First Time Bee Sting: What to Do and Potential Risks

[Moonbear]

Who was the member of PF who had a bad bee's nest in their yard?

I remember a few months ago reading about his on-going battle with that nest, but do not recall it ever being settled.

After reading this thread, it got me thinking about what happened to it :)

Oh, that was Ivan, wasn't it? With a whole swarm in his backyard? Hmm...yeah, we never did hear how that got resolved.

 

[tribdog]

Everytime I get stung it hurts. It feels like a lit cigarette is put out on my skin. I don't swell up a lot but it hurts. I never thought I was a baby when it comes to pain, I mean I can take pain. a sting is just extremely painful almost as bad as when a grapefruit squirts you in your eye, owww.

 

[lisab]

Everytime I get stung it hurts. It feels like a lit cigarette is put out on my skin. I don't swell up a lot but it hurts. I never thought I was a baby when it comes to pain, I mean I can take pain. a sting is just extremely painful almost as bad as when a grapefruit squirts you in your eye, owww.

Why are you looking so closely at grapefruit? Maybe you should wear safety glasses.

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

I think Danger is just a double hard guy. For him a bee sting is no more painful than a winging of your nuts, you know where you go oooh that was close and the fear and pain are temporary, and you don't end up bent double, or vomiting. Respect is due.

Moonbear I think you probably have an allergic reaction to bee stings, but it's not as bad as it might be? Don't know?

 

[Gokul43201]

Has the time come for us to speak of such things?

Of course it has, my dear woodworker! Have you not been listening at all to that Al Gore chap? The seas: they boil!

 

[tgt]

I was just thinking, imagine using bees as a torture technique?

 

[tribdog]

I was just thinking, imagine using bees as a torture technique?

Nah, I'll stick with Gokul's puns.

 

[~christina~]

Not sure if this fits but a wasp was trying to eat my ankle once.
It started to chew on my skin and made a hole before I noticed...ewww.
Must have been a carnivorous wasp because I don't think I look like a tree.

And my family was looking for a new house and we were in a available one and not only was it creepy since the bed that the man who owned the house before, died on was still in his room but another turn off was that I was casually looking out a second story window when I saw in between the 2 panes of glass, a wasp nest was starting. Yes there obviously was a hole in the outer pane of glass somewhere and the wasp nest was 2 inches long with 3-5 wasps.

 

[Evo]

A good friend of mine is deathly allergic to bees and he came close to dying last time he was stung.

I'v been stung once by a bee (I stepped on it while mowing the lawn barefooted), and once by a wasp when I was clipping bushes and chopped into a wasp nest.

I did have a honey bee hive in my house once and had to have a professional come and try to remove the hive, but he couldn't get to it, so he had to kill them, he was about to cry. The house was built like a piece of swiss cheese. They built the nest inside the walls and they would come flying out of cabinets when you opened them.

Oh, and a paste of water and baking soda applied to a sting will help to soothe it.

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

Bit of myth about baking soda for bees and something acidic for wasps. The venom is already in your system, the relief lowering or highering the pH will achieve is minimal. Best thing to do is what has already been suggested, hook out the stinger if it's in there. Or just put a cold compress on it. The other things are generally placebos, although by all means if they work use them. Just don't put baking soda on wasp stings they are alkali already, you'd be making it worse even if it did make any difference which it doesn't. Bee stings are acid.

I can only imagine how bad it is to be allergic if one sting will kill you, thankfully most people in that situation carry drugs to prevent any anyphalactic shock. Trouble is it often happens after you get sting once and the immune system goes nuts, you may not present with severe symptoms then, you often won't know you are allergic until it happens again and then you could be in a lot of trouble.

 

[Evo]

It's cold and therefor soothing, but you have a good point. I personally used an antihistamine cream. My doctor prescribed cortisone for bug bites, so I have no idea which is better.

Yes my friend has to carry an epi pen, but after that last sting, the next could be fatal. He swells up and stops breathing. My dad was also hospitalized for a bee sting.

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

Yeah I can see why, with bug bites, especially if there is an allergic reaction. I think once it's in you there's little you can do accept relieve it in any way that works. It's like a snake bite, you could try and suck out the venom, but to be honest the best solution is to remain calm or as calm as you can, and seek help. Anything else is probably a little too late although it does of course depend on whether the venom is contact or insinuative.

A cold compress will work to reduce swelling, it'll also fool your nervous system into feeling cold not the pain involved with tissue damage. So it probably is more effective than just sprinkling on a bit of bicarb.