Western honey bee Since workers are not fully sexually developed, they do not mate with drones and thus can only produce haploid (male) offspring. Queens and workers have a modified ovipositor, a stinger, with which they defend the hive. Unlike bees of any other genus and the queens of their own species, the stinger of worker honey bees is barbed. Contrary to popular belief, a bee does not always die soon after stinging; this misconception is based on the fact that a bee will usually die after stinging a human or other mammal. The stinger and its venom sac, with musculature and a
National Honey Bee Day National Honey Bee Day National Honey Bee Day (formerly National Honey Bee Awareness Day) is an awareness day started by beekeepers in United States to build community awareness of the bee industry, through education and promotion. According to its organizers, the National Honey Bee Day program started with a simple concept: The event was started in 2009, by a small group of beekeepers who petitioned for and obtained a formal proclamation by the USDA honoring honey bees and beekeeping. In 2010, a non-profit, Pennsylvania Apiculture Inc. was organized to better facilitate and promote the observance. The original date of observation