Ya'll be careful out there

I have already been yellow jacket stung over 65 times in the last 2 week's....I got hit today on my right hand 10 times ...Its swollen the size of a baseball on the back side right now....and the back of my neck is swollen up where they got me on the back of my neck behind my ear.....I got stung yesterday in the thigh...Calf and about 6 times in the chest....

This year has been very bad for bee's......I usually average maybe a couple of Dozen sting's in late summer....

Hey my record though is 86 at one time a few years back....I tossed my detector down and went back to get it maybe 20 minutes later and it looked like it was moving there was so many Yellow jackets swarming it....




Be careful if you are allergic be aware this is the time of year they become active in the ground building there nest...

Keith

Jeez Kieth, that's a lot of stings. I got hit a couple weeks ago on the shins, but only by a half dozen of them. There stings come with a little pain behind them and lasts days, don't know how you handeled 86 at once.
Hope you didn't get skunked that day also :]

Its been a long time since ive been pop'ed.... ive seen a few nests in the ground. They are VERY aggressive little suckers. Here in Fl ive noticed the ants..... they will eat you up if you stand in one place very long and can leave some pretty good blisters.

Dew

Over 50 years ago as teenagers my brother stepped on a yellowjacket nest in ground and got bites all over his body.

He rushed home and was staritng to swell and my dad took him to the Doc...Gave him a shot and took him a week to feel better...no shot and he would have died so indeed be careful especially if you are allergic to them.

Get a bite now and then over a summers season but no major problems. My guess is the amount of bites is what could have killed him...along with those skeeter that carry rocky mountain spotted fever and you cellar hole guys my wifes first cousin was hsopitalized by a spider bite so do be careful lest we lose a forum member...

I'll use "StingEze" analgesic to control pain/itch of stings and mosquito bites. It doesn't neutralize venom but it does contain benzocaine for the anesthetic properties to stop the pain and phenol as an antiseptic.

The pheromones released by a single bee when alarmed/hurt will attract more bees and lead to continued assault until the enemy (you) is dead (bad option) or leaves the area (best option). The pheromones don't wash off in water alone and if you return to the scene of the crime, the pheromone can trigger another attack.

The bad news is the apitoxin in bee stings (similar to stinging nettles) contains the toxin melittin which hurts as it destroys tissue cells, but the good news is that people who receive melittin over the years, such as bee handlers, do not get arthritis. It appears that melittin acts to inhibit the chemical expression of inflammatory agents by certain genes which tend to cause arthritis.

So, figure that the payoff for disturbing vespid yellow jackets is you remain arthritis free.

To avoid painting a marker on yourself, don't wear bright colors, especially yellow. The hive is largest and most aggressive by late summer/early fall, so that is the time to be most alert. All but the queen dies off by early winter and the hive starts new each spring.

The best recourse when stung is to immediately run away (zig-zaging is harder for bees to follow, they fly in straight lines). After the first sting you've been 'marked' and if you stick around you'll likely meet the rest of the hive.

John

My wife got two wasps in her pant leg yesterday. She got tagged pretty good.

She asked me if it was swollen, and I told her that I couldn't really tell. That did not go over well at all.

Very interesting John, about the melittin and arthritis, I need to look that up for further information as I think arthritis is in my near future.

LeggoHead, very sensitive area with women, the weight I mean. My son and I got a laugh from your remark to your wife......"subjects to avoid".

I got a laugh out of that, also.......a frying pan to the head hurts worse than a wasp sting. Seriously, I had a friend in his 40's that was having tennis elbow problems pretty bad in one arm and one day he got stung by a wasp right in the elbow where the pain was the worst. Totally cleared up the problem in his arm. Kind of like getting a steroid shot......

lets not forget those nasty" hungry" blood sucking tics!
i "burned" a couple off my dog just the other day.full blood sac,
she felt much better after i 'cooked" 'em and got 'em off her!
the woods are full of 'em,and they latch on and don't let go!
just sayin'

ozzie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Very interesting John, about the melittin and
> arthritis, I need to look that up for further
> information as I think arthritis is in my near
> future.
>
> LeggoHead, very sensitive area with women, the
> weight I mean. My son and I got a laugh from your
> remark to your wife......"subjects to avoid".

I agree about the arthritis thing. Also, LeggoHead made me laugh.
I have to look into this as well. My girlfriend's mom (and probably my girlfriend) have rheumatoid arthritis. Her mom of the skin variety. Very painful and you get a peeling of the skin in places. I wonder what medicine has been derived from the melittin or is it like Cannabis and only the pure form works without the side effects? Hey, if you combine these two I think the bee stings wouldn't hurt that much ;-)

edit - Forgot to say, thanks for the heads up Keith. It never crossed my mind and now I know what to do. I'll spread the word and I hope you recover well.
On a separate note I got bit on my lower leg by horse fly's and it swelled up for 3 days bad. Never experienced that before. Has happened twice now, so I play football with long workout pants on, even when it's hot.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/2011 07:30PM by earthmansurfer.

been stung free this year, detecting, but got it twice while working, found a new way to treat the sting, because I swell up too and hurt bad after, if you rub honey on the sting as fast as possible, it will go away in five minutes, I carry a jar of honey in my work truck, Keith, I feel your pain, I stepped on a nest a few years ago and was in the woods , I had to strip all my cloths off because the buggers got under my shirt and up my pant leg, got stung about 20 times and almost didn't get out of the woods, when I hunt fields, I look ahead and look for bugs flying about, been lucky this year

Might be a good idea to carry some Benadryl with you if you run the risk of wasp/bee stings. Especially if your out in the sticks. It may save your a** from a potential fatal allergic reaction to the stings. It is a antihistamine, and is one of the medications that medical people (I was a Navy medical corpsman) administer for allergic reactions (using the injectable form). Then definitely go see a medical professional if you are having symptoms like labored breathing.
If you take the Benadryl, it will make you drowsy, so have a hunting partner do the driving if one is available.
Tip on wasp/bee stings. Your body may develop severe life threatining reactions even if you have been stung before and never had any life threatening reactions. Thats why a person should at least carry some Benadryl if they run the risk of getting stung. If any allergic symptoms develop, consider using the epinephrine part of an emergency allergy kit (EpiPen) if previously prescribed by a doctor.

Disclaimer
Not a licensed medical practitioner.....always consult with your physician before following above advice.


JohnnyAnglo, excellent advice on evasion, pheremones and colors.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/2011 02:31AM by TerraDigger.

This is a really interesting article. [www.slate.com]
This man intentionally got stung a number of times to try different remedies and see what worked the best! Good comments from people at the bottom of the article.

Now I'll follow what TerraDigger said regarding an allergic reaction as an antihistamine can save a life, but to ease the pain and itching, the far and away best thing was.... toothpaste! Followed by ice, which I believe as I was stung by a deadly scorpion far away from medical help in the desert. But we had a tub of ice and I kept my hand in that all night. I felt nada! I noticed I didn't have an allergic reaction so just was concerned with the pain. I had been stung by bees before and this little scorpion sting on my hand was the worst by far, like fire.

edit - the best home remedy was toothpaste, the best over the counter was Caladryl (which is a calamine lotion). With Hydrocortisone cream second. What works incredible for mosquite bites here in Germany is a Weleda product with Arnika in it and also stinging nettles or a type of nettles (uritica urens) I believe. Great topical pain killer

EMS



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/2011 09:47AM by earthmansurfer.

Good subject.

The front end of a bee will save my life.......... but the back end of a bee can kill me. (Honey vs. venom).