FactSentinel

The idea that a bee always dies after stinging a mammal is inaccurate. Only the female worker honey bees (Apis mellifera and a few closely related species) have a barbed stinger that tends to lodge in thick, elastic skin. When the bee pulls away, the stinger, venom sac, and part of the digestive tract are torn from her abdomen, and she typically dies within minutes to hours. Even this outcome is not instant, and the bee may continue moving and releasing venom for a short time after separation.

Most other bees do not die from stinging. Bumblebees, carpenter bees, mason bees, and the many solitary bee species have stingers with smaller or no barbs, so they can withdraw them cleanly and sting repeatedly. Wasps, hornets, and yellowjackets, which are often confused with bees, also keep their stingers. Male bees have no stinger at all. Queen honey bees possess a smooth stinger and can sting multiple times, though they usually reserve it for rival queens.

Honey bees do not always die even when stinging a mammal. The barbs catch mainly in tough, flexible skin like that of mammals. When honey bees sting other insects, their stingers usually come out without harm. A bee that stings a mammal through thin skin or in a glancing way may also free herself. The common belief likely persists because honey bees are the best-known stinging insects, and their sacrifice is dramatic. The accurate version is narrower: a honey bee worker will often die after stinging a mammal, but this is not true of bees in general.