This is where the queen, her brood, and the entire colony’s food source reside, making it extremely valuable to bees-and one of the biggest reasons honey bees sting people. Honey bees have a strong focus on protecting their hive. If you keep your distance and respect bees when you come across them, they’ll also leave you alone. Stinging is usually a bee’s last resort when they feel threatened. This means it’s ripped out of the bee’s body, and they die as a result. When bees sting, the stinger gets stuck in your skin and is difficult to remove. Many people think bees sting because they’re angry or aggressive, but the truth is, they are more likely to feel scared or defensive when they sting. Find out the truth with this overview of why honey bees sting people. However, many misconceptions about why bees sting get spread around. Even the most experienced beekeepers use protective clothing and other beekeeping equipment to prevent stings. As much as they make the world more colorful as its natural pollinators, bee stings can cause pain, and they’re even dangerous if you’re allergic to them. Local bee keeping groups are a good source of knowledge about local bee populations.As wonderful and fascinating as honey bees are, we were taught to keep our distance from them, so they don’t sting us. Our bees don’t attack unless they feel they need to defend their hive.ĭo not attempt to locate a hive, call an expert.įor more information on allergies go to the ASCIA website. If you see a bee let it be (sorry) don’t swat it or step on them. Losing bees will sting more than just our taste for honey We need to appreciate their essential functions, and try to prevent stings. Preventionĭespite being a species introduced by European settlers, the honey bee ( Apis mellifera) plays an essential role within Australian agriculture. If a bee stings you around your neck, or you find it difficult to breathe, or experience any wheezing, dizziness or light-headedness, seek medical advice urgently. Use a hard surface such as the edge of a credit card, car key or fingernail to flick/scratch out the barb.įor a minor reaction such as pain and local swelling, a cold pack may help relieve these symptoms. Remove the sting as soon as possible (within 30 seconds) to limit the amount of venom injected. First aid for a bee stingīees usually leave their barbed sting in the skin and then die. Venom immunotherapy is very effective at preventing severe reactions and is available on the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme, whereas other immunotherapy treatments in Australia cost an average of A$1,200 per year. This aims to desensitise the body’s immune system, essentially to “switch off” the allergic reaction to the venom. This involves the regular administration of venom extracts with doses gradually increased over a period of three to five years. There is an effective treatment for severe honey bee allergies, called immunotherapy. Skin testing or blood allergy testing can help confirm or exclude potential allergy triggers.Īn allergy specialist is key to assess people’s risk of severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis). Your doctor can assess you by taking a full history of reactions. If you have experienced very large local reactions from a bee sting, or symptoms separate from the sting site (such as swelling, rashes and itchy skin elsewhere, dizziness or difficulty breathing) you may have an allergic sensitivity. We do not know why some people become allergic and others don’t, but how often you are stung seems to play a role. However, if you have been stung by a bee, there is the potential to develop an allergy. If you have not been stung by a bee before you are unlikely to be allergic to the venom. It is our body’s allergy to the bee venom, rather than the venom itself, that usually causes life-threatening issues and hospitalisation. Anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction that is potentially life-threatening, is the most serious reaction our body’s immune system can launch to defend against the venom. Some people, however, develop an allergy to some of these venom proteins. The specific activity of some bee venom components have also been used to treat cancer.įurther reading: Curious Kids: Do bees ever accidentally sting other bees?Ī single bee sting is almost always limited to these local effects. The venom is a complex mixture of proteins and organic molecules, that when injected into our body can cause pain, local swelling, itching and irritation that may last for hours.
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