You know how bees protect themselves by singing people? Well if they die once they sting someone how does that protect them? Really. If they're gonna die by stinging someone why do they do it to protect themselves?
Muc L<3VE,
Brooke
2007-06-18 14:22:26 · 8 answers · asked by -♥, Much Love 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
a worker's life, it's expendable.
well actually...all those bees going out to protect the hive can't reproduce anyway. so it doesn't really matter if they live or die, just that they protect the hive and the queen--the only reproducing bee in the hive; it's all about "Kin Selection"
2007-06-18 14:27:31 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Well bees don't really protect themselves by stinging people.
While it is true that once they sting they die .It is so because once a bee stings its intestines along with other internal organs get left behind with the stinger .
By giving up its own life to sting somebody it really isn't protecting itself it is protecting its hive and the queen.
Their lives are expendable because most worker bees live
around three weeks in the summer and in spring.In the winter they can lve from 3-5 months.Most of them die working. They are also considered expendable because all of the worker bees are sterile females and they are unable to reproduce.
In the bee world ALL of the worker bees protect their queen which is the most valuable asset to their hive.
This is so because the queen can choose to give birth to a potential mate or another bee at any time she chooses.
Unlike worker bees the queen can live up to 5 years during which she produces thousands of other worker bees.
The worker's job is simple :
Tend to the queen
Tend to the larvae
Collect nectar
make honey for the larvae
Protect the queen and offspring with their life.
So you see when a bee kills itself to sting it is protecting the queen and the hive because it is not in the bees"mentality" to protect itself,But rather they team up to protect their nest and their queen which if it was to die the whole colony would die.
Hope this answered your question
2007-06-18 22:02:39 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
They die to save the colony, not themselves. If they sting someone or some animal, the thing will go away from the hive. Dwarf puffer fish die if they puff up, but they don't live in groups, so I don't know why they die.
2007-06-19 00:44:25 · answer #3 · answered by Cheetahgal95 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They have the sting to protect the hive, and the genetic material it contains. They only die if they sting something tough, like skin, and the barbed sting stays in there. If they sting something softer, like another insect, they don't lose the sting.
2007-06-18 21:43:56 · answer #4 · answered by Labsci 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bees don't sting to protect themselves. They do it to protect the colony. The bee dies, but it has helped to avert danger for the other bees and the nest.
2007-06-18 21:32:24 · answer #5 · answered by Elliott J 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bees don't think like our society. To them, the entire hive is much more important than their own lives. They sacrifice themselves for the greater good.
I doubt they fear death the way you or I would - but they do seem to know that they only have one shot at it because they don't just sting at the first provocation.
2007-06-18 21:41:20 · answer #6 · answered by ZeroByte 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well its kinda like anything to keep things away from the queen bee not so much to protect themselves.....
I hope that helps a bit...
2007-06-18 21:30:17 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
well...im not sure they know they will die after the sting!!
2007-06-18 21:26:07 · answer #8 · answered by charlies angel 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋