Honey Bees Argumentative Essay

In Adam’s County, it’s difficult to come across an individual who has never stepped on a bee during his or her childhood. Being the apple capital of the state, it’s only natural that a multitude of honey bees inhabit the area . After all, who else is going to pollinate all of the apple orchards? These little guys have mixed reviews throughout the area: some call them “Friend,” while others cry “Foe!”. Nonetheless, the benefits of having honey bees around include more than bountiful apple crops and copious amounts of ooey-gooey honey. In fact, research within the past decade has found that bees are good for more than inducing that itchy, burning, stinging pain that can reduce even the strongest of men to tears. Honey bees, their venom especially, have become a revolutionary new resource in the fight against severe allergies, HIV/AIDS, and cancer.
The female bees, or worker bees, have hollow, serrate stingers that are attached to a venom sac (Christiansen). Once the bee stings a human, its abdomen is torn from the body, leaving the muscles surrounding the venom sac to work the stinger further into the skin and continue to pump venom into the wound (“Loveridge”). The cytotoxic venom consists of sixty-three components, including histamine, pheromones, peptides (tiny enzymes), and several different enzymes (“Loveridge”). While the enzymes of the venom work to break down the membranes of cells, it’s the peptide melittin that does the most damage. Making up half of the venom’s dry weight, melittin induces histamine and cortisol release and is the culprit behind the pain of a sting (“Loveridge”). This 26-amino long peptide targets cells and attacks their membranes, effectively destroying them (“Loveridge”). The ability of melittin to destroy cell membranes is what scientists are most interested in manipulating to treat acquired immune deficiency syndrome and various