Are bees aware about the consequences of using their stinger on a large target? Consequently, are they aware that stinging smaller animals won’t cause them to die?

Question

Do they instinctively “know” they will die by stinging a human?

In: Biology

Answer 1

To add on to some other comments here: it’s not the size of the creature but the composition of its surface. Their barbed stingers are designed to do damage to carapace/chitin, not to an elastic skin. It’s the elasticity that causes the damage, closing around the stinger and making the bee kill itself by pulling out.