“Such bees! Bilbo had never seen anything like them. "If one were to sting me," He thought "I should swell up as big as I am!” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit or There and Back Again Stings are no joke. The first thing to do is not get stung, but it happens, so the next thing is to carefully remove the stinger. Do not squeeze the little ball of fluid at the end of the stinger. That's bee venom. Scrape out the splintered stinger with a credit card or paint boner or pocket knife. Upward strokes away from the venom sack. Once it is out, then what?
The old wives tale I was told was to apply crushed aspirin. That's just Salicylic acid! Burts Bees sells a concentrated acne spot treatment that is pure Salicylic Acid. It works. I keep it in my bee sting kit along with topical Benedryl, two epipens, and bandaids. More than a few of my apprentices have decided to not listen in the past, and OUCH! get stung. Always listen y'all. Always. Stings need to be treated until they are completely healed. A secondary infection can happen easily. Keep it clean, soak in epsom salts, and keep it covered in Neosporin. Trust me, a secondary infection is zero 0/10 fun. Necrosis can and has happened. "Skin grafting following surgical debridement is an adequate and practical treatment modality for such cases." In other words, don't play around. Don't get stung. If you do, treat it properly and until it is 100% healed.
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This Blog:All about the Bee. Backyard bee keeping is gaining popularity and everyone is pro- Saving the Bees, even Cheerios has a seed pack as the cereal treat now. Honey Do is ablog about bee lore, bee keeping, historical bee facts, honey recipes. Inspired by the book Bees: A Honeyed History. There will be posts reviewing bee books, bee themed toys, fancy, regional,and rare honeys. There will be equipment "what's this" posts. Profiles of different kinds of bees (that's not a honey bee, that's a yellow jacket). The different references to bees in religion and historical works. ArchivesCategories |