Are bees harmed in the process of extracting bee venom?

Thankfully, the answer is No. The way in which Bee Venom is harvested in a commercial environment, is to run a small electrical current over a pane of glass.  The bees are attracted to the electrical current and they then sting the pane of glass. Thankfully this means they deliver their bee venom without being harmed because their sting doesn’t need to enter any skin.

The composition and strength of bee venom varies by the bee species and their location in the world, with some of the most powerful bee venom can be found in Africa. Having said that though, if you’ve ever been stung by a bee, we’d doubt you’ll be worried about the strength of the bee venom as it hurts – a lot!

Bee Venom Components

The peptide and non-peptide components of bee venom have multiple effects on human bodies. Bee venom can be used to contract the skin as the body goes into a type of mini-shock as bee venom is naturally an irritant.  So in its application in skincare products, it helps to tighten the skin which helps to make you look younger. Bee Venom is extremely potent, and you don’t need a lot of it to make a difference, particularly in skincare products. However, if you are allergic to Bee Stings, you should not take or use any product with bee venom in it as it will cause an allergic reaction.

Does a bee die once they’ve released their bee venom?

Most of the time, no, but there are exceptions. If the Bee has stung a person or animal, most of the time it will die because their barbed stings attach to the skin of the person or animal (which is a tough surface) and the motion of the bee pulling away, causes them to die.  However, with the modern “soft” extraction of collecting bee venom as mentioned earlier in our article, the bees sting does not enter skin or any hard surface, and so they are protected and live to fly another day.

The good news is that the bee venom extraction process has been developed by beekeepers – the people who know the bees best - over the last 30 years to make sure the bees are not harmed or unduly stressed.

Why not check out some of our exciting Bee Venom products :)