At 02:31 PM 9/2/05 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>I still do not believe a stinger is long enough to reach an artery. Have you
>ever looked at a stinger? Nor more than 3/32 of
>an inch. Arteries are deeper under the skin than this. Also a bee does not
>bury the stinger full depth. Most stingers only

Stings will work themselves deeper fairly quickly if you don't remove them-
the muscles work pair of lancets in tandem in such a way as to cause them
to "dig in" all the while squeezing out venom. Ingenious, really- you gotta
admire the design :)

Whether stingers can eventually bury themselves deep enough to hit an
artery, I don't know- and whether there'd be any venon left by then, I
don't know. Of course, most people remove stingers as soon as possible
rather than letting them bury themselves to their full depth. Perhaps if
you got stung in the right (wrong) place and left it in for a while, the
stinger might reach arterial blood while still injecting venom. This might
be more likely to happen to people with thin skins, but there is not a lot
of evidence of any people like that on this list...

George-

---------------------------------------
George & Nancy Fergusson
Sweet Time Apiary
326 Jefferson Road
Whitefield Maine 04353
207-549-5991
http://www.sweettimeapiary.com/

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