselves as individuals, any more than one of your skin cells does. They react to external stimuli, but not in a way that we understand as consciousness.