Bees Killing other bees

[leechmann]

First of all, how do bees kill other bees? Do they sting each other, and if they do, do they die too? Do they sting the drones when they are killing them in the fall? How about when they are defending the hive from robbery bees?

Thank You

[don2]

Most times they just don't let the drones come back in the hive. The bee that does the stinging does die. I don't know about the one that gets stung.I think the defending bees fight robber bees by other means, such as 3 or 4 defending bees gang up on a single robber bee and decapitate  her. Any one who knows I am wrong, feel free to correct me. d2 :)

[BeeMaster2]

Bees don't necessarily die from sting other bees. The below quote is from Wikipedia.

"Although it is widely believed that a worker honey bee can sting only once, this is a partial misconception: although the stinger is in fact barbed so that it lodges in the victim's skin, tearing loose from the bee's abdomen and leading to its death in minutes, this only happens if the skin of the victim is sufficiently thick, such as a mammal's.[1] Honey bees are the only hymenoptera with a strongly barbed sting, though yellow jackets and some other wasps have small barbs.

Bees with barbed stingers can often sting other insects without harming themselves. Queen honeybees and bees of many other species, including bumblebees and many solitary bees, have smooth stingers and can sting mammals repeatedly.[1]"

Bees don't sting drones to get them out of the hive. As mentioned below, the do not allow them to return. They will also drag them out of the hive. Quite often they will open the drone brood and remove them from their cell before the are fully developed or remove them right after they emerge. They are much weaker and easier to remove. The drones do not go easy, they grab on every edge they can. Quite often a bee will bee dragging a drone out of the hive and the drone will get one foot holding onto an edge of a board. The bee will pull so hard, using legs and wings, that when the foot releases, they both take off like they were shot by a slingshot.
If you watch your hives in the fall for any length of time, you will see this happen over and over.
Jim

[JackM]

I watched my bees this summer removing the drones.  At times 3 workers were dragging the very reluctant drone from the hive until the drone was literally pulled from the front of the hive.

Interestingly, not a single one seemed to be interested in the other hives near them.  And the timing of when they threw out the drones differed by the hive.

Yellow jackets they gang up on, seem to be stinging, but none seem to penetrate, eventually the YJ will go away.  I note the YJ's will hang out below the front of the hives where many if the bees die or where removals are left.  Almost an attractant, as the Wasps and YJ seem to like the dead stuff.

[Michael Bush]

>First of all, how do bees kill other bees?

Yes.

>Do they sting each other

Sometimes.  Yes.

> and if they do, do they die too?

Not usually.

> Do they sting the drones when they are killing them in the fall?

Yes.

> How about when they are defending the hive from robbery bees?

Sometimes.  Yes.  Usually they wrestle, pull hair and drag them off, but sometimes they sting them.