> Honey bees are known to leave their stingers embedded in tender flesh once they sting you and fly away
This is an accident of our physiology as honey bees sting other species multiple times, just like a wasp can to us. They don’t except to rip in half or end their life when they sting us. This is not an adaptation specifically ensuring group survival, it is a tragedy exclusive to encountering mammals near the hive.
Given smooth stingers exist, and given the pump mechanism is self contained within the stinger, it seems more likely that this was evolved to deliver higher doses of venom to vertebrates.
The best method for dealing with honeybee stings is to use a credit card (or your finger nail, knife, &c) to "shave" the stinger flush with the skin. This separates the two barbsaws (from the poison-pumping motor action) reducing chemical embedding of poison (and physical barbs).
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[ 0.19 ms ] story [ 7.3 ms ] threadThis is an accident of our physiology as honey bees sting other species multiple times, just like a wasp can to us. They don’t except to rip in half or end their life when they sting us. This is not an adaptation specifically ensuring group survival, it is a tragedy exclusive to encountering mammals near the hive.
Given smooth stingers exist, and given the pump mechanism is self contained within the stinger, it seems more likely that this was evolved to deliver higher doses of venom to vertebrates.
–retired hobbyist beekeeper