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There are roughly 20,000 species of bees throughout the world, though when we speak of bees most people think of honeybees or bumblebees. These species are social bees that live in hives or colonies and are not generally aggressive. The only time bees sting is when an intruder, be it animal or human, comes too close to a nest, disturbs it, or physically harms a bee. The threatened bee will not only sting in defense, but also release an “alarm pheromone” to attract other bees, signaling them to join in the attack.
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Honeybees are responsible for the characteristic wax hives we associate with bees and beekeeping. Hives have highly organized social structures. A single queen is at the heart of every hive, surrounded by female worker bees. Worker bees serve different functions in different stages of their lives. These bees start off feeding larvae and cleaning the hive, progress to building the honeycomb, and eventually become foragers. Though queen bees and worker bees sting, male bees or drones do not possess stingers.
Because worker bees will release an alarm pheromone if threatened, beekeepers are very careful to avoid accidentally crushing or harming bees when harvesting honey. Many beekeepers wear protective clothing including gloves, a body suit and veiled hat. Some use “bee smokers” to cover up alarm pheromones that might result from working in the hive. Smoke also causes bees to gorge on honey, a natural response to possibly having to move the hive in case of fire.
A single bee sting is not much more than irritating, but when bees sting en masse, the result can be lethal. This is particularly true if the victim is allergic to bee venom, a statistic that applies to roughly 1% of the population. However, for the majority of us it would take roughly 10 bee stings for every pound of body weight to receive a lethal dose of bee venom. An adult weighing 140 pounds would need to receive 1400 stings in an attack, while a child weighing 40 pounds could be at risk with 400 stings.
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