Bees.....

[isaaccarlson]

I was about an hour and a half into a removal today and I got stung by something with yellow and black stripes.
Only one of em, but it made me think twice about having a rope set in the top of the tree to get down faster.
If I had been swarmed, I don't know what would have happened. It took me a while to get down with spurs because I had to pass 3 crotches.
My wife found a wasp nest in one of the homeowner's ladders, but we are not sure if the ladder was the source. There was only one that I saw, but it sure hurts. My hand is all swollen up and my lower arm too. I took benadryl and a couple other things and nothing seems to help. My wife made a poultice for it, so we will see what happens. Dang bees, I got nailed by one last year that had a small nest on one of my ladders. Same hand and same result.

Anybody got a good remedy or does it need to run it's course?

 

[magictoad]

It will run its course now, you can take a antihistamine tablet and anything that helps with the swelling.

I used to be a bee keeper until i got stung which landed me in A&E hospital with anaphylaxis shock, i had been stung loads in the past but it just takes that one, and you do not build up immunity like lots of people say.

 

[imagineero]

Yeah it's the opposite. I've got a buddy who never was allergic, bug got swarmed and stung over 400 times mostly around the face and neck. He went into a coma for a while and came pretty close to dying. He's not completely allergic and one sting would kill him. He has to carry an epi pen everywhere with him.

 

[formationrx]

...

use local wildflower honey on it....

 

[magictoad]

Yeah it's the opposite. I've got a buddy who never was allergic, bug got swarmed and stung over 400 times mostly around the face and neck. He went into a coma for a while and came pretty close to dying. He's not completely allergic and one sting would kill him. He has to carry an epi pen everywhere with him.

I carry two epipens just in case of multi stings when one epipen will not be enough also carry antihistamine tabs at all times.

 

[isaaccarlson]

Thank you for the honey tip. I have some raw honey in the kitchen!

I will be packing antihistamine tablets in my gear bag. I have never used an epi pen. What do they do and how do they work? Do you have to go to the doc after using one?

 

[isaaccarlson]

Holy cow guys! I found a video of an epi pen on youtube and I don't think I could stick that in me.

 

[Grouchy old man]

Holy cow guys! I found a video of an epi pen on youtube and I don't think I could stick that in me.

Ya mean THIS ONE?

 

[Jefflac02]

Try liquid hand soap

Use it immediately after a sting and in 10 to 15 mins the pain and swelling will be gone. learned this trick from an amishman none the less.

 

[woodchuck357]

I was about an hour and a half into a removal today and I got stung by something with yellow and black stripes.
Only one of em, but it made me think twice about having a rope set in the top of the tree to get down fast

Sounds like a solitary hornet, not a bee. Worse sting than bees.solitary hornet - Google Search

 

[KenJax Tree]

Holy cow guys! I found a video of an epi pen on youtube and I don't think I could stick that in me.

If you're allergic to stings its either that or you die

 

[magictoad]

Thank you for the honey tip. I have some raw honey in the kitchen!

I will be packing antihistamine tablets in my gear bag. I have never used an epi pen. What do they do and how do they work? Do you have to go to the doc after using one?

Do not use one unless its been prescribed to you, and yes you need to get to hospital if you do use one, its only for emergency use.

 

[isaaccarlson]

I have never been prescribed one, so maybe I'm ok in that department. The swelling is going down, so thanks for the honey suggestion. I covered my arm in it and wrapped a towel around it so I didn't get everything sticky. It is still sore, but the swelling is down. I can even make a fist.

 

[magictoad]

I have never been prescribed one, so maybe I'm ok in that department. The swelling is going down, so thanks for the honey suggestion. I covered my arm in it and wrapped a towel around it so I didn't get everything sticky. It is still sore, but the swelling is down. I can even make a fist.

Just about the norm for a wasp/bee sting, you would know if you were allergic to bee/wasp stings within minutes of being stung.

When i became allergic i wanted to rip the skin of my hands, itched all over my torso like i was on fire, lips started to get tight, i knew i was in trouble at this point and phoned for a meat wagon, lucky me i was only a few minutes from a hospital, and all because of one sting to my little finger.
I had kept bee's for ten years and the odd sting was part of the pleasure of keeping bees.

I am not allergic to wasp stings, found that out last winter when i put a new pair of chainsaw trousers on for the first time, painful very, swelling lots, i will not go into details precisely where but walking was a new experience i would not want to repeat, i can not find a suitable smiley.

 

[squad143]

Climbing trees and encountering bees occasionally go hand in hand.

If you continually have bees/wasp making nests in you ladder rungs, fill the ends with the expanding foam that they use on windows and doors. Works great. Added bonus is that it also eliminates that whistle/hum the ladders make when on the top of the truck travelling down the road.

 

[millbilly]

bald face hornets

While doing storm damage a few years ago, I was cutting up a fallen tree. While I was sawing it up I got stung on the back, right next to my left shoulder blade. I stopped sawing and looked around for a nest which I couldn't find. Went back to sawing, about 8/9 minutes later bang hit again in the exact same spot within 1/64". Stopped again and really looked for the nest to no avail. Went back to sawing a few minutes later, bang same thing, in the same exact spot.
Well that was enough I became determined to find the nest. I looked around and discovered a small vine that went from the tree I was working on that went up into a spruce about 25 feet away and there it was, a big ole bag of bees, white faced hornets. As I shook the tree the vine jiggled their nest and they tool offense.

I think the first bee that stung me, left a hormone that guided the next two hornets to the same spot on my back.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I've been swarmed three times, twice in a tree and once on the ground. I'm not allergic allergic, but ya get hit 50-60 times and it'll put ya down for a couple days.

 

[sgreanbeans]

While doing storm damage a few years ago, I was cutting up a fallen tree. While I was sawing it up I got stung on the back, right next to my left shoulder blade. I stopped sawing and looked around for a nest which I couldn't find. Went back to sawing, about 8/9 minutes later bang hit again in the exact same spot within 1/64". Stopped again and really looked for the nest to no avail. Went back to sawing a few minutes later, bang same thing, in the same exact spot.
Well that was enough I became determined to find the nest. I looked around and discovered a small vine that went from the tree I was working on that went up into a spruce about 25 feet away and there it was, a big ole bag of bees, white faced hornets. As I shook the tree the vine jiggled their nest and they tool offense.

I think the first bee that stung me, left a hormone that guided the next two hornets to the same spot on my back.

Those things are freaking nasty, I got hit by them twice now. Second time was pretty bad and I had a bad reaction to the venom. Was stung 8 times on that one. I looked them up, Bald Face Hornets, most aggressive bee/hornet/wasp/stingy flying thing out there. They need no provocation, just meat! Their nest is hard to see in a thick canopy. Both times I was in a ash, so now, whenever I am in one, anything that goes by me, I just assume its one of them and start to panic!

 

[millbilly]

bee stories I got 100 of them

I love good ole bee stories! Did I ever tell you guys about the summer of 1961? Well anyways, It was a very educational year me. I was only 11 at the time so my mind was like a blank slate and needed to be molded. My father, who saw the world just a little bit different. He took it upon himself to learn me about explosives. He went into the house and came out with a box of cherry bombs. Cherry bombs were sort of legal back then, located in the hills of rural Appalachia. Next he took a piece of bailing wire and attached a cherry bomb to the end of a long pole. He lit the fuse, and stuck that pole right up next to a bag of them there white face hornets. Kaboom! You can imagine what happened, hornets everywhere. I still laugh today think bout that lesson. Later on the same day he gave me another lesson. He showed me how to do a little fishin, using the same bee exterminating tools. The fishing results were much better of course. Those ole crappies just floated to the top.

 

[Grouchy old man]

Bald Face Hornets, most aggressive bee/hornet/wasp/stingy flying thing out there.

Dunno about that. I had a football sized nest of them hanging over the side door to my shop couple of summers ago. Even with opening and slamming the door they weren't bothered. Maybe it was because we had an agreement- you leave me alone and I'll leave you alone. We peacefully coexisted all summer and when it turned cold I knocked it down.

Then again I knew a guy who took a hose to a nest (not sure if it was the bald faced) and he is dead. Not the thing to do.