Honey Bees StingsA Lecture by

Mr.Allah dad khan

Honey bee and Sting

• A honey bee is able to sting a person or predator using its stinger. Honey bee stings are quite painful and even life threatening to a small percentage of people who are allergic to the venom. Honey bees usually sting as a form of defense of themselves or their colony.

Honey bee and Sting

• The stinger is barbed and located at the end the abdomen. It is tied to the digestive tract of the bee as is the venom sac that produces the venom. When a honey bee stings, its stinger, the venom sac and other parts of the honey bee’s body are pulled out and left behind, killing the bee. Although the bee dies, its sting takes effect quickly, and, if the stinger is not removed quickly, the symptoms gradually increase as the venom sac continues to pump venom into the wound. Since the stinger is barbed, it often becomes lodged in the tissue of the animal. When a honey bee stings, it releases an alarm pheromone to alert the other workers in the colony. The result is other bees are recruited to the area to defend the colony as well.

Symptoms

•Honey bee stings are known to be very painful, but the symptoms that result from a sting vary, depending on the amount of poison that has entered the immune system of the victim. The initial pain eventually fades, but only after a period of swelling and itching. Some individuals may also experience visible signs, including redness of the skin around the sting. Although the honey bee sting is not commonly hazardous, some people may be allergic to the bee’s venom and will experience such severe side effects as nausea, fainting and, in extreme cases, death.

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Symptoms

• The numbers of stings also plays a role in the effects. As the number of stings increases, the severity of reaction also increases and can be lethal to anyone if stung too many times. If a person is stung or has medical concerns related to honey bees, they should seek a medical professional.

Symptoms

• Rash or hives• Stomach cramps, nausea,

vomiting, or diarrhea• Dizziness or severe headache• Swelling that is not in the

general area of the sting site, especially in the throat, neck, or tongue.

• Shortness of breath or difficulty in swallowing.

• Shock• Unconsciousness• Drop in blood pressure

Why do honeybees die when they sting?

• When a honeybee stings, it dies a gruesome death. The bee’s stinger is structured in such a way that once it punctures human skin, the bee can’t yank it out without self-amputating. As the honeybee tries to pull out the stinger, it ruptures its lower abdomen, leaving the stinger embedded, pulling out instead a string of digestive material, muscles, glands and a venom sac. What results is a gaping hole at the end of the abdomen.

Honey Bee Dies

• “It’s kind of like bleeding to death, except bees don’t have blood,” said Eric Mussen of the University of California at Davis. Mussen is an apiculturist, a fancy word for beekeeper. “It’s fake, clear insect blood.”

• The honeybee stinger is hollow and pointed, like a hypodermic needle, Mussensaid. It contains two rows of lancets, or saw-toothed blades. These blades are barbed in shape, and face outward like a harpoon.

IA honeybee stinger magnified 650x, from Rose-Lynn Fisher’s book, BEE.

mage by Rose-Lynn Fisher

Venom Sac

• As a bee stings, the blades alternate, “scissoring together into your flesh,” said Mark Winston, biologist and author of “Bee Time: Lessons from the Hive.” It looks — and works — like a screw anchor, meaning that once in, the stinger can’t retract. Muscles connect the stinger to a venom sac, from which a cell-destroying toxin is pumped into the hole.

Venom

• The scent of the venom released from the honeybee signals a threat to the hive. And weirdly, it smells like bananas, Mussen said.

• But lets back up. It is only the female honeybees, also known as the worker bees, that sting. Each hive contains some 60,000 worker bees, followed by a few hundred male drones and a single female queen bee.

Worker Bees

• Worker bees are like disposable soldiers for the colony: their sole function is to gather nectar, pollinate, and defend the base. They are all infertile females. The queen lays all eggs and the drones fertilize them.

Queen Bees Sting

• The queen bee only stings when fighting for dominance against another queen, Winston said

Remember these important steps:

• 1. RUN away quickly. Do not stop to help others. However, small children and the disabled may need some assistance.

Remember these important steps:

• 2. As you are running, pull your shirt up over your head to protect your face, but make sure it does not slow your progress. This will help keep the bees from targeting the sensitive areas around your head and eyes.

Remember these important steps:

• 3. Continue to RUN. Do not stop running until you reach shelter, such as a vehicle or building. A few bees may follow you indoors. However, if you run to a well-lit area, the bees will tend to become confused and fly to windows.Do not jump into water! The bees will wait for you to come up for air. If you are trapped for some reason, cover up with blankets, sleeping bags, clothes, or whatever else is immediately available.

Remember these important steps:

• 4. Do not swat at the bees or flail your arms. Bees are attracted to movement and crushed bees emit a smell that will attract more bees.

Remember these important steps:

• 5. Once you have reached shelter or have outrun the bees, remove all stingers. When a honey bees stings, it leaves its stinger in the skin. This kills the honey bee so it can't sting again, but it also means that venom continues to enter into the wound for a short time.

Remember these important steps:

• 6. Do not pull stingers out with tweezers or your fingers. This will only squeeze more venom into the wound. Instead, scrape the stinger out sideways using your fingernail, the edge of a credit card, a dull knife blade or other straight-edged object.

Remember these important steps:

• 7. If you see someone being attacked by bees, encourage them to run away or seek shelter. Do not attempt to rescue them yourself.

Remember these important steps:

• 7. If you see someone being attacked by bees, encourage them to run away or seek shelter. Do not attempt to rescue them yourself. Call 911 to report a serious stinging attack. The emergency response personnel in your area have probably been trained to handle bee attacks.

Remember these important steps:

• 8. If you have been stung more than 15 times, or are feeling ill, or if you have any reason to believe you may be allergic to bee stings, seek medical attention immediately. The average person can safely tolerate 10 stings per pound of body weight. This means that although 500 stings can kill a child, the average adult could withstand more than 1100 stings.

Remember these important steps also

• Although it may be tempting, DO NOT JUMP INTO WATER! The bees will wait for you to come up for air.

• Once you are away from the bees, take a second and evaluate the situation. If you have been stung more than 15 times, or if you are having any symptoms other than local pain and swelling, seek medical attention immediately. If you see someone else being stung or think others are in danger, call 9-1-1 immediately.

• Many of the safety measures we have just reviewed would be difficult to apply under the excitement of an emergency situation if you have not mentally prepared yourself ahead of time. Most people taking part in normal outdoor activities do not have to go to any extraor dinary lengths to be prepared, just keep in mind where you would go to escape honey bees, and be on the look out for danger.

Do's and Dont's:

• 1. Look out for honey bee colonies when outdoors. There are estimated to be approximately 250,000 wild bee colonies in Arizona. Honey bees nest in a wide variety of locations, such as pipes, holes, animal burrows or even in cavities within saguaro cacti or trees. Be alert for groups of flying bees entering or leaving an entrance or opening and listen for buzzing sounds. Be especially alert when climbing, because honey bees often nest under rocks or within crevices between rocks. Don't put your hands where you can't see them.Not all honey bees you see are a potential threat. Honey bees often visit campsites for water or sweets (especially soda containers) or may be seen visiting flowers for nectar. Bees gathering food or water are called "foraging" bees. As long as they are away from the nest, honey bees are not overly defensive. They will only sting if stepped on or trapped in some way. On the other hand, a large number of honey bees foraging in one area may indicate a colony is nearby. If you inted to camp in the area, look around for the colony first.

2. If you find a colony of bees, leave them alone and keep others away

• . Do not shoot, throw rocks at, try to burn or otherwise disturb the bees. If the colony is near a trail or near areas frequently used by humans, notify your local office of the Parks Department, Forest Service, or Arizona Game and Fish even if the bees appear to be docile. Honey bee colonies vary in behavior over time, especially with changes in age and season. Small colonies are less likely to be defensive than large colonies, so you may pass the same colony for weeks and then one day provoke them unexpectedly.

Do's and Dont's:

• 3. Keep your dogs under control. If a dog disturbs a colony when bounding through the bush, it is likely to bring the bees back to you.

4. Wear light colored clothes, including socks

• . Bees target objects that resemble their natural predators (bears and skunks) when they defend their nests, so they tend to go after dark leathery or furry objects. Keep in mind that bees see the color red as black, so flourescent orange is a better choice when hunting.

Do's and Dont's:

• .• 5. Avoid wearing scents of any

sort when hiking. Africanized honey bees communicate to one another using scents, and tend to be quite sensitive to odors. Avoid strongly scented shampoo, soaps, perfumes, heavily scented gum, etc. If riding, avoid using fly control products on your horse with a "lemony" or citrus odor. Such odors are known to provoke or attract honey bees.

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6. Be particularly careful when using hany heavy equipment that produces sound vibrations, such as

chainsaws, weed eaters, tractors or generators.

7. Keep escape routes in mind.

• If at all possible, avoid areas where you cannot escape quickly if attacked

8. If you know you are allergic

• to bee stings, always have someone else with you when doing outdoor activities.

SO LET'S GO THROUGH SOME THINGS TO HELP REDUCE STINGS:

• 1) Choose a good day. A good day is warm, very sunny, high pressure or barometric on the rise, and not real windy.

2) Choose a good time.

• Between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Working bees prior to 10 a.m. or after 2 p.m. invites stings simply because there are more bees at home. Between 10 and 2, the foragers are out, the hive is smaller and you can better manipulate your hive.

3) No perfume, hairspray or heavy soap

• smell. If you get all prettied-up to work your hive, it could turn ugly. But, bad body odor can also draw some stings. So, be clean, but don't over do it.

4) Never wear dark clothing!

• Bees sting dark areas. They resist white. Wear white, especially socks if you do not wear boots.

5) Do not swat at a bee that is buzzing around your head. Swatting will NOT make a bee go away. It has the

opposite effect.

• She will become much more aggressive if you swat at her and she will pursue you if you run. Bees can fly up to 18 mph. Can you out run a bee? No. So, be still, and wait and see if she will go away. Usually a guard bee is the first to buzz your face, making a louder than normal buzzing sound to intimidate you. It works too! But, no matter how loud she buzzes, the stinger is the same size and doesn't hurt any more or any less so do not fall for the buzzing intimidation. Be still and see if she will get tired and retreat. I've worked several hours in a bee yard with the same bee buzzing my face. She never did anything more than "got in my face" but my veil held her at bay and I ignored her and finished my work. DON'T SWAT!!! I know it is a natural reaction, but DON'T DO IT! Got it? You cannot swat at honeybees!!

6) Avoid sweating or breathing heavily onto the bees.

• Don't hold your breath. Breath normally, just avoid breathing close up on a frame. On hot and humid days, lean over slightly to the side of a hive so that if you sweat, it will not fall onto the bees.

7) Bees are most calm during a nectar flow.

• However, I don't like to interrupt the hive operation during a strong nectar flow because this could reduce my honey production. But, they are the most calm when the flow is on. By flow, I am referring to a time when several floral sources are producing an abundance of nectar

8) Always use a smoker!

• You MUST smoke your hive. Smoke the hive, but be gentle and don't over smoke them. A little smoke goes a long way to calm a hive. Do not work your bees without smoking them! Untreated burlap makes good smoker fuel. I use pine needles and mulch as my smoker fuel.

9) Calm and gentle movements.

• No sudden movements and by all means don't drop a frame or a hive tool on the bees. Bees can't hear, but they are very sensitive to vibrations. If you do drop something or tip a hive over, back away slowly, stand still if you are not being pursued heavily, smoke and try to get things back together once the bees have calmed down. It happens to the best of us.

10) Always wear a hat and veil

• . You may not care about being stung below your head, but you cannot risk being stung in the face or eye. Wear a hat and veil or you will regret it. And if you want to avoid being stung, wear protective gear and duct tape all clothing gaps

CAN HONEY BEE STINGS REALLYPROVIDE HEALTH BENEFITS?

• Beekeeping can provide health benefits. Bee stings should never be used in place of medical treatment. Many people, including some doctors have found that honey and bee sting therapy can be an effective healing aid. Some people have claimed that bee sting therapy has helped with MS, arthritis and other health problems. This approach should always be pursued only under the recommendation and close observation of a medical doctor.