"Broadback" wrote in message
...


I do not think that bees die when they sting, the have a corkscrew type
sting that enters easily. If you are stung and leave the bee alone it will
work round and round extract the sting and live. Knocking them off tears
off their sting, then they die.

Honeybees almost always die when they sting a soft-fleshed animal like a
human.

The sting is not corkscrew shaped, it's barbed. The barbs enter the flesh
and the sting can't be pulled out without also pulling the sting mechanism
out of the bee's body.

A bee doesn't have a 'blood' circulation system like mammals and birds,
instead its 'life fluid' (haemolymph) washes freely over the organs in the
body. When the sting is lost the fluid leaks out of the bee's body and it
dies after a short time.

A bee will try to escape by pulling away from the flesh but because the
sting is firmly attached it can only go round in circles*, eventually it
pulls away from the flesh leaving the sting behind and flies off. And dies.

Mary

*that always reminds me of the old joke:

"Mummy, why am I walking round in circles?"

"Be quiet or I'll nail your other foot to the floor."