# Why do mosquito bites merely itch while bee stings are painful?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquito-bites-merely-itch-while-bee-stings-are-painful/136123>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [November 10, 2002, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquito-bites-merely-itch-while-bee-stings-are-painful/136123 "2002-11-10T09:18:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquito-bites-merely-itch-while-bee-stings-are-painful/136123/1 "2002-11-10T09:18:50Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Your immune system releases histamine, a protein involved in many allergic reactions…

Histamine is not a protein.

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**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquito-bites-merely-itch-while-bee-stings-are-painful/136123/2 "2002-11-10T09:20:30Z")

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And here’s a link to the report:

[http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmosquitobee.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmosquitobee.html)

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**Author:** ![Zelmph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/46a35a/32.png) [@Zelmph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zelmph)\
**Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquito-bites-merely-itch-while-bee-stings-are-painful/136123/3 "2002-11-13T09:02:41Z")

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Isn’t histamine an amine? If so, then it could be referred to as part of a protein, I suppose. 😃

Anyway, for those wanting to view the Cecil column referenced in this report, the link is wrong. It should be:

[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_206.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_206.html)

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquito-bites-merely-itch-while-bee-stings-are-painful/136123/4 "2002-11-13T17:33:23Z")

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Furthering **Zelmph(!)**'s note: It’s made from the amino acid S-histidine and histamine molecules are incorporated into protein complexes in cells for storage purposes. So virtually, but not quite, a protein (if you want to be really fussy).