Only the female of each species will sting. Honey bees have barbs at the end of the stinger which catch in the sting and the stinger becomes dislodged from the bee. After that the bee dies. Wasps can sting more than once.

A bee’s weapon is a complex mechanism designed to remain behind in the victim and capable of injecting poison for up to 10 minutes. A bee’s sting is painful and can cause serious erythmatic reaction. Two factors vital to the venom’s successful attack are mellitin and phospholipase A. The mellitin is able to penetrate the cell wall of cells while phospholipase A breaks the phospholipids of cells apart, resulting in the destruction of the cells.

Blood flow is shut down at the bee sting site due to the presence of norepinephrine in the venom. This gives the characteristic blanching of the site. The site becomes red and swells because of the histamine release from the mast cells like those found in the mosquito bite.

Stings from bees, wasps, and hornets on the other hand are uncomfortable and painful experience. It can cause enormous erythematic reaction, swelling, itchiness and pain. In a severe case a sting could lead to anaphylactic shock. It can develop within a few seconds or minutes. The victim may have puffiness around the eyes, swelling of the face, lips and tongue and an itchy red skin rash. He or she may develop wheezing and severe breathing difficulties and may loose consciousness. A victim with anaphylactic shock needs an injection of epinephrine and must be given oxygen as soon as possible.