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Author Topic: some stings just hurt like hell  (Read 3095 times)

Offline danno

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some stings just hurt like hell
« on: August 11, 2013, 07:44:29 pm »
I have been pulling and extracting honey for the last week. A average day is about 25 stings this time of the year.   If anyone tells the new people on here that sting don't bother them anymore they are liars or at least not being completely honest.   They will always hurt but the after sting symptoms get better.  Obviously where you get stung always matters but some bee's just seem to hurt more.  I got one in the forearm last Sunday felt way hotter that the other 2 doz I got that day that  bruised    Today I got one just above the knee and one in the juggler vein that really left a mark.  Point is I will never get used to them only tolerate them better

Offline GSF

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Re: some stings just hurt like hell
« Reply #1 on: August 11, 2013, 08:49:11 pm »
I got hit in the armpit a couple of days ago. Stayed with me for a while. The other places I got hit quit hurting a long time before this one did.

Someone ought to start a thread titled: "I just got stung (where)" If folks would post every time they got stung it would be a long running thread with a million hits the first year. Bees don't bother me like those yellow jackets and hornets do. When one of those stings me it really ticks me off!
When the law no longer protects you from the corrupt, but protects the corrupt from you - then you know your nation is doomed.

Offline danno

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Re: some stings just hurt like hell
« Reply #2 on: August 11, 2013, 10:11:36 pm »
yellow jackets find their way in to the honey in numbers but I hang a bug zapper this time of the year and burn literally 100s of them. 1 out of ever 10 are a honey bee

Offline sc-bee

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Re: some stings just hurt like hell
« Reply #3 on: August 11, 2013, 10:59:48 pm »
To me they have hurt significantly more this year!
John 3:16

Offline L Daxon

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Re: some stings just hurt like hell
« Reply #4 on: August 11, 2013, 11:38:40 pm »
I work my hives gloveless and usually get 0-6 stings a week  depending on how many hives I get into and how long I am out there.  While the initial contact with the stinger nearly always hurts, after about  20-30 minutes I can hardly tell where I was stung.  Of course I always try to get the stinger out as quickly as possible.

That being said, at our state bee meeting this spring a gal who does  gave volunteers a "bee sting" showing how it is done holding the bee with tweezers up to the skin until it stings in the desired location.  The difference between the therapy sting and a regular sting one gets when out working the hive is that with the therapy you are supposed to leave the stinger in for 20 minutes to make sure ALL the venom is injected from the venom sac.  After 20 minutes I was surprised at the strong reaction I had at the site on my ankle where the therapist stung me. I had about an 8 inch round red, hot spot and of course it itched a bunch the next day.

This taught me 1) I haven't become quite as immune to bee stings as I thought I had, and 2) How long the stinger remains in the skin, i.e. how much venom actually gets injected at the sting site, has a lot to do with how you react to each individual sting.

Linda D in OKC
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Offline OldMech

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Re: some stings just hurt like hell
« Reply #5 on: August 12, 2013, 12:54:00 am »


   "If anyone tells the new people on here that sting don't bother them anymore they are liars or at least not being completely honest"

   I guess its a matter of perspective.. but in general... NO, It doesnt bother me much when I get stung by a honey bee.
      I get stung, say ouch, scrape stinger off and go back to work, and usually forget I got stung within a few minutes..   DEPENDING on where I get stung..
   Hands/arms doesnt bother me much. Face neck... hurts a bit worse..
    Have your 1/2" breaker bar snap in half and slam your fist into the corner of an engine block and smash/slice your knuckles open.. THAT hurts..  Drop a 6.2 Detroit on your hand, lose a finger, break your wrist, smash your hand..  Oh, and crush the watch you had on that wrist. THAT hurts...   a sting??  not so much.  Of course.. I got stung once right up between the legs once. I screamed like a little girl, and whined for an hour while the wife giggled...  I'll never wear shorts to do a quick check again.........
  Twice in my life I have been stung in excess of 30 times.. that tends to hurt. The burning stays with you for a little over an hour, but starts to fade fast after that.  Watching people scatter like rats leaving a sinking ship helps.. you can laugh while you pull out stingers at the wild antics you witnessed and deny performing any acrobatics yourself.
39 Hives and growing.  Havent found the end of the comfort zone yet.

Offline danno

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Re: some stings just hurt like hell
« Reply #6 on: August 12, 2013, 09:11:46 am »
My language is usually abit more colorful then just ouch but work does carry on.  Most of the 2 doz I got yesterday happened in the honey house picking up frames to run through the uncapper and pinching one. Hands only hurt for a second.

Offline 10framer

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Re: some stings just hurt like hell
« Reply #7 on: August 12, 2013, 10:07:44 am »
it depends on where you get hit.  also, when the bees are charging you and hitting you hard it seems to hurt a little more, i'm guessing it sinks in a little deeper and you get a big initial dose of venom. 
nothing comes close to under the fingernail as far as the burning sensation goes.  i've never been hit in the nads, though.
old mech, ten years ago i did cut outs and generally worked my bees in shorts.  i guess i was lucky but with age comes wisdom (or caution at least).  i still only wear a tee shirt but i do wear jeans.

Offline danno

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Re: some stings just hurt like hell
« Reply #8 on: August 12, 2013, 01:13:32 pm »
a couple of weeks ago i got hit twice between the eyes about 5 or 6 days apart.  I didn't get the usual black eyes and swelling was minimal but man did those hurt.  Not much meat up.  Last year a friend took one between the eyes and he looked like he was in costume for beauty and the beast.   not the beauty part either

Offline 10framer

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Re: some stings just hurt like hell
« Reply #9 on: August 12, 2013, 01:32:44 pm »
i got hit in the lower right eyelid  a couple of times in january.  i had a little swelling and that was it. 
i don't have very strong reactions.  i took a dozen in my forearms friday and i was taking pictures and working the hive at the same time so my hands were full and the venom sacs pumped out.  i had some very local swelling that was gone in a couple of hours.
different people have different reactions.  i'm one of the lucky ones i guess.   

Offline RHBee

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Re: some stings just hurt like hell
« Reply #10 on: August 12, 2013, 02:08:59 pm »
I've found that where the sting is and how long the stinger stays in determine how much it hurts. I had a crawler go up my britches and nail the inside of my left thigh. At first I just shrugged it off then it really started to burn. I wasn't about to come out of my bibs in the yard. I had to come in the house and strip down enough to scrape out the stinger. I'm pretty sure I got a full dose. That sting actually made me limp just a little. Hurt for at least 8hrs before it began to ease off. I'm glad that she didn't ring the bell, I'm sure that would have been special. Now I blouse my pants while robbing. Lesson learned.
I'm pretty sure that dose determines reaction. Scrape the stinger out quickly.
Later,
Ray

Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: some stings just hurt like hell
« Reply #11 on: August 15, 2013, 02:47:32 am »
Stings to nerve endings and blood vessels always hurt worse.  The more venom the more swelling. sometimes one is unable to remove stingers in hard to reach places while in the bee yard so the swelling is worse.

Sensitive areas also hurt worse, nose, eyes, lips especially.

The more times one gets stung also increases the pain level after about 10 stings everyone seems hot.
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Offline dupa240

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Re: some stings just hurt like hell
« Reply #12 on: August 16, 2013, 12:34:02 pm »
I have a slight allergy to the venom.  Had bees since 1979 and have gone up to 7 yrs. without getting stung.
I've been getting it good lately teaching a new beekeeper the last 2 years. (he works slow and is afraid of them)
After 12 stings or so I feel them stick me and then that's it (no soreness or pain).
Here it is mid August and I'm still working my colonies with no veil & gloves (sunny and warm days only).
I don't mind getting stung anyway because I got arthritis.

 

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