# Can a dead bee sting? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 1, 2001, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-sting/84702 "2001-10-01T02:25:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-sting/84702/1 "2001-10-01T02:25:25Z")
Others have asked me this as well… Can a dead bee (honey, wasp, etc.) sting? Is the stinger a spring-loaded mechanism? Or, is it a conscious act? What about bees which can sting multiple times, or so I’ve heard some can. Not a bee fan at all… - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-sting/84702/2 "2001-10-01T04:11:37Z")
I had always heard that this was the case. Certainly after a honeybee stings, its detached stinger continues to pump as the bee crawls away. In larger animals, the nervous system and muscles remain responsive to electrical stimulation for a time after death. So it seems reasonable, and there’s rumors to back it up. Wish I could do better than that, but it’s enough to keep me cautious. ---
**Author:** ![Ottoerotic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ottoerotic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ottoerotic)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-sting/84702/3 "2001-10-01T05:52:00Z")
I had a friend in high school who, in study hall claimed to kill a bee and use the back end of it to sting the person in front of him. Usually i would question anything i heard from someone who would actually try this, but i saw the swelling on the kids neck and it sure as heck looked like a bee sting. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-sting/84702/4 "2001-10-01T06:33:35Z")
When I was a child, I found a dead bee floating in our swimming pool, and flicked it out onto the pool edging. Then I forgot about it. My brother put his hand down on it as he was climbing out of the pool and was stung. I was a very unpopular brother for a while, for not disposing of the damn thing properly. So the answer is yes. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-sting/84702/5 "2001-10-01T06:49:13Z")
I beleive the stinger remains “active” for a little while after the bee is dead - it doesn’t actually go for you, but you happen to jam it into yourself somehow, and it will do it’s thing. Same goes for porqupine quills I think (pulled a few out of some road kill last week, and was very cautious about it). ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-sting/84702/6 "2001-10-01T07:33:50Z")
Reminds me of that scene in [_To Have And Have Not_](http://www.filmsite.org/toha.html), starring Humphrey Bogart (Harry Morgan), Lauren Bacall (Slim) and Walter Brennan (Eddie): > [@](#): > > \*\*Eddie: Say, was you ever bit by a dead bee? > > Beauclerc: I have no memory of ever being bit by any kind of bee. > > Slim: (interjecting) Were _you_? > > Eddie: You’re alright, lady. You and Harry’s the only one that ever… > > Morgan: Don’t forget Frenchie. > > Eddie: That’s right. You and Harry and Frenchie. You know, you got to be careful of dead bees if you’re goin’ around barefooted, 'cause if you step on them they can sting you just as bad as if they was alive, especially if they was kind of mad when they got killed. I bet I been bit a hundred times that way. > > Slim: You have? Why don’t you bite them back? > > Eddie: That’s what Harry always says. But I ain’t got no stinger.\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-sting/84702/7 "2001-10-01T13:17:01Z")
**Fear Itself** : I was going to make the THaHN ref, but you did a better job of it. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-sting/84702/8 "2001-10-01T15:27:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jinx \* > **What about bees which can sting multiple times, or so I’ve heard some can.** All bees and wasps can sting multiple times. The only species that can’t is the honey bee, which leaves its stinger in and dies. Cecil recently commented on this and there’s a thread on Comments in this regard. ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-sting/84702/9 "2001-10-01T15:28:32Z")
Another stingee weighing in: Yep. I found a dead bee on the ground at my Grandparents house. I picked it up, and wondered whether it could sting you. I carefully touched the stinger. For a moment, nothing. Then, yep, the poison kicked in. Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Swede\_Hollow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Swede\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swede_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-dead-bee-sting/84702/10 "2001-10-02T00:55:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Eddie: That’s right. You and Harry and Frenchie. You know, you got to be careful of dead bees if you’re goin’ around barefooted, 'cause if you step on them they can sting you just as bad as if they was alive, especially if they was kind of mad when they got killed. I bet I been bit a hundred times that way. I stepped on a dead bee and I got stung. My foot wouldn’t fit my shoes for almost a week (I’m a bit allergic to bee stings).