Honey bees normally only sting to defend themselves or their colony. When colonies are handled properly and precautions are taken, stinging should not be a problem. Most persons develop a tolerance for bee venom in time. This reduces the sensitivity to pain and swelling. You may want to keep bees for the delicious fresh honey they produce, for the valuable benefits of their valuable services as pollinators, or perhaps just for the fun of learning more about one of nature's most interesting insects.
Honey bees are social insects.
A honey bee colony typically consists of several thousand bees that cooperate in nest building, food collection, and brood rearing. Each member of the colony has a definite task to perform, but it takes the combined efforts of the entire colony to survive and reproduce. A colony normally has a single queen, fifty to sixty thousand workers at its peak and several hundred drones during late spring and summer. Individual queens, workers or drones cannot survive by themselves. The social structure of the colony is maintained by the queen and workers and depends on an effective system of communication.