Although both feel painful, wasp stings are alkali and bee stings are acid. That means that it is best to treat them with acid and alkali substances respectively. Although bee venom is slightly acidic and wasp venom slightly alkaline, the difference is largely coincidental. Neither insect relies on the pH of their venom for any destructive power.
A typical sting injects less than 50 micrograms of venom, so even quite concentrated acid or alkali would barely be noticeable. Instead, the venom comprises a complex cocktail of proteins that stimulate the production of the stress hormone cortisol, destroy cell membranes, raise the heartbeat and inhibit blood clotting. Bee and wasp venom differ in the specifics of the proteins involved but their general effect is the same. They certainly don’t neutralise each other: if you somehow managed to be stung by one of each on the same spot, you would just feel twice the pain.
Not all bees sting. Male bees cannot, and bees are not out to get anyone! They will only usually sting if they are provoked or feel threatened. Bees are generally non-aggressive animals. A wasp stings contains alkali with a pH of 6.9 which is light green and almost neutral .By pouring vinegar on it the sting can be neutralised. When it has neutrilised it will turn green which is pH 7.
Wasp venom contains a series of hydrophobic peptides, mastoparans and chemotactic peptides as major peptidergic components. The first major component in the venom is mastoparam. The peptides in the mastoparan family are tetradecapeptide amides which cause degranulation of the mast cells to release histamine from the cells, and act on the adrenal chromaffin cells to release catecholamines and adenylic acids.
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