For those who are afraid of bees, settling down for a picnic or going for a walk in the countryside can be a stressful occasion.
But being bothered by two of them is better than one, according to a new study, as they are less likely to sting when in a pair.
Researchers from Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse looked at the differences in bees’ stinging behaviour when alone or with another bee.
They collected honeybees from ten different hives and placed them in ‘arenas’ where they were met with different scenarios.
Each scenario contained a 3D printed ‘dummy’ that was designed in a way that meant bees would not lose their stingers when attacking.
Analysis revealed that individual bees varied in their likelihood to sting, indicating that some are inherently more aggressive than others.
Certain conditions – such as the introduction of an ‘alarm pheromone’, which could indicate a nest is under attack – led to a higher rate of stings.
However, the team found that bees were less likely to sting when in a pair.
Writing in the journal Royal Society Open Science the team said: ‘In ‘The bear and the bees’, a fifteenth-century cautionary tale about the danger of giving way to anger, a bear overturns beehives after being stung by a bee and is consequently chased by thousands of them.
‘This is but one example of the prominence of honeybee mass-stinging behaviour.
‘In this study, we brought the focus back to individual bees, within the context of the collective.
‘We also studied the impact of social factors, namely the presence of the main alarm pheromone component IAA, of another bee or both, on the stinging responses of individuals.
‘Predictably, the presence of IAA increased the likelihood to sting. On the other hand, the presence of another bee reduced the likelihood to sting.
‘This effect may seem counter-intuitive given the belief that larger honeybee colonies are more aggressive.’
