How worker bees protect themselves from their own venom

How worker bees protect themselves from their own venomHoneybee venom is a potent toxin.Stings cause pain, trigger a racing heart, and sometimes result in life-threatening allergic reactions.But Dalibor Kodrk from the Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic, explains that we, and other mammals, were not the original target.Honeybees probably evolved their sting to incapacitate insect predators and other bees, long before birds and mammals dominated the planet.The main component of bee venom, melittin, damages cells and is laced with enzymes and other compounds that attack nerves and tissues.But no one knew how immune honeybees are to their own venom.'It can be assumed that they evolved a robust defence system', says Kodrik, explaining that workers and queen bees naturally produce the toxins, but stingless male drones, which do not defend the hive, don't.Curious to discover how female worker honeybees resist their own toxins, Kodrik and colleagues set about giving workers and stingless drones a dose of their own venom while keeping track to learn more about the workers' resilience.