Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: Ocean on August 24, 2005, 04:09:23 am
-
Hey guys, i finally got my first bee sting right on my forearm, when i was inspecting the hive, this is my first year beekeeping, but after being comfortable with my bees, i decided not to wear the gloves, i've been working without gloves for about 3 months, and yesterday was the first day i got stung...
Right when i got stung i hit the bee off my arm, and i had the stinger in my arm.. so i used my nail to get it out.. it hurt a little right when i got stung, but than it was ok.. , today when i woke up, i see a big red spot about 5 inches long my arm.. its red.. i am thinking i got that because i was itching it at night? maybe... is that normal?
i feel ok, its just its little ichy, i always want to itch the red part, but trying not to touch it...
can u guys just tell me if its normal, and what should i have done, besides taking out the stinger, and putting rubbing alcohol on the wound?
-
Sounds like a perfectly normal reaction for a first sting.
-
I've found that, for me, putting hydrocortisone cream on the sting works to keep the itching, and thus the swelling, down. If I can, I put a bandaid on to keep the cream from being wiped off. But I've become increasingly immune to the toxins, and rarely swell up anymore.
-- Kris
-
You are describing the typical reaction to an insect sting
What is normal ( I dont know I have never seen normal people)
the redness is a typical sympton as is itching
the venom will gradualy seep out into the area around the
sting site. Removing the stinger quickly is the first treatment
ice is used by some people. Anything you do to the site
is going to have the effect of spreading the venom. The average
beekeeper after a few stings learns to take out the stinger and
leave it alone you get used to it or if you are allergic to stings
you should seek professional advise from your doctor.
if you have breathing difficulties get help quick you can die.
you will learn by experience and that is the best way
personally i have had so many stings over the years, that
if feel the pin prick remove the stinger and 5 minutes later cant
find the site next time who knows i might have a bad reaction
if they want to they will sting you.
-
Anything from a lot of local swelling and itching and local fever (at the site), down to just a red spot and no swelling, is all normal. Hives all over is an allergy. Trouble breathing is an allergy.
-
Had a bee get up my pants leg to the back of my thigh and sting me two weeks ago. Didn't get the stinger out till I was done working the bees about an hour later. Most of the back of my thigh swelled up and was warm to the touch and itchy for about three days. Applied Caladryl lotion for the itching.
Pretty normal.
-
According to the doctors, over the counter Benydril is the best thing for the bee sting. Without getting into a lot of physiology, benydril interfers with the mast cells of the body natural reaction. The sooner you get some on board, the better.
-
thanx alot guys, today my sting area is much better, not as ichy as the first day after the sting..
i'll get that benedryl soon :)
-
I do the benadryl trick. If I get stung, I just go ahead and take it, and I end up with no itchies later.
Beth
-
Usually I don't do anything (except scrape the stinger out), but if the sting is bothering me I put some plantain on it. Just crush a leaf of it and rub it on the sting. It stops the pain instantly. If there's no plantain available (there almost always is as it grows in everyone’s yard from early spring until a hard freeze) then I use either some tobacco or crushed aspirin for a poultice. Neither of them works as well as the plantain but seem to help some. I've heard of, but haven't tried, using ammonia on a beesting. Since the plantain is very effective, instantaneous, free and available during all the time I'm messing with bees, I haven't had much incentive to find something else.
-
If there's no plantain available (there almost always is as it grows in everyone’s yard from early spring until a hard freeze).....
So what is this stuff? What does it look like?
-
Am I the only one with Yahoo or Google? Pick images and search on Plantain. On yahoo I found 7,782 of them. On Google I found 10,600 of them. It's the one that does NOT look like a banana.
Here's one:
http://weeds.cropsci.uiuc.edu/images/Broadleafplantain/images/broadleaf%20plantain.jpg
-
So THAT's what that crap is. :lol: :roll:
If you've got kids that play outdoors, then you've probably got a product with calamine in it. If you don't, you ought to get some.
Benedryl doesn't do jack for me. Don't know why. But it doesn't.
-
The plantain will work better, by far, than the calamine, the benedryl, or any other remedy I've ever tried.
-
If there's no plantain available (there almost always is as it grows in everyone’s yard from early spring until a hard freeze) then I use either some tobacco or crushed aspirin for a poultice. Neither of them works as well as the plantain but seem to help some.
We've got this plant in Norway too, but I didn't know it helps for a bee sting. Which part of the plant works best? The part with the seeds or the leafs (or the whole plant)? This was interesting info :-)
-
Just crush a leaf and rub it on the sting. It's not a very juicy plant so sometimes I bite it to crush it better.
-
wow, and I just yanked four of them out of a flower bed. . . now I know.
And yes Michael, apparently you are the only one with the ability to google
-
This might sound crazy to you guys but I had a Doc tell me to put plain meat tenderizer on it. It stops the sting instantly and also helps draw out to venom. You can get it at any local grocer in the spice isle. It looks like salt.
-
This might sound crazy to you guys but I had a Doc tell me to put plain meat tenderizer on it.
I've heard that one too. Never tried it (or anything else for that matter). Any stings I get last a few seconds. No itching, burning, no nothing.
-
When I got my first sting earlier in August I screamed bloody murder( In a figure of speach). It was right in the cuticle of my thumbnail. Given my gloves are starting to wear out and are getting nasty from all the propolis I probably should wean myself off of the gloves. Since I've only been stung once I'm a little worried that I could have become allergic. Does anyone know if an allergy to a bee sting has something to do with heredity?
-
I heard somewhere that allergies can develop from minimal or large one time exposures; usually continuous moderate exposures can reduce sensitivity instead of increasing sensitivity. I've found that if I let myself get stung several times per week, I react less to the stings when I've let several weeks go by between stings.
-
Around here people swear that if you chew up a little tabbaco and spit it on the bite, it will stop hurting and your done with it.
-
Yummy