Fudge!!! Bee sting

[user 122190]

Yellow Jackets made a home inside a logs hollow. Didn't notice til I split the wood. Damn bee stung me thru my gloves. Not a big deal, right? Woke up at midnight and my hand looks like a boxing glove and the swelling is 1/2 way to the elbow. Double Fudge!!!

Looks like a day of catching up on movies and filling and refilling the ice bag.

 

[ammoaddict]

When I was a kid, I got bee stung a few times a summer at my grandparents house. Wasps in the barn, yellow jackets in the ground around bushes etc. Grandpa chewed tobacco and grandma dipped snuff. Which ever was closest by would spit tobacco juice on it and rub it in. It took the sting away instantly. It might itch a little for a day or two but no pain or swelling.

 

[spuldup]

Tell your doc about your reaction and they can prescribe an epi pen. Severely cuts down on the sting "hangover" if you are mildly allergic.
They are not hundreds of dollars anymore. I think my 2 pack costs me $10 every other year.

 

[user 122190]

Tell your doc about your reaction and they can prescribe an epi pen. Severely cuts down on the sting "hangover" if you are mildly allergic.
They are not hundreds of dollars anymore. I think my 2 pack costs me $10 every other year.

I'll look into that. I got lots of yellow jackets on my property. We don't bother each other and live in harmony, most of the time. Last time I got stung was while picking berries and I step on an underground nest. Lots of bites then. This one was on my finger. I guess I now know finger bites are BAD.

 

[SteveSr]

I'll look into that. I got lots of yellow jackets on my property. We don't bother each other and live in harmony, most of the time. Last time I got stung was while picking berries and I step on an underground nest. Lots of bites then. This one was on my finger. I guess I now know finger bites are BAD.

It could also be that your immune system is getting more sensitized to bee stings over time and exposure. Your next sting could induce systemic anaphylactic shock which could kill you if you don't have quick access to an epi-pen. Time to visit your primary doc or allergist.

 

[lone wolf]

There are lots of Different varieties of wasps are mild some are real bad, it depends on which type of wasp it was exactly. Different venom has different reactions on everyone.



There are multiple Yellowjacket wasp species, many of them found in the US:

• The Eastern Yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons)

• Western Yellowjacket (Vespula pensylvanica)

• Southern Yellowjacket (Vespula squamosa)

• German Yellowjacket (Vespula germanica)

 

[lone wolf]

https://thepetenthusiast.com/dangerous-wasps/

 

[Breckinridge Elkins]

It could also be that your immune system is getting more sensitized to bee stings over time and exposure. Your next sting could induce systemic anaphylactic shock which could kill you if you don't have quick access to an epi-pen. Time to visit your primary doc or allergist.

Yep. You would like to think that you develop resistance to irritants over time but the opposite is true. There is no way to predict how sensitive you will become. Maybe this is the worst it will get, maybe the next one kills you.

 

[lone wolf]

Yep. You would like to think that you develop resistance to irritants over time but the opposite is true. There is no way to predict how sensitive you will become. Maybe this is the worst it will get, maybe the next one kills you.

Yellow Jackets can kill if they swarm on you, sometimes 20 stings could kill a non-allergic person.

 

[Breckinridge Elkins]

Yellow Jackets can kill if they swarm on you, sometimes 20 stings could kill a non-allergic person.

I have been stung easily that many times by paper wasps when pulling old fascia and gutters off a second story roof. I was sicker than a dog that night. Felt like I was coming down with a really bad flu.

 

[user 122190]

Yellow Jackets can kill if they swarm on you, sometimes 20 stings could kill a non-allergic person.

Next time I'll retreat fast. Nothing to be downplaying when a few dozen yard away is safety.

 

[Breckinridge Elkins]

Next time I'll retreat fast. Nothing to be downplaying when a few dozen yard away is safety.

Doctor can probably give you a cortisone shot right now to help with the hand.
If you get any numbness/tingling to the lips or tongue, or any difficulty breathing or swallowing it's a medical emergency and I mean ASAP.

 

[ATpro]

You got to be careful around Yellowjackets, once you are tagged you are the target for the whole hive. Once tagged get away and don't go back around. I have been stung by some that was like a bad bee sting, and then some that would make your whole arm swell up. I think the difference is a bacteria that may be in the hive and when you get stung you may get a dose of it.

 

[user 122190]

I'm going to live. Swelling has peaked, and I'm getting mobility in my fingers again. I can now move the trackball with ease. I missed out on a day of splitting wood, but I got time before it HAS to get done. Hopefully I can get back to it tomorrow.

 

[wildwes]

I'm glad you're feeling better, those suckers can be bad, especially if they swarm you. We have European hornets around here too, and they can be rough as well, along with the usual wasp varieties and bald faced hornets.
If plantain grows where you live, you can chew up a leaf of it and put the pulp on the sting, immediately, that will also help with the pain and swelling. It helps fire ant bites and mosquito bites too.

 

[Toyboy]

The yellow jackets will build in the most unobtrusive places, and you won't know they are there until you violate their zone so to speak. Once you've got them riled up they'll come in droves and will pursue you for a fair distance. Very aggressive little bas$%#d$.
They've surprised me so many times over the years that the last time I got stung, on my ankle no less, I ended up in the ER having an allergic reaction. My neck was swelling and I was starting to have trouble swallowing.
Getting stung, by any wasp, is nothing to take lightly as you age.

 

[HumBurner]

Papaya contains a compound that will neutralize the external effects of stings. Failing to recall the compound.

Used to be a baking product called Adolf's that contained a papaya extract containing the compound. Haven't seen it locally in years, but may be available near you.

Add water and make a paste.


I knew an older lady who would make pills out of it for internal use, though I'd be wary of doing that unless you know you don't react negatively to papaya.

 

[rogue60]

My grandfather was a beekeeper he had hundreds of hives. I remember going bush doing the bee/hive stuffs with him as a kid.. I reckon I would have had over a hundred bee stings over the years... They don't really bother me but he was on a another level! he would have bees get in behind his glasses and sting him on the eyelids and he wouldn't even blink!
Not much I haven't been bitten/stung by- Bees, Wasps/ Spiders but omg I'm here to tell ya nothing compares to a scorpion sting them little buggers with small pincers!

 

[ATpro]

I remember when I got into Forestry and learned to cruse timber the first thing the older fellow who was training me put a pair of snake chaps on me and told me never go into the woods without them. When you spend a lot of your time looking up you don't have a lot of time looking down. When cruising you cover almost all the ground and the chance of running up on a snake is much greater.

 

[Bill G]

I remember when I got into Forestry and learned to cruse timber the first thing the older fellow who was training me put a pair of snake chaps on me and told me never go into the woods without them. When you spend a lot of your time looking up you don't have a lot of time looking down. When cruising you cover almost all the ground and the chance of running up on a snake is much greater.

You fine folks are in an area where snakes are much more of a concern than here. We do have big ass Timber Rattlers along the rocky bluff and the Massasauga also. Some think we have Cottonmouths and I will not argue as I truly do not know. I do know the chances of a deadly snake bite in my area are pretty slim BUT, and a huge BUT I still hate them with a passion and will kill them at every chance.