biology question #3964

samantha, a 16 year old female from Sarnia asks on October 15, 2007,

Q:

Is it true that only female bees can sting you? And if it is, why is that?

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the answer

Barry Shell answered on October 15, 2007, A:

It is true. 99% of all bees (and most insects by the way) are female. In any bee colony there are only a few drone males who have no job at all except to have sex with the queen in order to create new queens for new colonies.

Only the female worker bees (all workers are females in the bee world) and the queen can sting. Males cannot sting. Anyway, you will probably never see a male bee in your life, since they are so rare.

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