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Q. How long does a worker bee live?
A.
Essentially a worker bee lives about 6
weeks during the summer months. After emerging from the cell it
spends about 3 weeks in the hive where it does various tasks
such as feeding other bees, moving honey, cleaning the hive and
guarding the entrance. After 3 weeks the bees starts to fly from
the hive and forage for nectar, water and other products which
they bring back into the hive. The bee dies
after this period, having essentially worked itself to
death.
Q. Can all bees sting?
A.
There are 3 types of bees in the hive
- the queen
- worker bees (females)
- drones (males)
The queen has a sting but only
uses it to kill other queen bees. The queen can sting
repeatedly. However it is
rare for a queen to sting out with the hive. Worker bees
have a large barb on their sting and can only sting once. Drones do
not have a sting.
Q. Do bees die after they
sting?
A. The queen bee does not
die after using her sting. However, when the worker bee stings the
barb causes the sting to remain attached to the victim along
with the poison sack which was part of the bee's abdomen. The
bee dies shortly thereafter as a result of the damage caused
to its abdomen.
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