# Wasp, bees won't sting if you hold your breath **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 28, 2011, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120 "2011-06-28T09:07:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/1 "2011-06-28T09:07:26Z")
My grandmother told me this when I was a kid. Hold your breath and a curious wasp or bee won’t sting. Closes your pores and they can’t sting you. Also, you tend to stand still when holding your breath. 😃 This only applies to a single bee or wasp buzzing around you. Not a whole nest or hive that you’ve disturbed and pissed off. A quick google shows other people’s grandmothers told them the same thing. Any truth in this?? FWIW I’ve practiced this all my life and haven’t been stung since I was 9. I think it has more to do with standing still. But the legend is your pores close when you hold your breath. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/2 "2011-06-28T09:11:49Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Any truth in this?? None whatsoever. > [@](#): > > FWIW I’ve practiced this all my life and haven’t been stung since I was 9. I haven’t practiced it, and I have not been stung by a bee for over 20 years. Which proves what we all knew: kids are far more likely to be stung by bees than adults are. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/3 "2011-06-28T09:55:28Z")
i think the real question here is whether or not one’s pores close when holding one’s breath, and if bees desist once they do. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/4 "2011-06-28T10:22:28Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > i think the real question here is whether or not one’s pores close when holding one’s breath They don’t. > [@](#): > > and if bees desist once they do. They don’t. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/5 "2011-06-28T10:37:34Z")
The standing still probably helps, however, and holding your breath probably does indeed make you more likely to keep still. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/6 "2011-06-28T10:38:08Z")
what i know is that bees bite defensively if disturbed (most die if they do.) i’ve been stung because i almost quashed one among the bushes or disturbed the nest. in all cases, there was some form of incursion in my part. i don’t get stung when walking past bee houses minding my own business, or when standing still and there’s a swarm above me (experienced this only once in deep jungle.) ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/7 "2011-06-28T10:40:45Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > My grandmother told me this when I was a kid. Hold your breath and a curious wasp or bee won’t sting. Well, a curious bee or wasp almost certainly won’t sting you anyway. Most stings occur either close to the nest, or due to accidental contact. However, there may be some truth in this, beekeepers report that defensive bees are attracted to the face. It’s possible the bees are following a trail of carbon dioxide, other insects such as mosquitos do this. Holding your breath when close to a hive or after swatting at a bee or wasp may actually reduce your chances of being stung. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/8 "2011-06-28T10:56:23Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > what i know is that bees bite defensively if disturbed (most die if they do.) Nonsense. Stingless bees may bite, but they don’t die when they do so. Bees with stings don’t bite defensively, they sting. > [@](#): > > i don’t get stung when … standing still and there’s a swarm above me When bees are swarming, their sting behavior is heavily inhibited. You \*really \*need to make an effort to get a member of a swarm to sting you. This is why people can wear swarms as suits with minimal risk. ---
**Author:** ![BowlOfDucks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@BowlOfDucks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BowlOfDucks)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/9 "2011-06-28T10:58:32Z")
Many insects home in on carbon dioxide. If you stop breathing out, they’ll stop homing in on you carbon dioxide. Works very well against crane flies. Works fairly well against bees and wasps Works slightly against moths And doesn’t work at all against flies Though I wouldn’t stay still. I’d walk away from my carbon dioxide cloud. Though if there’s wind, it probably isn’t necessary. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/10 "2011-06-28T11:00:08Z")
[The American Bee-keepers Manual (1850)](http://books.google.com.au/books?id=O05JAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA249&dq=hold+breath+bees&hl=en&ei=DbIJTrqCAqvomAWgzIHIAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false) p249: \*There is a class of persons who are seldom stung by bees, when other people, placed in the same situation, would not escape without paying dearly for their temerity. The reason of bees showing this partiality, is merely to the odor of different people’s breath. Bees are very quick to take offence when approached by a person whose breathe is unpleasant to them. In consequence of the breath being offensive, it is best to suppress respiration as much as possible, when holding the head directly over them, or when the breath would be likely to be scented by them. \* ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/11 "2011-06-28T11:03:56Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Nonsense. Stingless bees may bite, but they don’t die when they do so. Bees with stings don’t bite defensively, they sting. i meant sting. most die when they do but some wasps have reusable stings (those fierce wasps in japan that attack regular beehives.) ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/12 "2011-06-28T11:17:51Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/13 "2011-06-28T11:19:13Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > i meant sting. most die when they do but some wasps have reusable stings (those fierce wasps in japan that attack regular beehives.) Bees have barbed stingers which stay in the victim. Bees eat pollen and nectar and their stings are for the defense of the hive, so it does not matter if an individual dies after stinging. Wasps and hornets have smooth stingers. They are predators who use their venom to immobilize prey. They survive after stinging because they as individuals expect to use their stingers often. I was attacked by an entire hive of yellow jackets when I was five. Couldn’t walk for a week, and I am told that I am now likely to die if such a thing is repeated. Haven’t been stung by a bee or a wasp in over forty years. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/14 "2011-06-28T11:22:39Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > i meant sting. most die when they do No, they do not. The \*Apis \*bees are exceptional in that stinging is usually fatal. > [@](#): > > but some wasps have reusable stings (those fierce wasps in japan that attack regular beehives.) To the best of my knowledge \*all \*wasps and hornets have reusable stings. Certainly the vast majority do, as do the vast majority of bees. So saying that most bees die when they sting and some wasp do not is just plain wrong. Most bees do not die when they sting and most wasps, probably all, have reusable stings. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/15 "2011-06-28T11:26:05Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Haven’t been stung by a bee or a wasp in over forty years. So to address the OP, you’ve held your breath for over 40 years then…? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![xoferew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/e9a140/32.png) [@xoferew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xoferew)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/16 "2011-06-28T11:39:46Z")
> [@BowlOfDucks](#): > > Many insects home in on carbon dioxide. If you stop breathing out, they’ll stop homing in on you carbon dioxide. > > Works very well against crane flies. > Works fairly well against bees and wasps > Works slightly against moths > And doesn’t work at all against flies Wait wait wait wait! As someone who hates and fears and loathes moths… I thought at least their horrific attacks on me were accidental. You’re saying they are actually homing in on me?! As directed by some biological instinct?! WHY!!! Or are there certain vicious moth species I have yet to encounter and most species aren’t actually trying to fly INTO MY NOSE AND MOUTH?! (I hate butterflies, too.) ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/17 "2011-06-28T12:01:16Z")
> [@xoferew](#): > > Or are there certain vicious moth species I have yet to encounter [Heh](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nJLGJOxc1is/TPViZLaey5I/AAAAAAAAADY/9vl5ESU0thM/s1600/Calyptra+thalictri.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/18 "2011-06-28T12:20:33Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Bees are very quick to take offence when approached by a person whose breathe is unpleasant to them. I think this is an old wasp’s tale. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/19 "2011-06-28T13:06:45Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > FWIW I’ve practiced this all my life and haven’t been stung since I was 9. I think it has more to do with standing still.. I never practiced it, I’m 46, and I’ve been stung only once, when I was a teen, by a bee smashed into the car I was a passenger of. And I spent quite a lot of time in the countryside. So, your experience isn’t really an evidence of anything. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120/20 "2011-06-28T17:25:50Z")
The cite from the beekeeper guide is very interesting, and I’d love to see if there’s any research on that more recently than 1850. I have a hard time believing that bees would care about how your breath smells. Overall, I think holding your breath is not so important, but holding still - or at least moving slowly and calmly - is key. Both wasps and bees only sting humans because they feel threatened in some way. As long as you’re non-threatening, they see you as part of the landscape and not worthy of their attention. I’ve frequently been a camp counselor for kids events and you can count on yellow jackets showing up to each meal. I tell every kid at the beginning of camp “If you start freaking out and waving your hands around, I’ll sting you even if the wasp doesn’t.” I haven’t had to carry out that threat yet - they see pretty quickly how holding still and remaining calm works. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wasp-bees-wont-sting-if-you-hold-your-breath/587120.md?page=2)