Honeybees generally attack only to defend their colony, but will also attack if they are seriously disturbed outside the nest. Common sources of attack stimulus for honeybees include alarm pheromone, vibrations, carbon dioxide, hair, and dark colors (Crane 1990).
Make sudden movements. Bees usually sting people for one of two reasons, and both of those reasons have to do with feeling threatened. They sting people who either wander too close to their nests… or startle them with sudden movements. If you see bees around you, try not to move too quickly.
So yes, when trying to defend their nests from intruders, bees sometimes accidentally sting their nestmates, but only because they mistake their sisters for intruders.
Don't panic if you encounter a stationary swarm of bees. The bees will sting only if threatened. But keep your distance. Moving swarms can pose a higher sting risk, and should be avoided.
Honeybees will likely even give you a warning before stinging you, so make sure you watch for these warning signs. One of the warning signs we call “bee bumping,” which is exactly what it sounds like: the honeybee will bump into you to show that it is getting agitated.
Bees do sting, occasionally. However, they usually only sting if they feel threatened.
* Bees decide whether to sting, or not to sting based on the presence and concentration of an alarm pheromone. The likelihood for each bee to sting depends on the pheromone concentration and is highest at intermediate concentrations.
Run. If a colony of bees thinks you're a predator, it first sends out a few guard bees to warn you away by "head butting" you, according to a guide by the U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service's Saguaro National Park.
So while bees cannot necessarily “smell” fear, they do have a way of detecting it and communicating that fear with the hive! One way bees do this is by emitting a specific pheromone to the rest of the hive, which is a chemical that alerts the rest of the colony that there is a threat.
Know what to do when a bee is near you: Don't swat at it or you could send it into defense mode. Rather, calmly move away in a straight line until you reach an enclosed shelter. Even then, some more aggressive bees may still sting you. Don't try to hide from bees by diving into water.
A honey bee that is away from the hive foraging for nectar or pollen will rarely sting, except when stepped on or roughly handled. Honey bees will actively seek out and sting when they perceive the hive to be threatened, often being alerted to this by the release of attack pheromones (below).
Australia has over 1,700 species of native bees. Only 11 of these species are stingless! These are the native honey-producing bees (Tetragonula - previously called Trigona -- and Austroplebeia). All of the other species of native bees in Australia can sting.
Bees also have a distaste for lavender oil, citronella oil, olive oil, vegetable oil, lemon, and lime. These are all topical defenses you can add to your skin to keep bees away. Unlike other flying insects, bees are not attracted to the scent of humans; they are just curious by nature.
Just run indoors as fast as possible. A bee can obtain speeds of from 12 to 15 miles per hour, but most healthy humans can outrun them. So, RUN!
Did You Know? If you look or smell like a flower, you are more likely to attract the attention of a bee. They love the smell of some sunscreens, shampoos, perfumes and aftershaves. They also love flowery prints and shiny jewelry and buckles.
Aggressive honey bees can chase you a long distance and reach speeds of up to 20 mph, according to the British Beekeepers Association. But “you can run faster, especially when motivated, than bees can fly after you,” Nieh said, because flying in a swarm, as opposed to flying solo, can slow bees.
Unreasonable fear of bees in humans may also have a detrimental effect on ecology. Bees are important pollinators, and when, in their fear, people destroy wild colonies of bees, they contribute to environmental damage and may also be the cause of the disappearing bees.
Most beekeepers wear protective suits and know when their bees are getting agitated. Teresa Welch of Bright Raven Farm and Apiary in Trumansburg says, “You can smell the attack pheromone scent they give off; it's somewhere between apples and bananas.” That's the time to blow smoke at them.
He found that bees “head butt” to stop the waggle dancers from trying to recruit others to forage at a dangerous location. (See Biologist Discovers 'Stop' Signal in Honey Bee Communication.)
As a general rule, a person will not be able to out-run these aggressive bees. The killer bees have been known to chase victims over large distances, and can fly relatively fast. If you are attacked by killer bees, the most important thing to do is protect your face and run indoors or get into a vehicle.
Bees don't smell fear. However, they detect fear pheromones released when an animal or human is afraid. Essentially, their olfactory system enables them to collect scents and establish their meaning. So, even though they don't smell fear directly, they have a keen sense of smell for perceived threats.
The worker bees of a hive can sting only once, because the stinger is barbed and the bees cannot remove it without pulling out their abdominal tissue. Bumblebees have smooth stingers that are easy to remove, so these bees can sting more than once, BeeSpotter reports.
If it's any consolation, stinging is lethal to the bee. A bee stings to defend her colony against intruders or if she perceives her own life is in certain jeopardy (only female bees have stingers). An individual bee can sting only once in her life and dies shortly afterward.