Why can a wasp only sting once and a bee more often?

Answer

Dear Justin,

It’s actually the other way around: a bee can only sting you once with its stinger, while a wasp can sting you several times with its stinger. The reason why the bee can only sting you once is simple: the bee’s stinger has barbs (like the tip of a harpoon). So if the bee stings its victim, the stinger will stick through the barbs in the victim’s skin or flesh. As a result, the bee’s stinger can no longer withdraw from the victim and she is in fact trapped. The result of this is that the bee naturally pulls on its stinger with all its might to get loose and fly back away, but because of the violent pulling of the bee, the stinger tears off its back body, causing the bee to be fatally injured and will die soon after. However, the torn stinger remains stuck in the victim and even pulls itself deeper into the wound!

The sting of wasps and bumblebees, on the other hand, is completely smooth (so there are no barbs on it) and therefore wasps and bumblebees can easily withdraw their stinger from their victim without hurting themselves. Of course they can then sting again afterwards!

Kind regards,
Thierry Backeljau