Welcome to You Ask Andy

Todd Reese, age 10, of Duluth, Ga., for his question:

CAN A BEE GROW A NEW STINGER?

A bee sting is a painful wound, and the agony may last for several days. It may comfort you somewhat to know that this particular bee will never sting you or anyone else again. On the other hand, when you know the whole story and understand the bee's point of view, you end up feeling sorry for the busy little insect.

The honeybee is just about the busiest little creature in the whole world. What's more, she seems to enjoy her chores, for during the flowery summer season she usually dies from exhaustion after six weeks. Her various duties include the care and feeding of hosts of baby bees, cleaning and tending the hive and the queen mother, gathering pollen and nectar to make foods and wax to build combs for cradles and storing honey.

Obviously the average worker bee has her mind on her work, and any distraction tends to make her feel frantic. This is her point of view when some innocent human being seems to be in her way. Naturally she reacts to protect herself and her urgent duties to the hive. And for this, Mother Nature provided a stinger in the tail end of her striped, furry abdomen. The base of her sharp stinger is connected to a gland that creates a painful poison.

A busy bee has no way of knowing that you mean her no harm. When you get in her way, she feels angry or scared or at least threatened. So, with all her might, she jabs her stinger into your flesh  and the pain is sure to remove you from the scene in a hurry. However, her tough stinger is attached to her soft abdomen by delicate muscles. She can stab it in but usually fails to pull it out.

Almost always the bee's entire stinger is ripped out of her body as she tries to pull it free. Sometimes all or part of it is left in the wound. This, of course, should be removed, quickly and carefully and preferably by an expert. Meantime, the poor little bee flies away to die of a mortal wound.

The average worker bee cannot grow a new stinger. She can sting only once, and her one act of aggression costs her  life. A queen bee can sting several times, though she stings only other queens  never her busy workers. Hornets and other cousins of the bee clan have sturdier weapons. They can sting several times  and live to brag about it.

 

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