# Can a dead bee still sting? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 5, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-still-sting/267711 "2004-10-05T19:31:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-still-sting/267711/1 "2004-10-05T19:31:41Z")
A small bee apparently died on my windowsill while trying to escape. The position it’s in actually is strangely beautiful - I want to coat the bee in resin and make a necklace pendant of it. I don’t know how careful I should be while handling it though - does a dead bee’s stinger still function? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-still-sting/267711/2 "2004-10-05T19:51:29Z")
Yes. I know the plural of anecdote is not “data,” but trust me on this one. Handle with care. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-still-sting/267711/3 "2004-10-05T20:07:28Z")
Inigo, I found your comment very funny for some reason. Probably because I’m tired. Amazon Floozy GOODNESS (I saw your picture, forget about hiding) here’s a link I found: [http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/bio00/bio00004.htm](http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/bio00/bio00004.htm) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-still-sting/267711/4 "2004-10-05T20:20:34Z")
“Ever been bit by a dead bee?” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-still-sting/267711/5 "2004-10-05T22:35:43Z")
Yes, you can still be stung by dead bees and wasps; you’d have to be quite unlucky to get a bad sting, as the insect isn’t alive to pump any significant amount of venom into you, but I suppose if you just happened to squash it in the wrong way… After a few days, they dessicate and are less likely to present a problem (you should embed the thing in resin ASAP, as it will start to shrivel and turn dull quite quickly. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-still-sting/267711/6 "2004-10-05T23:17:51Z")
**Reality Chuck** : The line is actually: “Wuz you ever bit by a dead bee?” To which I respond: “No, wuz you?” ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-still-sting/267711/7 "2004-10-06T00:46:47Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > **Reality Chuck** : > The line is actually: “Wuz you ever bit by a dead bee?” > To which I respond: “No, wuz you?” **Dex**. You’re getting senile. You weren’t in that movie. 😃 And you definitely didn’t play “Slim.” I think she said “Were you?” ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-still-sting/267711/8 "2004-10-06T00:54:12Z")
Anecdotal, and I hate to break up this roiling storm between the mods and admins… My mom stepped on a dead bee several years ago (one of those big drone honeybees, nothing to worry about otherwise - they are very non-aggressive). Ouch! She definitely got stung. Real bad. Dead bee. Bad sting. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-still-sting/267711/9 "2004-10-06T03:57:11Z")
I got stung several years ago when I stepped on a dead bee. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-still-sting/267711/10 "2004-10-06T04:12:34Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > **Dex**. You’re getting senile. You weren’t in that movie. 😃 And you definitely didn’t play “Slim.” > > I think she said “Were you?” Yeah, I checked and that’s her line. Now, I can picture Dex as Walter Brennan, but not Bacall. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-still-sting/267711/11 "2004-10-06T04:17:45Z")
Add one to the anecdote count, please. If we get enough, will that constitute quasi-data? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-still-sting/267711/12 "2004-10-06T05:40:03Z")
Bee researchers and beekeepers will tell you of pulling off a stinging bee, only to leave the stinger and venom sac stuck in the skin. (A bee’s stinger has barbs.) The sac keeps pumping, visibly. So, yes, a dead bee can sting, but not for very long. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-still-sting/267711/13 "2004-10-06T14:46:21Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > **Dex**. You’re getting senile. You weren’t in that movie. 😃 And you definitely didn’t play “Slim.” > > I think she said “Were you?” > **[To Have and Have Not (1944) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037382/)** > > To Have and Have Not: Directed by Howard Hawks. With Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan, Lauren Bacall, Dolores Moran. During World War II, American expatriate Harry Morgan helps transport a French Resistance leader and his beautiful wife to Martinique...