Can bees kill you? The short answer is yes, bees can kill you. There are numerous types of bees around the world. Each bee is known for its specific qualities. Some bees are harsh stingers, while some other types do not have harmful stings. The sting is often the result of a female bee’s stringer. The bee injects its stringer into the skin that might be quite painful depending on the type of bee.
Human bodies have different reactions towards bee stings depending upon their body structure and ability to tolerate pain. People with sensitive body types and severe allergies might have a bad reaction after a sting. They might get itching, breathing problem, nausea, and much more. So, the victim should always be cautious. Do not wait until you die to see a doctor.
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Major Types of Bees and Their Stings
As stated above, bee stings differ depending upon the type of bee. In the following paragraphs, we have stated some major and highly famous bees with their stings.
Sweat Bee
Sweat Bees, also known as Halictidae, belong to one of the largest families of bees. This bee often has a dark color with a metallic appearance. Sweat Beas are normally attracted to perspiration. It does not sting you unless you cause a disturbance in their activity or they feel threatened by you. However, even if they sting you, they feel minor as they are not harsh stingers.
Honey Bees
Honey bees are one of the most famous bee species around the world. They are known for their honey production throughout the world. Despite producing extremely sweet food like honey, honeybees can turn out to be comparatively harsh stingers. They have unique types of stringers (Barbed Sting) with hooked structures that sting badly.
After a honey bee stings a victim, the stringer stays inside the skin that causes the bee’s death. So, if you have heard that some types of bees die after stinging, then you have heard it right because honeybee is one of such bees that dies after they sting.
- Related: Can a Bee Sting More than Once?
Bumblebee
The bumblebee belongs to the genus Bombus family of bees. The bumblebees are found in places with comparatively higher altitudes, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. Bumblebees are often considered social insects as they normally form colonies and live together. However, their colonies are smaller than those of honeybees.
Bumblebees are considered one of the bad stingers. Unlike honeybees that have hooked stringers that stay in the skin, the bumblebees have highly smooth stringers that enable them to sting more than once without damaging their stingers. They do not die after stinging like a honeybee.
Africanized Honey Bees
Africanized honeybees are considered one of the most dangerous types of bees. Africanized bees are developed through the crossbreed of European honeybees and East African Lowland honeybees. It was first introduced in Brazil during the 1950s. Africanized honeybees are considered one of the extremely harsh stringers.
Africanized honeybees, aka killer bees, are easily alarmed and then can overwhelm their targets with thousands of stings.
If a killer bee colony senses a threat, the victim could be stung around thousands of times, so without a beekeeping suit stay away from these hives.
Wasps
Wasps are among the most aggressive bees that sting very badly. Wasps belong to the cosmopolitan family of bees. Wasps also form colonies and live together under the rule of a queen. Wasps are known for their ability to sting more than once. The unique structure of their stingers allows them to take it out without any injury. This enables them to sting more than once.
Can Bees Kill You?
Most people argue over bee’s ability to kill humans. Despite having bad stringers, most of the bees just cause slight disturbance like rashes and itching, etc. Allergic reactions can range from mild to severe. However, getting a sting from some specific types of bees can even kill humans. Yes, you heard it right!
One of the bees discussed above, i.e., Africanized honeybees, are known to be the killer bees. Along with being harsh stingers, their stringers are extremely dangerous that might even result in the victim’s death. Even these bees have taken the lives of most individuals in the past.
Why Does Killer Bees Kill Humans?
Like all other types of bees, the Africanized honeybees do not randomly come, hit, and sting you. Unless you threaten them, disturb their hives, or give them a reason to sting you.
Killer bees sting give off a banana scent that attracts other killer bees and further promotes their defensive behavior.
So, be cautious with them. Stay in your spot and do not attack them; otherwise, you will regret it.
How Many Bee Stings Does it Take to Kill You?
It is hard to determine how many bee stings does it take to kill you. The number of stings that can kill you completely depends upon the capability of the individual. If you have any allergies or sensitive skin, it does not require hundreds of stings to kill you. Therefore, you should be careful and immediately see any doctor before it gets worse and kill you.
However, if you have stronger metabolism and higher strength, no matter how many stings you get, you will be safe and secure. This can be proved with an incident that happened in Texas a few years back. A man got 1200 stings from bees. However, he survived. While in another bee attack incident, an adult man died after getting only 98 stings. Which is extremely lower than the 1200 stings.
The average person can safely tolerate 10 stings for each pound of body weight.
So, the stronger you are, the more your capability to sustain stings and survive. Therefore, it is always better to play safe instead of harming yourself and cause your death.
But, people who have an allergy to insect venom can die from anaphylactic shock from just one single bee sting.
- Related: Can Bees Sting Other Bees?
How to Save Yourself from Stings?
Saving yourself from getting stung depends on you. Remember, bees don’t harm or sting you unless you threaten them or give them a reason to do so. You should never touch their hives. Moreover, if you plan a trip outside where you find hives and bees, it is better not to wear bright colors and fabrics with flower prints because such dresses attract bees and work as an open invitation for them.
Additionally, you should also avoid wearing sweet perfumes, lotions, and other deodorants that attract bees because it increases the bees’ chances of getting stung.
If you are attacked, do not seek shelter in a pool or other body of water, as they will simply wait for you to re-emerge.
What if You Get Stung?
If you have sensitive skin and allergies, then you must immediately visit a doctor without having delays. The doctor might suggest few medicines and might even shift you to emergency or give you an adrenaline shot if the condition worsens. But if you think that visiting a doctor might be helpful and if you feel itching, the area starts swelling, or you feel pain, then visiting a doctor becomes a must. And in such cases, you should ignore the situation because it might get severe.
However, if you know that you don’t have any allergies or sensitive skin, you don’t need to see a doctor. Ask any adult for help to take out the sting but do it immediately. They can do it by pressing the area being stung hard to take the sting out.
- Related: Can Bees See at Night?
Before You Leave…
Make sure you take precautionary measures to save your life and death from a sting by a bee. You never know what type of bee might hit you. And if it is a deadly bee-like Africanized honeybee, you will surely put your life at risk. So, take your measures, do not push the bee to attack you, and you will be all good.
Moreover, if you have already been stung, you should not ignore it if it is pinching or itching. If you feel like seeing a doctor, then you must go. Do not ignore it!
