The only bee sting I remember was from stepping barefoot on one when I was four or five. I got M&Ms from mom, which took my mind off the pain–not allergic in any way.
Aside from that, I never had a problem with bees. Bumblebees were just too big and clumsy-looking to bother, and honeybees are simply going about their business. Wasps, however, are simply evil psychotic little bystyrds.
Oooooh! Sting stories!
Bee stings are painful, but they apparently have nothing on scorpions. One of my friends laid(?) down on one during a camping trip. He was a tough SOB, but he jumped and shrieked like a cheerleader. Apparently it’s like being stabbed, which has also happened to said friend.
I’ve learned not to stick my pinky down a mud dauber’s hole. A world of pain, all in one little digit.
And I agree with Drastic. Wasps are the Mongols of the insect world. They’ll sting you just to see the look on your face.
I was stung by a bumble bee once on my belly. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt, just itched a little.
We had a “pet” bumble bee for a while, one who decided to live in our garage. When the door was closed, locking her out, she would spend hours bumping up against it until someone had pity on her and opened it. We did that all summer long. [sub]Suckers.[/sub] But, hey, she was cute and fuzzy.
Amen. Some of those black, segmented kinds have extremely painful bites, as I learned on more than one occasion. The worst was a bite on my foot. The reaction seemed to go away in a few days, with the help of Benadryl, but returned a week later. It took a long time for the burning and swelling to go away completely. I hope that doesn’t mean I’ve been sensitized now and will have a dangerous reaction next time.
rivulus
Bravo, Britt! Thanks for the entertaining story. It made me smile and I’m sure the grandkids will appreciate it.
-L
I’ve only been stung by a honeybee once, and no allergic reaction. Good thing as africanized bees are here. Painful but less than half as bad as a wasp which is well below scorpion. Great. FWIW there are only two venemous lizards in the world and we have one of them here. If it’s bitey, pointy or stingey we have it here. all that and 100s in the summer. I frickin’ love Phoenix.
<ponders> Could there be Africanized bumblebees? Scorpions? Africanized flying bumble-scorpions…
Am I the only one who recalled the line, “Ever been bitten by a dead bee?”, Walter Brennan’s line from To Have and Have Not?
beegirl:
Really?
I keep bees. I’ve been called on to help people get rid of hives of bees wasps, etc.
I’ve tried it both ways. Unfortunately when you get stung, the stinging bee puts some kind of pheremone in the air, and it’s on the stinger as well. Every bee that gets a whiff is gonna came after you.
My advice? Run like hell, screaming and waving your hands. Panic as much as possible.
I bet if you had done that, you wouldn’t have gotten stung in the back.
The other thing that pisses me off is all you ungrateful bastards complaining about bee stings.
You oughtta be thankful. After all:
The bee stings in life are free.
Or, worse yet, Africanized bumble-scorpion-rattlesnake-gila-bees! Just clamping onto you with their jaws as they dig their fangs into you while simulatneously clutching you between their claws as they whip their long, rattling tails around and sting you! The horror! :eek:
Only been stung once, that I remember - a yellow jacket had decided my sandwich looked pretty tasty and was partaking of it on the underside as I took a bite.
Felt like my lip had split down to the gumline! Actually it was so sudden and intense all I could do was just sit there and say “What the hell…?” Hurt like a bastard for a couple of hours and got some swelling, which I kept down with some ice. Not something I care to repeat.
I pat bumblebees too, except I don’t go looking for them while they’re asleep. I do it while they’re working, trying to get enough food for the day. Never been stung, but they take off in a hurry after a minute or so.
I am allergic, been stung once by a honey bee, now I carry a sting kit. I have never pet a fat bumblebee. I think they are cute and would like to try, but the whole “have to give myself a shot if anything happens” gives me cause to pause.
Ok, first of all…that was the worst pun ever. I mean EVER!
With that said, my whole family (dad, mom, sis, and I) used to keep honey bees and extract the honey. Good stuff. 8 years after we stopped harvestin’ we still have some. Anyway, I must have been stung hundreds of times. I don’t even feel honey bee stings anymore. I get stung by yellow jackets infrequently, but they hurt. And bumble bees officially suck. I was mowing my lawn when the mower went over a ground nest…stung on my ear once and my arm twice. Damn bee got caught in my mesh sleeves. But you name and I’ve been stung by it, with the obvious exception of killer bees and any bee not indiginous to the northern New Jersey area.
And one final thing…does anyone else here hate trying to explain to people that bees sting and not bite ever? And then they insist that they bite even though I used to own a few hundred thousand bees and I would know better than them? PISSES ME OFF, MAN!
Just a little tip for treating stings for the non-allergic. Meat tenderizer. You know the stuff you use to make steaks more tender and such. It breaks down proteins including bee and wasp venom. I fine a paste made with it works wonders for lessening sting pain.