# Was you ever stung by a dead bee? I think I just was. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337 "2012-08-23T02:21:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/1 "2012-08-23T02:21:16Z")
Can bees do that? I swatted a crawly feeling, turned out to be bee. Felt sting after I smushed it after it landed, but didn’t feel any sting at first, but only after as it fell to the ground shmushed. I gotta know to help keep me off the sauce. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/2 "2012-08-23T02:39:48Z")
Yep - as a kid, I accidentally stepped on a dead honeybee that had drowned at the swimming pool and been splashed onto the deck surrounding it. Sure enough, it stung me (or I managed to step on the stinger and squash the venom glands into my foot). ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/3 "2012-08-23T02:40:41Z")
According to [this site](http://honeybee.tamu.edu/page1/page1.html) (first question), they can. Well, sort of, since if they are dead they can’t actually sting you; rather, the stinger is pressed into your body (possibly some reflex if they just died). Also, [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=90324) is an old SDMB thread about the same topic (no cites but anecdotes). ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/4 "2012-08-23T03:19:47Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I gotta know to help keep me off the sauce. nm ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/5 "2012-08-23T04:02:55Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Yep - as a kid, I accidentally stepped on a dead honeybee that had drowned at the swimming pool and been splashed onto the deck surrounding it. > > Sure enough, it stung me (or I managed to step on the stinger and squash the venom glands into my foot). Yup, did exactly the same when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/6 "2012-08-23T04:07:12Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Yep - as a kid, I accidentally stepped on a dead honeybee that had drowned at the swimming pool and been splashed onto the deck surrounding it. > > Sure enough, it stung me (or I managed to step on the stinger and squash the venom glands into my foot). Ditto, as a child. And it was also beside our swimming pool. In fact, it’s the only time that I’ve ever been stung by a bee. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/7 "2012-08-23T04:37:32Z")
I got stung while driving. It was a wasp actually, and it hit me in the neck while I was driving my roofless jeep. I thought it just smashed into me hard, but it _really_ hurt, and later swelled a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/8 "2012-08-23T04:51:42Z")
“Was you ever stung by a dead bee?” Boy, was I ever! ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/9 "2012-08-23T04:54:49Z")
Indeed, the only time I’ve been ‘stung’ was actually while swimming. Said dead bee was floating in the water when my arm went into it. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/10 "2012-08-23T05:57:15Z")
For those too young to know OP’s reference, [here’s Lauren Bacall returning his own question to Walter Brennan](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSgqrrWyF0Y). ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/11 "2012-08-23T16:05:56Z")
Was you ever _bit_ by a dead bee? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/12 "2012-08-23T16:15:07Z")
I was once stung by my pet bee, Eric. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/13 "2012-08-23T18:13:51Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Was you ever _bit_ by a dead bee? I’ve always been puzzled by that. Was it to show that the Brennan character was a couple bricks shy of a load, or is there a metaphor that I’m missing? ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/14 "2012-08-23T18:51:32Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > I’ve always been puzzled by that. Was it to show that the Brennan character was a couple bricks shy of a load, or is there a metaphor that I’m missing? I’ve always wondered that too. Nobody is ever _bit_ by a dead bee. That character was a few bricks short but Lauren Bacall was so cool she was even willing to play along with the town drunk, the guy nobody else in town (except Bogart) was willing to have anything to do with. For the original question, I have been keeping bees for a few years now and I handle a LOT of dead bees (I’m not very good at my hobby.) I’ve never been strung, or bit, by a dead bee. Live bees have stung me plenty and left their stingers pumping away. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/15 "2012-08-24T18:01:03Z")
> [@Michael63129](#): > > According to [this site](http://honeybee.tamu.edu/page1/page1.html) (first question), they can. Well, sort of, since if they are dead they can’t actually sting you; rather, the stinger is pressed into your body (possibly some reflex if they just died). Also, [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=90324) is an old SDMB thread about the same topic (no cites but anecdotes). Thanks for the cites. Do really have a memory of 10-year old threads, just of bee ones, or are you more considerate and efficient by actually using the SD index? ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/16 "2012-08-24T21:57:59Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Thanks for the cites. Do really have a memory of 10-year old threads, just of bee ones, or are you more considerate and efficient by actually using the SD index? Well, actually, it was none of those (definitely not the first, as I joined just this year and lurked for maybe a year before that); I found it on Google while searching for “dead bee stings” or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/17 "2012-08-25T02:12:17Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I was once stung by my pet bee, Eric. Only half stung, surely. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/18 "2012-08-25T04:25:35Z")
At the beach, stepped on it near the water, in the sand, ouch. Perhaps it was only “mostly dead”. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-you-ever-stung-by-a-dead-bee-i-think-i-just-was/632337/19 "2012-08-25T04:52:53Z")
Bring out your dead.