Why has a bee's sting evolved to be barbed?

This is posted in science also if you prefer post there in a non-religious theme.

Thoughts?

Originally posted by divegeester
This is posted in science also if you prefer post there in a non-religious theme.

Thoughts?

Can you tell us what its about?

Ok I thought the title was self explanatory, sorry.

Bee's have barbed stings so when they sting you they can't retract it. When they try to fly off the sting is pulled out along with most of the bee's gut. It dies.

How has this defensive weapon been evolved by this creature as a competitve advantage when it dies if it uses it?

Originally posted by divegeester
Ok I thought the title was self explanatory, sorry.

Bee's have barbed stings so when they sting you they can't retract it. When they try to fly off the sting is pulled out along with most of the bee's gut. It dies.

How has this defensive weapon been evolved by this creature as a competitve advantage when it dies if it uses it?

Doesn't seem like evolution thought this one out very good...
Maybe in a gazillion years it will evolve back into a fish and then a lizard and then a monkey and then back into a bee and get that dang stinger right this time...

Originally posted by divegeester
Ok I thought the title was self explanatory, sorry.

Bee's have barbed stings so when they sting you they can't retract it. When they try to fly off the sting is pulled out along with most of the bee's gut. It dies.

How has this defensive weapon been evolved by this creature as a competitve advantage when it dies if it uses it?

Right. It was self expanatory.

Could it be that its the bee's karma to be born a bee. Maybe there is some 'genetic learning' going on through the generations of bees . Living and dying of losing their stingers as the species learns and evolves?

Good question. I'm sure its not the only evolutionary anomolie like that which takes a bit of thought to work out. (assuming it can be worked out)

I got the Bee movie of DVD, (with Jerry Seinfeld), and there is a whole big thing about them hardly ever using their stingers and how they nearly die. I know its just a movie, but in the extras their are quite a few interesting facts about bees .

Maybe they evolved liked that because thats the only way their species could evolve beyond a certain point.

Originally posted by divegeester
This is posted in science also if you prefer post there in a non-religious theme.

Thoughts?

Worker bees - which have the barbed stingers - are sterile: that is, they don't pass on their genes to future bee generations. When one stings a mammal or bird (the barb only sticks into mammals and birds) the stinger sticks and pulls out, killing the worker bee. As it dies it releases a chemical into the air which alerts other bees to the danger in the area.
It kills one bee, but saves many through the alert system.

Originally posted by divegeester
Ok I thought the title was self explanatory, sorry.

Bee's have barbed stings so when they sting you they can't retract it. When they try to fly off the sting is pulled out along with most of the bee's gut. It dies.

How has this defensive weapon been evolved by this creature as a competitve advantage when it dies if it uses it?

This is the spiritual Forum, therefore I answer the question as there was a intelligent designer behind, like god.

This intelligent designer is rather stupid. This must be one of his worst achivements. Like it is the first thing he did in the designer school, and failed.

If the intelligent designer really was intelligent, he would do it right in the first place. But perhaps he is not a real designer.

If you designed a car as badly as this, then we wouldn't have any car production at all, there would simply be no cars if the driver dies whenever he uses some of the gadgets. Who would by it?

If I was this intelligent designer I would do it correctly right away. Why build in flaws in the design?

Originally posted by FabianFnas
This is the spiritual Forum, therefore I answer the question as there was a intelligent designer behind, like god.

This intelligent designer is rather stupid. This must be one of his worst achivements. Like it is the first thing he did in the designer school, and failed.

If the intelligent designer really was intelligent, he would do it right in th ...[text shortened]... this intelligent designer I would do it correctly right away. Why build in flaws in the design?

Who are you to judge and say it's a flaw?

bee's are rarely aggresive (except the Africanized honey bee). they do not sting unless they have to, then releasing the hormone that alerts other bees. seems like a pretty good system, the bee dies when absolutely necessary and for the good of the hive.

Originally posted by galveston75
Who are you to judge and say it's a flaw?

Actually you seem to have judged it a flaw based on your earlier comment:
"Doesn't seem like evolution thought this one out very good..."

Originally posted by galveston75
Who are you to judge and say it's a flaw?

As a design it's bad, as evolution it's as it should.
My name is Fabian, what's yours?

Originally posted by galveston75
Doesn't seem like evolution thought this one out very good...
Maybe in a gazillion years it will evolve back into a fish and then a lizard and then a monkey and then back into a bee and get that dang stinger right this time...

Evolution doesn't exist God does.

Originally posted by daniel58
Evolution doesn't exist God does.

And your evidence for this?

Originally posted by amannion
And your evidence for this?

The Bible.

Originally posted by daniel58
The Bible.

Ah yes of course.
The old circular argument ... the bible is the evidence for god ... why is this? ... well god tells us this ... how does god tell you this? ... it's in the bible ...
Yeah, that's completely convincing. I'm sold ...

... not.