The video discusses the impact of bee stings on humans, the mechanisms behind a bee's decision to sting, and the ways bees defend themselves. It explains that honeybees, when they sting, inject a venomous toxin called melatonin, which causes painful effects. If a person is allergic to bee stings, they are allergic to this toxin. The longer the stinger remains in the skin, the more melatonin is injected, causing the area to become itchy and swollen. The video also mentions the concept of "bee therapy" or B Venom Therapy, a medical treatment involving receiving multiple bee stings, which is controversial and not backed by scientific evidence.
1. Honey bees sting humans when we approach their hives or threaten them with aggressive or reckless behavior.
2. The stinger of a honey bee is made of two barbed landsets which can act as tiny hooks.
3. When a honey bee stings, it inserts its stinger into the skin, and the stinger cannot be pulled out.
4. The venomous toxin called melatonin in a bee sting gives the sting its painful effect.
5. If you're allergic to bee stings, it's the melatonin that you're allergic to.
6. Stingless bees cannot sting. They are unable to sting in some species and in some families of bees.
7. Stingless bees defend themselves by biting.
8. Stingless hives have been known to consist of anywhere between three thousand to eighty thousand workers.
9. Bees base their decisions about whether to sting or not almost solely on the amount of alarm pheromone in the atmosphere.
10. Bees hold two internal thresholds that measure the pheromone's level. One that tells them when to begin stinging and one that tells them when to stop.
11. The average adult human can withstand roughly one thousand stings.
12. Wasp stings are made up of a completely different set of toxins compared to bee stings.
13. Hornets are infected with parasites that live inside their bodies, causing them to drastically alter their behavior.
14. The scientific name for the pointy end of a bee is the ovipositor, which is a tube-like organ used to help maneuver its eggs.
15. Queen bees, the lone reproducers within the colony, do not have the same ovipositors as your average worker bee.
16. Worker bees can use their ovipositors for their traditional purpose if a hive becomes queenless.
17. Elephants are terrified of bees and will react wildly to these tiny insects.
18. Therapy with B venom, also known as bee venom therapy, involves receiving up to 40 stings in a single session.
19. Bee venom therapy is thought to trigger an anti-inflammatory response in the body, potentially benefiting people with muscular conditions like MS.
20. A clinical trial in 2005 compared people with MS who received B venom therapy every week with those who received no treatment. The results showed no difference between the two groups.