{"id":629149,"date":"2026-10-13T08:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T08:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/629149\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T08:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T08:42:10","slug":"scientists-solve-mystery-behind-honeybees-sting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/629149\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists solve mystery behind honeybee’s sting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian scientists have uncovered the mechanism that allows a honeybee’s stinger to continue to pump venom after the bee flies away. <\/p>\n

The breakthrough will be cold comfort to those who have had the misfortune of swiping at a stinging bee, only for the pain to continue.<\/p>\n

But for the scientists at Macquarie University and University of New South Wales who helped crack the mystery, it was five years well spent.<\/p>\n

“It’s been a monumental effort,” lead author of the study laying out the work, Fiorella Ramirez-Esquivel told AAP. <\/p>\n

“Sometimes as scientists you don’t get to dig in as far as you want to. But this one was a really good, meaty project.”<\/p>\n

The team is working on an innovative new method to fight American Foulbrood. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Researchers have known honeybees empty their venom sacs into a chamber using small pumps since the early 20th century. <\/p>\n

But the pioneering study, published in US scientific journal PNAS, is the first to expose, and film, how stingers continue to pump after they have come free.<\/p>\n

Using high-speed video, Dr Ramirez-Esquivel revealed how two tiny, specially shaped valves act like pistons to continually pump venom. <\/p>\n

The valves change shape to form a parachute-like seal during the downstroke and collapse to minimise back flow on the upstroke. <\/p>\n

“The unique geometry of the valves is the key,” Ramirez-Esquivel said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A bee sting embedded in silicone. (Source: University of NSW)<\/p>\n

“They act as collapsible pistons and \u2013 by pumping in opposite directions \u2013 they’re able to deliver a continuous flow of venom.”<\/p>\n

The authors hope the design, which they replicated on a 3D printed model, could have applications for medical technologies.<\/p>\n

“People have suggested to us that it could be useful in designing something like an insulin pump,” Dr Ramirez-Esquivel said. <\/p>\n

The work was finicky and, at times, grim \u2013 from capturing the insects, to pulling their stingers free using forceps. <\/p>\n

“I only got stung one time when I was trying to catch bees outside,” Ramirez-Esquivel said. <\/p>\n

“I missed with my little jar, and she got a bit upset with me, which is very fair.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian scientists have uncovered the mechanism that allows a honeybee’s stinger to continue to pump venom after the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[50,111,139,69,147],"class_list":["post-629149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-animals","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}