Do bees bite

[polomadh]

Now this may sound daft, but stick with me. I was having some pictures taken the other day, with me doing an inspection of one of my hives. In one of the quieter hives, I decided to remove my nitrile gloves, as I thought it might look better for the photos.

Being brave I had a number of bees on my hands and fingers as I was manipulating the frames, when I felt a sharp "nip" on my thumb before the bee wandered off back onto the frame. My thumb was sore for a little while after too. It was clearly not a sting, I know all about those!

So could I have been bitten ? is this possible?

 

[Little John]

So could I have been bitten ? is this possible?

Oh yes - they can bite away chunks of wax, or even wood if they have a mind to.

LJ

 

[davnig]

It has been shown in recent studies that their bites also have an anaesthetic effect - it's 2-heptanone that is the active ingredient

 

[Sean.]

There was some research done on what is in a 'bee bite' it's a compound that they have found now is going to be used as a local anaesthetic. Hence why they bite invaders in the hive, as it will paralyse them, so that they can remove them from the hive.

 

[ichbinpaul]

This would explain how and why I have seen a bee go one to one with a wasp, and then the wasp falls and writhes on the floor unable to fly, but the bee is uninjured and assumes guard duty as normal, when I was expecting it to have lost its A## end!

 

[drstitson]

yes.

it has been suggested in the past that those bees which nibble your fingers during inspections are more "hygienic" - the holy grail in the war on varroa.

 

[beeno]

Hi polomadh,!
Yes, the do with their mandibles and it does hurt. I got an itchy rash going up my arm which I have yet to experience from a sting!

 

[For want of a better word]

Do bees bite
Yes

 

[user 6228]

Oh yes - they can bite away chunks of wax, or even wood if they have a mind to.

LJ

add to that, plastic (e.g. clingfilm to get fondant), rubber (as in the bands to hold in combs). Cardboard (the box you put a new swarm in will never be the same again!) but they dont do
30 micron ally foil,
epoxy resin.
polyester resin

They are a tunneling insect in the wild, removing softened wood from the inside of trees.
As a builder of foam hives, I have a few examples of their behaviour

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

but they dont do 30 micron ally foil

So derekm, are you saying that your "bark" needs to be worse than their bite? Seriously, does the bite develop before the sting as I would expect?

 

[Excession]

Re: fighting wasps, Bees can sting wasps many times as well as bite. This doesn't kill them as the barb sting damages the wasp and doesn't get stuck.
It only sticks when it pierces tough leathery skin like ours.
So in a wasp fight they are actually at least equal.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Hah! Just found Dave Cushman on this.

"Biting and Hair Pulling
These uses of the bees mandibles are fairly rare and I am uncertain as to whether it is a good or bad trait. I am hopeful that a link will be shown between this and "mite damaging" which will clinch the matter, but we must wait for the results of more research."