# How long is a bee's stinger?



## Sharpbees (Jun 26, 2012)

The stinger is about 1/16th of an inch long the other 2 inches are all in your head. )


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## TokerM (Jul 31, 2012)

Sharpbees said:


> ....the other 2 inches are all in your head. )


+5 internets for you sir!! :banana:


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

To long MOST of the time


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## Beregondo (Jun 21, 2011)

Long enough to sting you through jeans where the fabric touches you.
Short enough that I've never been stung through a pair of guantlets I made by cutting the feet out of knee high athletic socks - even manipulating a queenless hive just before a thunderstorm.

(I usually use only a veil, and often not even that. But the only bees that don't try to sting you when you get into a hive with a thunderstorm looming are dead ones!)


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I don't know that I would spend the time knitting a veil and helmet. They are too inexpensive to think you would save anything.

Too long. Long enuf. All sorts of answers. But, beetween 1/16 to 1/8 inch in length, I believe. Two whole pages, along w/ photos and drawings, are found in the Illustrated Encyclopodia of Beekeeping, but no mention of how long the different parts are. Maybe only Americans are concerned w/ length.


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## [email protected] (May 12, 2010)

Why dont you get a bee to sting you and then you will know exactely how long it is. Think before you ask.


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## BoiseBeekeeper (May 10, 2012)

Judge for yourself. 

http://twistedsifter.sifter.netdna-...bdominal-tissue-trail-stinger-left-in-art.jpg


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## BOYZNUS (May 20, 2012)

boisebeekeeper said:


> judge for yourself.
> 
> http://twistedsifter.sifter.netdna-...bdominal-tissue-trail-stinger-left-in-art.jpg
> 
> View attachment 2851


R.I.P., baby girl.


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## mrobinson (Jan 20, 2012)

"Long _enough!"_ 

Seriously, most of the time I am wearing a veil, gloves, a long sleeved T-shirt (sometimes short sleeves), shorts and hiking boots. (If I encounter a seriously irritated situation, _on goes the bee suit!_ but that rarely happens.) I spray myself all over with peppermint oil in water before proceeding. Now, there _is_ a non-zero chance that a bee will zap you, but that chance may be surprisingly low. Almost any decent piece of cloth will deflect the sting so that you can usually pull the stinger out just by pulling on the cloth that it's stuck through. Probably the bigger concern will be how _hot_ the outfit is on a summer's day.

The bottom line, of course, is that y-o-u have to be completely comfortable with what you're wearing. You have to feel protected enough, so that you can focus on what you're doing in a relaxed but attentive way. If that, for you, is a suit of armor, wear a suit of armor. You will find your own comfort zone, and probably experiment endlessly.


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