• @AgreeableLandscape@lemmy.ml
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          53 years ago

          To add to this: honey bees (assuming they’re not the “africanized” variant AKA “killer bees”) will only really sting if they or their hive is being threatened. Their stingers are barbed and when they sting a large animal like a human, the stinger almost always get caught and ends up killing them as it is pulled out of their body when they fly away, so they don’t usually sting out of spite.

          Unlike most wasps and hornets, which have smooth stingers that aren’t at risk of getting caught. Most wasps and hornets are also carnivores/insectivores so they’re naturally a lot more aggressive. They’re still importantly ecologically though.