# Wow, wasp stings HURT! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 29, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154 "2017-10-29T16:29:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/1 "2017-10-29T16:29:15Z")
I got tagged on the jawline by a wasp yesterday. Dang, this hurt far more than a bee sting! (It was most likely a paper wasp, an abandoned but recently used nest fell out of a nearby tree last week). The pain lasted about an hour, I’ve a bit of swelling, and today it’s itchy as all get-out. So, this is my MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/2 "2017-10-29T16:34:22Z")
I am impressed at your very fortunate streak of luck as of late. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/3 "2017-10-29T16:36:11Z")
They can keep coming back for more. Last summer, I was trimming the palm trees and I saw a nest on a frond about 10 feet away, so I got up on the ladder to Black Flag the little bastards and popped my head up right next to a different nest. Howdy, boys! Thankfully, only two stings on the cheek (before I fell off the ladder–only up one step). Try an anti-histamine for the itching. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/4 "2017-10-29T16:40:12Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I am impressed at your very fortunate streak of luck as of late. 😉 Clearly, a bad witch has cast a spell on me . . . ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/5 "2017-10-29T16:41:43Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > They can keep coming back for more. > > Last summer, I was trimming the palm trees and I saw a nest on a frond about 10 feet away, so I got up on the ladder to Black Flag the little bastards and popped my head up right next to a different nest. Howdy, boys! Thankfully, only two stings on the cheek (before I fell off the ladder–only up one step). > > Try an anti-histamine for the itching. YOWCH! I think two stings woulda killed me. I took some Benadryl a few hours ago, it did help with the itches. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/6 "2017-10-29T16:59:13Z")
Well, it is that time of year. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/7 "2017-10-29T21:03:19Z")
Last year I felt something crawling on the back of my neck. I reached back to brush it away and as soon as I touched it, it felt like someone had stabbed me with a red hot ice pick. The culprit looked like a smallish, all black wasp. Worst sting I ever had and I’ve been stung by a wide variety of bees and wasps. Hurt for days and then itched like hell. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2017, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/8 "2017-10-29T22:09:05Z")
Bee venom is good for arthritis. Y’all test the theory. Maybe the pain makes you forget the other pain, ya think? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/9 "2017-10-30T00:25:37Z")
Wasps built a nest inside my DirecTv dish. Every now and then I’d see a lone wasp fly down the pipe. A year later the LNB needed replacing. The wasps weren’t happy when their home got disturbed. I saw at least 15 fly out of that tube. The serviceman was fogging then as fast as possible. He said wasps nest inside satellite dishes all the time. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/10 "2017-10-30T02:44:17Z")
What really creeps me out is the hole where the SOB stings me is visible for several weeks, then a plug of skin (with the hole in the middle) will fall out. Anybody have that happen? Any idea what causes it? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/11 "2017-10-30T04:11:28Z")
Necrotizing flesh? ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/12 "2017-10-30T04:52:12Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Bee venom is good for arthritis. Y’all test the theory. Maybe the pain makes you forget the other pain, ya think? We buy local honey and bee pollen at a place out in the country. The guy treats all sorts of things with bee stings. The main room has a couple of padded tables where treatments take place, and a large cache of bees in a cage is on a table. They grab them with long forceps. I do know someone who went through sting therapy for his knee pain and swears by it. And it’s not a just a sting or two, he was up to something like 12 at a time! Dennis ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/13 "2017-10-30T05:01:33Z")
Last year I was cleaning up the yard and stepped over a small azalea bush to pick up some trash and was stung by a wasp on my inner thigh. Through my jeans! And it had the nerve to still be crawling on my leg as I knocked it off and stepped on it. I had never been stung before. That night the swelling around it was the size of a dinner plate. I went to the doctor the next morning and could barely walk. After telling me she had never seen anyone stung on their thigh, she said I had an overreaction since it was my first time. It hurt to walk for days. I’m much more cautious now. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/14 "2017-10-30T14:42:02Z")
Be thankful you haven’t been stung by a [Asian giant hornet.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7zWGOGjLxs). 3 inches long, with a stinger 1/4" long. They are responsible for killing about 40 people per year in southeast Asia. Their bite is almost as bad as their sting: when they attack honeybee colonies, they kill the bees by fucking biting them in half. I’ve been on a few walks in the woods in Japan, but thankfully never stumbled across a nest of them. The only time I’ve seen one is in a city park, when I almost stepped right on it; thankfully he was all alone, and appeared to be in ill health with no interest in flying/attacking. I got stung by a bumblebee a few years ago on my hand. The pain wasn’t terrible, but my hand swelled up pretty good and had a soreness for a few days like I had whacked it against something. The last time I got stung by a yellowjacket was nearly 30 years ago; the pain was severe, which is why I have gone to great lengths to avoid a repeat since then. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/15 "2017-10-30T15:47:50Z")
It’s been a terrible year for yellow jacket wasps in central Virginia, lots of nests in the ground. I got stung 3 times, foot and leg luckily. I’ve poured boiling soapy water down the nests twice with no effect, next step is gasoline which I don’t want to do because I have a well nearby. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/16 "2017-10-30T16:50:49Z")
A yellow jacket got me on the inner thigh a few weeks ago (bugger crawled up my shorts!), which was the first sting I’ve gotten since I was a kid. I was surprised that it hurt worse, and for longer, than I remembered. ETA: I was just inspired to look at the wikipedia article on yellow jackets, and now I find that it was very likely a paper wasp that stung me. The bastard. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/17 "2017-10-30T19:51:17Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > Last year I was cleaning up the yard and stepped over a small azalea bush to pick up some trash and was stung by a wasp on my inner thigh. Through my jeans! And it had the nerve to still be crawling on my leg as I knocked it off and stepped on it. I had never been stung before. That night the swelling around it was the size of a dinner plate. I went to the doctor the next morning and could barely walk. After telling me she had never seen anyone stung on their thigh, she said I had an overreaction since it was my first time. It hurt to walk for days. I’m much more cautious now. A terribly touchy place to get stung! Just thinking about makes my teeth clench. I didn’t know these Satanic little things could sting though fabric. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/18 "2017-10-30T19:54:49Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > A yellow jacket got me on the inner thigh a few weeks ago (bugger crawled up my shorts!), which was the first sting I’ve gotten since I was a kid. I was surprised that it hurt worse, and for longer, than I remembered. > > ETA: I was just inspired to look at the wikipedia article on yellow jackets, and now I find that it was very likely a paper wasp that stung me. The bastard. Is there a difference between wasps and yellow jackets? I assume the sniper who got me was a wasp due to the nearby (abandoned) nest. But they are different bugs (hymentropa), yes? ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/19 "2017-10-30T19:57:18Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > What really creeps me out is the hole where the SOB stings me is visible for several weeks, then a plug of skin (with the hole in the middle) will fall out. Anybody have that happen? Any idea what causes it? Cool, I want that to happen. I’ll keep close tabs on the bite (I’m a picker of zits, scabs, etc). ---
**Author:** ![Tee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@Tee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tee)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154/20 "2017-10-30T19:57:31Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > Last year I was cleaning up the yard and stepped over a small azalea bush to pick up some trash and was stung by a wasp on my inner thigh. Through my jeans! And it had the nerve to still be crawling on my leg as I knocked it off and stepped on it. I had never been stung before. That night the swelling around it was the size of a dinner plate. I went to the doctor the next morning and could barely walk. After telling me she had never seen anyone stung on their thigh, she said I had an overreaction since it was my first time. It hurt to walk for days. I’m much more cautious now. Two years ago, in August, I was weeding around a yucca plant and disturbed a yellow jacket nest in the ground, and they flew up into my shorts. I bolted into the house and stripped down, stomped on a bunch of them, and two of them chased me around inside. Seven stings in total, four of them on my inner thighs. I was curled up in a ball hating my life. In the morning I went to work in utter misery, a choice I made in order to avoid having to explain to people what happened. 😛 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-wasp-stings-hurt/800154.md?page=2)