Will pennies stop swelling and pain of bee stings?

[Drugstore]

The latest thing out on the internet is that if you tape a penny to a bee/hornet sting area, the pain will go away and the swelling will go away.
I have been stung many times but have never tried this penny trick.
I thought it was a joke, but I had an old bee keeper say it is so.
Can anyone confirm this?

[sqkcrk]

The latest thing out on the internet is that if you tape a penny to a bee/hornet sting area, the pain will go away and the swelling will go away.
I have been stung many times but have never tried this penny trick.
I thought it was a joke, but I had an old bee keeper say it is so.
Can anyone confirm this?

Sure, just like backing soda, chewing tobacco, a crushed aspirin, mud or TIME.

[Chrissy Shaw]

For most folks it takes about two days for the itching and swelling to leave. If the swelling is real bad, then take that penny off your arm and head to the doctor with a few bags of pennies and follow advice given.

Chrissy

[Drugstore]

Mark,
Thanks for the answer.
The beek who said this was true is the president of a state beekeeping association and he said he is also a certified beekeeper.
Your answer is pretty much the same as mine. I just added a little more color.

[Chrissy Shaw]

"Thank you Mark" but ol Chrissy just languishes with her pennies and tape. Are you supposed to put the Lincoln side in or out???

Chrissy :)

[Drugstore]

I was not told about whether the Head or tail side of the penny should be applied to the sting area.
I was assured that the copper in the penny somehow took care of the problem.
I wish it was that simple. All us beeks would have a pocket full of pennies.

[sqkcrk]

Mark,
Thanks for the answer.
The beek who said this was true is the president of a state beekeeping association and he said he is also a certified beekeeper.
Your answer is pretty much the same as mine. I just added a little more color.

Yeah, you have to watch those guys. We had a State Beekeepers Ass. President who really thought that eating pollen was a good idea. His problem was that he was eating pollen from his own hives and poisoning himself because the bees were picking up Pencap-M as if it were pollen. He did survive.

[sqkcrk]

"Thank you Mark" but ol Chrissy just languishes with her pennies and tape. Are you supposed to put the Lincoln side in or out???

Chrissy :)

I thought that you were supposed to put them on your eyes before burial.

[LET]

For most folks it takes about two days for the itching and swelling to leave. If the swelling is real bad, then take that penny off your arm and head to the doctor with a few bags of pennies and follow advice given.

Chrissy

Well said. . . I find my doctor works best with the new dollar coins. . .

[Chrissy Shaw]

Perhaps the swelling is removed by the dropping value of the coin on the skin? As for those pennies on the eyes, if i live just a few more years i won't have any left to use. I will be looking for bees on the otherside anyway, if there aren't any, i aint going.

Chrissy

[Joseph Clemens]

I haven't had more than a momentary sharp pain, when the sting first goes into my flesh, and even then, not always - for these past 35 years. I do protect my face with a veil when working the bees, stings around the nose and eyes can be distracting. I wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt, can't stand gloves, so I get most stings on my hands, especially my fingertips. I must say that if I needed to use pennies to remedy the stings I get on my fingers, that my hands would be so heavy I would hardly be able to lift them.

Seriously, my hat is off to beekeepers that have any more of a reaction to stings than I do.

[Meerkat]

Sure, just like backing soda, chewing tobacco, a crushed aspirin, mud or TIME.

Bit much to put a magazine over the sting ;-) :-)

[jim b]

>Can anyone confirm this?
You can.
Or you can refute it.
Just try it yourself.
On yourself, or on an innocent bystander who happened to get stung.
As i did and found that it seemed to work.
But who knows, maybe she wasn't going to have any reaction anyway.
No way of knowing that.
Got a good picture of her holding the penny on her cheek with an appropriate finger, it was after all, my fault that she got stung.
Cheers,
jim

[Aspera]

Rubbing, cold, wetness or any number of other sensations will interfere with the ability of your nervous system to interpret the inflammatory response as pain. Unfortunately, only cold really reduces the inflammation. The classic example is sucking on the your left thumb right after wacking it with the hammer. This helps the pain and most of us do it out of habit. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it. :-)

[Chrissy Shaw]

If you notice the stings and stop working, you need more bees. It is a proven cure. At some point you have so much work you forget the little pokes along the way. A bee in the ear just sounds so close as to warrent that trip to the bushes to extract. Recall, first get away from all the bees flying around your head, then remove veil.

Chrissy