Posted: 8/23/2011 5:56:16 PM EDT
|
Long. scroll down for summary. I was out cutting wood tonight at a friends place, about 12 miles from home. She had the place logged last summer, and between her plot and the neighbor's (who also gave us permission), there's nice white oak tops everywhere. Over the weekend we took my tractor over (JD4120/CX400) along with my buddies 12' dump trailer –– the one we used to haul wood down to rustee's place a couple of years ago. We were cutting the stuff into 6' chunks, then hauling it out of the woods into the trailer, got 5 trailer loads out last weekend. The tractor seems to be the critical resource, both dragging tops to the staging area and loading the trailer. I don't have access to the trailer during the week, so I went out this evening by myself to just pull some tops up to the staging area. They're in pretty big piles, and the woods is pretty thick, so dragging them can be a lot of work. I was working on one really nice top when my saw got stuck. This was the top from hell. Worked on it for 25-30 minutes to get it free enough to pull out. Pissed off at this point, I hooked a chain up to the tractor and gave it a really hard jerk to free the saw, which worked. Went to retrieve the saw and guess what I'd uncovered? Yep, a nest full of now really pissed off bees. I GTFO as soon as I could, but sustained probably a dozen stings, mostly on my arms and back. I'm not allergic to bees historically, but I've never been stung that many times either. Cursing all the way back to the truck, I went to see what I had in the GHB for bee stings –– nada. I did have some benedryl, so i took a couple of those in case I started to have a reaction, which I didn't. summary: What do you put on bee stings, and do you carry this in your ghb/bob/truck? My arm still hurts like hell. -Slice |
|
Quoted:
Thanks rustee. So far so good (other than sore arm). It was about 3 hours ago. I assume a reaction would come on quicker? @Dave –– hornets suck! I'm REALLY glad that's not what i found! Any suggestions on a remedy? -Slice Slice, We always used a little wet tobacco, baking soda or wet meat tenderizer works also. |
|
That many stings can make you feel like you have the flu even without any sort of allergy. Yellow jackets are worse, but honey bees are bad enough. Take some antihistamines and get some sleep. Benadryl works ok for me but makes me too drowsy. I normally take zyrtec now instead. |
|
I or nobody in my family is allergic so its bendryll and a multipurpose salve called Foille, which among other things has lanocane which takes the sting away.
Now we can debate what works better than what and probably agree on a lot of things, but what Foille brings to the table is its a salve and salves have distinct advantages over other ointments. Its very old school, but salves stay there longer and continue to administer their medication when liquids and lighter products have dried or worn off. Foille is really about the best small burn salve, I have ever used and was standard stuff in the steel mill my father worked in. Its also an antiseptic but its simply fantastic for insect bites of all types. In my personal meds, for a totally different reason, I keep steroids, which is about the best anti-inflammatory going. Its not a first grab for a bee sting, but would be an option if the swelling was getting out of hand. It can be administered orally for general inflammation or crushed up and administered locally mixed in with the Foille. There's really not that much difference between prednisone and hydrocortizone as far as how they work. Now for some folk medicine. If you are around someone who smokes, borrow their cigarette and hold the hot end as close to the insect bite/sting area as you possibly can. Ignore the pain and hold it till you can't take it any longer or fear you're going to really burn yourself. Now I can't tell you if all those old wives tales of burning the poison or causes it flow out better is true or not, but I can tell you the heat deadens those nerves some and the area doesn't bother you as bad. As for horror stories, when I was young and dumb, I got a wasp down the back of my motorcycle jacket at 60 mph. I panicked and simply tried to stop my bike as fast as I could while the wasp continued to sting me. Finally in desperation I swatted it through my jacket with my left hand and though he got me, one last time, I stopped him. Total sting count was unlucky 13. From that day on, sting, I slam it. 
Tj |
|
I am an amateur bee keeper. In my experience most people end up stung by yellowjackets or hornets and then mistakenly blame the sting on "bees". If it flies, its an insect, and it stings it must be a generic "bee".
With that said there are some tactics for real, actual, bona fide bee (as in the honey bee, be it any of the common strains). 1) When you get stung the bee leaves a pheromone sent marker on you. Think of it as the bee equvalent of a UV die bomb placed in money bags to mark bank robbers. It marks you as a "bad guy". She then rushes back to the hive and sounds the alarm. The other come rushing out looking for trouble. Therefore, if you get stung, kill the offending bee immediately. There is less chance of the others coming out as reinforcments. 2) When stung by a honey bee the stinger remains stuck in your skin, and there is a small venom sack attached. It continues to pump venom into your skin. Remove it as quickly as possible. Less venom means less reaction. Do NOT grab and pull out. Grabbing the stinger causes you to squeeze the venom out. Instead simply scrape a finger nail over the stinger and scrape it out. 3) A little of the commerical after sting preparations can help. How much and how long it hurts depends a great deal on where you get stung. Arms and legs are not so bad. I find near finger joints are particularly bothersome (you notice it every time your flex the joint). Worst is perhaps the nose and just inside the nostrils. If you are really fast your reaction to a sting is a violent "slap,scrape". If you are quick enough the reaction is minimal. Bees only sting once. Odds are if you got zapped three, four, five times in really rapid succession it was a yellow jacket/hornet/wasp. Side bar: I used to have a hobby strain of bees called "midnites". Yes. Bees have strains and breeds just like Angus, Holstien and Jersey in cows. Anyways, these little darlings were so damned calm that I would crack open a hive, take a super off, dig in for a frame and pull a frame full of honey and bees out of the boxes so the neighborhood kids could stick fingers in the comb (crawling with bees) and eat honey. This was all with no veil, no suit, and no smoker. Just me and four or five kids, all in shorts and tee shirts. So long as you move calm and slow everyone was okay, if a little sticky  Other the other hand I had some damned italians that would staple your pants to your legs any time you got within 20 feet of the hive with a weed eater.
Fro |
|
Thanks TJ, I'll see if I can find some of the Foille. You also reminded me of another option I had if I had started to have a severe reaction. I have RA, so one of the things in my GHB (which is really my laptop bag) is a pack of methylprednisolone and a bottle of prednisone in case I get bad when I'm travelling. The stuff messes w/ my blood sugar bad, though. |
|
Thanks froz. They weren't wasps or hornets. I've heard different definitions of "yellow jacket", so I'll describe these: They weren't the big fat bumble bees. These were small, maybe 5/8"-3/4" long and relatively skinny compared to bumble bees. They did have a bit of yellow/gold/something on their butts. I got stung in a lot of different locations over the course of a minute or so, not like a hornet hammering you 4-5 times in a few seconds. Whatever they were, it sucked. I did scrape off a couple of stingers, but not one from each welt. Do they always stay in? Maybe it's burried and I just cant see it. |
|
Quoted:
Thanks TJ, I'll see if I can find some of the Foille. You also reminded me of another option I had if I had started to have a severe reaction. I have RA, so one of the things in my GHB (which is really my laptop bag) is a pack of methylprednisolone and a bottle of prednisone in case I get bad when I'm travelling. The stuff messes w/ my blood sugar bad, though. The only Foille I could find locally was the big tubes which is great for home but a tad large. I found the small tubes like used in the plants on Amazon and bought a box of them for around $1 a tube. That way I could put one in each of my first aid kits. Another mainstay of mine is a small bottle of iodine. Its great for slapping it on scratches to prevent infection and hard up, you can use it to purify drinking water. Those are only a $1 too. Tj |
|
I HATE the itching!
When we get stung or bit by mosquitos, we do the following and have for 15+ years. While I lie down and cry like a little girl and bite down on my Teddy Bear, my SO takes a new Xacto knife and a contact solution bottle we carry with us filled with Tilex or whatever chlorine bleach she fills it with and she cleans the blade and puts a few drops on the bite and jabs away to REALLY draw blood. The bite usually disappears in 2 days except for the wound and there is rarely ever any itch or pain, if she's aggressive enough with the blade. The blades and the dropper bottle are standard equipment anywhere we go in all vehicles and locations. Never in all these yrs have we had an issue and will continue the practice.
|
|
I've used a combination of a topical product called "sting kill" (20% benzocaine and a little bit of menthol) and taking a benedryl.
I am pretty sure you could substitute a similar 20% benzocaine product, like anbesol. Lidocaine-based products haven't worked as well from my experience. I carry about 5 of the sting kill ampules with me, because of all my first aid supplies that I carry 24/7, they've gotten used the most besides band-aids, and generate thank-yous like crazy. |
|
Another technique I've tried is to put a small piece of kleenex soaked in some sort of bleach on the bite and tape it in place with duct tape.
I've left it on too long and had some very minor temporary scarring. So I don't recommend it to the PC type folks amongst us. |
|
Quoted:
Slice, we usually make a paste of baking soda and smear that on the stings, usually kills the sting in a few seconds. Benadryl will help with swelling and other symptoms. Ops My mom always did the same thing with meat tenderizer. She'd make a paste out of it and apply to the sting. Don't know if the attention or the product provided more actual relief...Mom was an Okie and was full of old stuff like that. She's a treasure. |
|
Quoted:
As for horror stories, when I was young and dumb, I got a wasp down the back of my motorcycle jacket at 60 mph. I panicked and simply tried to stop my bike as fast as I could while the wasp continued to sting me. Finally in desperation I swatted it through my jacket with my left hand and though he got me, one last time, I stopped him. Total sting count was unlucky 13. From that day on, sting, I slam it.
Tj Riding home from work a few years back on a '73 Honda CB350. Its a nice upright ride like sitting in a lawn chair. Tooling along, minding my own business when a f-ing bee (or hornet, whatever) flew into my crotch and got trapped in the folds of material in my pants between my leg and my balls. Thankfully I got stung in the leg!! When I got home (it was less than a half mile from my house) the little f-er was still sitting on my seat. He quickly met the palm of my leather motorcycle gloves! K |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Slice, we usually make a paste of baking soda and smear that on the stings, usually kills the sting in a few seconds. Benadryl will help with swelling and other symptoms. Ops My mom always did the same thing with meat tenderizer. She'd make a paste out of it and apply to the sting. Don't know if the attention or the product provided more actual relief...Mom was an Okie and was full of old stuff like that. She's a treasure. I know meat tenderizer works extremely well on jelly fish stings. Also hot water neutralizes the jellyfish venom. I am not allergic to bees, wasps or jellies having been hit by all three. I have never been stung more than once at a time by a bee or wasp, so I didn't bother with anything other than Benadryl for those. |