Randy > Since a bee in flight runs a body temp of around 105F, I would suspect that its venom is likely more
heat stable.

Is that 105F a whole-body temperature or just the thorax? There's data supporting that the loops in the aorta help regulate abdominal temps.  Since the venom sac is low in the abdomen it may be protected from high heat that would otherwise denature the toxins. 


>The heart and aorta of the honey bee are arranged in loops within the narrow petiole between the thorax and abdomen, so that heat produced within the thorax is not transferred to the abdomen (Heinrich and Esch, 1994). As expected from this morphology, there is no evidence for effects of temperature on heat exchange
between thorax and abdomen as occurs in bumblebees (Heinrich, 1980b; Roberts and Harrison, 1999).

> Environmental and genetic influences on flight metabolic rate in the honey bee, Apis mellifera
Jon F. Harrison*, Jennifer H. Fewell



Bill Hesbach
Cheshire CT

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