what is the chemical in bees stings?
343111
(m)\n\nStingers are effective weapons because they deliver a venom that causes pain when injected into the skin. The major chemical responsible for the pain of a honey bee sting is called melittin; it stimulates the nerve endings of pain receptors in the skin. The result is a very painful sensation, which begins as a sharp pain that lasts a few minutes and then becomes a dull ache. Even up to a few days later, the tissue may still be sensitive to the touch.
635500
bee venom contains many sorts of peptides. Peptides are amino acids. I'm not sure if this is signifigantly affects their PH. I do not think bee venom does what it does based on PH alone, if that helps you. I would expect it to be an acid milder than human saliva.\n\nI am not an expert. I just googled it.
672199
Ingredients from MSDS/Label  \nChemical CAS No / Unique ID Percent \nFragrance(s)/perfume(s) 000000-00-1  \nColor protection/processing agent 000000-27-8  \nSodium sulfate anhydrous 015124-09-1  \nCleaning agent(s) 999999-47-1  \nFabric brightening agent 999999-59-7  \nSodium silicates (unspecified) 999999-62-2  \nSoil suspending agent(s) 999999-62-3  \nSudsing agent 999999-62-4  \nWater softeners (complex sodium phosphates/sodium carbonate) 999999-80-2
80544
Well actually only some bees can sting people, and only sometimes do stinging bees die after they sting, contrary to popular belief. \n\nThere are many species of stingless bees. All the bees native to Central America are stingless. Fourteen of the 1600 Australian native bee species are stingless.\n\nThe stinger is a modified oviposter, or organ for laying eggs. Therefore, the male or drone bees are stingless. There are species of solitary bees where every female is fertile, that are also stingless bees. \n\nThe stinger was evolved for bee to bee combat, and only when bees sting mammals do the barbs in the bee get caught in the animal, and this causes some of the internal organs to be pulled out of the bee after stinging. Bees that sting other things besides mammals usually do not die. \n\nA close relative to bees, the social wasps, always have "unbarbed" stingers and can sting as often as they like (there are other wasps, like parasitic wasps, that have no stinger). Hornets, a term for some large wasp species, have unbarbed stingers, as do yellow jackets, which are small wasp species (actually, according to 7. they are not really unbarbed, but the barbs are short enough that the stinger can be pulled out without killing the insect). \n\nThere are even some bees that have unbarbed stingers, so they do not die after stinging people, and can sting repeatedly (see references 3, 5, 6). The queen bee usually has a barbless stinger so it also can sting repeatedly without dying.
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Believe it or not, even in med school, they tell you to urinate on the sting if nothing else is available. Vinegar will also help neutralize the sting.\n\nAfter that, Benedryl and applying ice to the area will help with the inflammation. \n\nI commend you for thinking of putting together a first aide kit for your outing. Most people wait until after something happens before they even think about putting together a kit!
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Bee venom is a water-clear liquid with a sharp, bitter taste and a distinct acid reaction.\n\nThe venom is easily soluble in water and acid, but almost insoluble in alcohol. The three toxic effects of bee venom are\n\n   1. neurotoxic (paralysis of the nervous system),\n   2. hemorrhagic (increase in the permeability of the blood capillaries), and\n   3. hemolytic (destruction of red blood cells).\n\n\n\nRecent work reveals that bee venom is a very complicated substance with several active bio chemical components. At least eight active components plus several biological inactive components have been identified. The substances showing activity are histamine, melittin (a protein), a hyaluronidase, and phospholipase A.\n\nThe histamine recovered was shown not to be a major pharmacological factor in bee venom. However, histamine also is released from body cells because of the reaction to the sting in allergic persons. Melittin, a protein having a molecular weight of 33,000 to 35,000, is thought to be responsible for the general local toxicity of the venom. Melittin in high concentrations also has caused hemolysis of red blood cells. Bee venom contains at least two enzymes-a hyaluronidase and phospholipase A. The hyaluronidase is believed to be the "spreading" factor. By breaking down the cell-cementing substance, hyaluronidase allows the toxic principles of bee venom to infiltrate the tissues. Phospholipase A apparently has no general toxicity. However, through indirect action on the unsaturated fatty acids, it causes hemolysis of red blood cells. Phospholipase A also causes inactivation of thrombokinase, inhibits oxidative phosphorylation, and attacks enzymes involved with metabolic dehydrogenation. The pain experienced after being stung may well be the result of these last three actions.\n\nFor many years, formic acid erroneously was believed to be the major component of venom produced by the honey bee, and this belief is still held by many. The action of venom is much more complex than the simple concept of direct action on the tissue by formic acid.
353901
Plant communication is all based on chemicals.\n\nThe idea that plants communicate chemically with one another has been around for a couple of decades, but it's only been in the last few years that solid scientific evidence has been accumulated to support the notion.\n\nOver three seasons spanning 1996 through 1998, researchers from the University of California in Davis monitored wild tobacco plants growing near sagebrush. They clipped the leaves of some of the sagebrush plants to mimic the damage caused by insects. The sagebrush plants responded with a puff of a chemical called methyl jasmonate. In response, tobacco plants downwind immediately begin boosting the level of an enzyme called PPO that makes their leaves less tasty to plant-eating insects. Within minutes of the clipping of the sagebrush, the plants' PPO levels quadrupled.\n\nIt worked, too. Tobacco plants next to the clipped sagebrush suffered sixty percent less damage from grasshoppers and caterpillars than tobacco plants next to unclipped sagebrush.\n\nThen, last fall, scientists at Kyoto University in Japan let spider mites loose on lima-bean plants and tracked the plants' responses. They found five different defense mechanisms. First, each injured plant released a chemical that changed its flavor, making it less attractive to the mites (although I personally nd it hard to imagine anything less attractive than the taste of a lima bean to begin with).\n\nThen the plants released other chemicals that drifted away. Other lima bean plants received the chemical and immediately begin giving off the same chemicals, making themselves less tasty and warning still more lima bean plants, before the mites even reached them.\n\nMost amazingly, some of the released chemicals had the effect of summoning a whole new batch of mites--mites that, rather than eating lima bean plants, preferred to eat the spider mites attacking the lima bean plants.\n\nThe Japanese researchers even found that the plants could distinguish between insect damage and crushing damage. They crushed some leaves and stems and found that although the injured plants released chemicals, the surrounding plants ignored them, somehow recognizing no real danger existed. (It appears that substances in the attacking insects' saliva are required to trigger the anti-insect chemical response in the plant.)\n\nOther examples from agriculture are also known. Corn under attack from armyworms, for instance, puts out a chemical signal that attracts a predatory wasp. The wasp lays its eggs inside the armyworm; when they hatch, the wasp larva eat the armyworm.\n\nAnd a study released last week shows that this kind of signaling exists not only in agricultural situations and in labs, but in the wild--which means it is likely widespread throughout the plant kingdom.\n\nResearchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, discovered that when a species of wild tobacco plant that grows in the southwestern United States is damaged by hornworms (the larva of the hawkmoth) it releases chemicals that attract predatory insects that kill the larva.\n\nSuch chemical calls for helps benefit both the plant being attacked and the predators, who would otherwise find it very difficult to find the larva, which are camouflaged and also tend to feed on the underside of leaves, where they can't be seen. Most likely the plant developed a chemical defense that predators evolved to take advantage of, but the result is the same as if the plant consciously sent out a cry for help.\n\nAgricultural scientists are already looking for ways to use this new understanding of plant communication to improve the way farmers fight pests. For example, these kind of indirect defenses could be genetically engineered into crops so that they could more effectively summon natural predators. That could reduce the need for chemical pesticides--in fact, you'd want to avoid chemicals, because they would kill the predator
654855
Secreted by young bees.
994452
First, you want to SCRAPE out the stinger, not squeeze it. This prevents "pumping" in the venom into your skin. Then make a thick paste out of baking soda and water and apply to the sting site. You may want to take Advil or Tylenol and use an ice pack for swelling.
743206
Assuming that by "the s molecule" you mean the sucrose molecule....\nSucrose does not normally react with Benedicts solution as it is not a reducing sugar (it contains no aldehyde group). However, when sucrose reacts with acid, acid hydrolysis takes place and the product DOES react with Benedicts solution. So in the circumstances described above you'd expect to get a positive Benedict's test result, which results in the formation of a red-brown precipitate.
788753
allergy to an ingredient
531614
Most really huge bees are actually pretty harmless.\n\nCheck out this site for all your insect identification needs: http://whatsthatbug.com/
1008905
Raid ant and roach spray\n\nBoric acid!\n\nPee in the yard!
648580
I'm a Scuba instructor on Guam and we use vinegar as a first-aid treatment. We usually have a bottle of it on the boats. I have read that hot water and meat tenderizer breaks down the toxin.In severe cases some people have to go to the hospital from the immense pain.\n\nGuam has it's share of Jellyfish and stinging critters. In the open sea I always wear a 2mm or 3mm wetsuit not only for warmth but for protection as well. There are lightweight lacra "skins" that are lightweight and inexpensive way to avoid stings. I have also seen a sunblock product that contains something that prevents stings. I have seen it only once on a boat tour. Maybe surf the internet for it. I have seen that product on TV during the experimental stage. The scientist rubbed the liquid on his arms and handled jellys that were highly toxic!\n\nHope this helps! Good luck.
5788
Stings, poison oak or ivy, dry skin, a wound healing, allergic reaction, bites.
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Watch for these signs:\n\ndifficulty breathing\nred streaks around the area you got stung\nswelling\nnausea / vomiting\nheadache\nintense itching or extreme pain or burning sensation that doesn't let up\n\nIf you are experiencing these, then go to the ER  right away. If it just hurts some and is a little red, try this:\n\nput ice on the area\n\ntake advil to reduce pain and inflammation\n\ntake benadryl to reduce itching and allergic reactions\n\nIf you see the stinger, carefully remove it with tweezers\n\nsome people will tell you to make a paste out of baking soda and water and place it on the area to "draw out" the poisen......it won't hurt you if you do this.\n\nGo to your doctor if it becomes very red, swollen, has pus or other drainage coming out of it, is warm to the touch, if you have a temp. over 100, or if it just doesn't heal.\n\nGood luck!
644345
vinegar.  it stings a bit, but it takes the itch away.