Bee stings up close are wild… and this shot proves it 🐝📸
Stewart Wood spent a day with us recently capturing extreme close-up shots of honey bees, and he even took a sting to the finger by accident. The silver lining was that we could remove the sting and photograph it in insane detail. When Stewart zoomed in, it looked like a tiny hypodermic needle. Seeing it at that scale really shows just how incredible and precise honey bee biology is.
So why do bees sting? Bees only sting as a last resort when they feel threatened. They aren’t aggressive by nature. When a honey bee stings a human, she pays the ultimate price. The barbed sting gets caught in thicker skin and tears away as she flies off. It’s a defensive sacrifice, not an attack. The same happens with any thick-skinned animal like badgers or bears but doesn't happen they sting another bee!
How does the sting work? A honey bee’s sting is barbed like a miniature harpoon. Once it goes in, it locks in place and continues pumping venom for up to a minute. That’s why scraping the sting out quickly (never pinching!) really helps. The venom sac keeps pulsing long after the bee has gone.
Can you be allergic? Most people experience swelling, redness, heat and itching. But a small percentage can have a serious allergic reaction. If you see symptoms like difficulty breathing, dizziness or widespread swelling, seek medical help immediately.
A few cool sting facts: • Only female bees can sting. • Queens can sting, but they almost never sting humans. • Honey bees have barbed stings; bumblebees and wasps can sting repeatedly. • Alarm pheromone smells a bit like bananas 🍌 — avoid banana scents around hives!
Bee stings are part of beekeeping and part of nature, but seeing one this close really highlights the engineering genius of the honey bee
Black Mountain Honey
Bee stings up close are wild… and this shot proves it 🐝📸
Stewart Wood spent a day with us recently capturing extreme close-up shots of honey bees, and he even took a sting to the finger by accident. The silver lining was that we could remove the sting and photograph it in insane detail. When Stewart zoomed in, it looked like a tiny hypodermic needle. Seeing it at that scale really shows just how incredible and precise honey bee biology is.
So why do bees sting?
Bees only sting as a last resort when they feel threatened. They aren’t aggressive by nature. When a honey bee stings a human, she pays the ultimate price. The barbed sting gets caught in thicker skin and tears away as she flies off. It’s a defensive sacrifice, not an attack. The same happens with any thick-skinned animal like badgers or bears but doesn't happen they sting another bee!
How does the sting work?
A honey bee’s sting is barbed like a miniature harpoon. Once it goes in, it locks in place and continues pumping venom for up to a minute. That’s why scraping the sting out quickly (never pinching!) really helps. The venom sac keeps pulsing long after the bee has gone.
Can you be allergic?
Most people experience swelling, redness, heat and itching. But a small percentage can have a serious allergic reaction. If you see symptoms like difficulty breathing, dizziness or widespread swelling, seek medical help immediately.
A few cool sting facts:
• Only female bees can sting.
• Queens can sting, but they almost never sting humans.
• Honey bees have barbed stings; bumblebees and wasps can sting repeatedly.
• Alarm pheromone smells a bit like bananas 🍌 — avoid banana scents around hives!
Bee stings are part of beekeeping and part of nature, but seeing one this close really highlights the engineering genius of the honey bee
3 weeks ago | [YT] | 18