Bumblebees (genus Bombus) are pollinators often seen navigating gardens and fields. These insects are responsible for the pollination of both wild and cultivated plants. Understanding their biology provides a clear answer regarding their defense mechanisms: whether they sting, bite, or employ both methods.
The Female Sting: Mechanism and Purpose
The ability to sting is restricted to female bumblebees, including queens and worker bees. The stinger is a modified ovipositor, an organ used for laying eggs, meaning male bees (drones) are physically incapable of stinging. When a female bumblebee stings, she injects venom to defend herself or her colony.
The physical structure of the bumblebee stinger differs from that of the European honey bee. A bumblebee’s stinger is smooth and lacks the barbs found on the honey bee stinger. This smooth design allows the bumblebee to withdraw the stinger without tearing its abdomen, meaning it can sting multiple times. Stinging is primarily reserved for protecting the nest, which can be located in the ground or in dense vegetation.
Do Bumblebees Bite?
Bumblebees possess strong mandibles, or jaws, located on their head, meaning they can technically bite. These mouthparts are not used as a primary defensive weapon against large threats like humans. The mandibles are non-venomous and are employed as tools for tasks related to nest maintenance and foraging.
The bees use their mandibles to chew wax for building or repairing nest structures. They also use them to scrape and manipulate pollen off their bodies and to help in “nectar robbing,” where they bite a hole in the base of a deep flower to access nectar. While a provoked bee may attempt to pinch skin with its mandibles, this poses no threat to human safety in the same way a venomous sting does.
Temperament and Sting Triggers
Bumblebees exhibit a docile temperament, making them far less aggressive than many species of wasps or the European honey bee. They prefer to flee rather than engage in confrontation and will only sting when they perceive an immediate threat to themselves or their nest. A threat typically involves a direct disturbance of their colony, often inadvertently caused by gardening, mowing, or walking near an unseen nest entrance.
Triggers for a sting involve a bee being accidentally trapped, such as when it is squeezed between clothing and skin or stepped on. While foraging for pollen and nectar, a bumblebee is unconcerned with human presence and will ignore people moving nearby. Maintaining distance from their nesting site and avoiding sudden movements ensures peaceful coexistence with these pollinators.