Ouch

[Parke County Queen]

Has anyone gotten stung on the top of their ear? MAN - I couldn't believe how bad it hurt. Even worse than on the ankles. Today my ear is so sore and even down my neck hurts. I think there are some nerves in the ear. I guess it didn't help that I didn't get the stinger out until 1/2 hour later. It was getting late and I had to hurry.

[Dundrave]

Nope - I have gotten it between the eyes, that one sure hurt. I am using a sting free strategy now a days... just have to figure out what it is

[riverrat]

the ear hurts I can attest to that . But I think the worst I have had so far is the side of the nostril. That one will water your eyes good.

[Troy]

Sorry, can't relate to the ear. I got it right in the temple one day. That is the most painful one I've had. Kind of injected right into the brain there. My eye swelled half shut too.

[D Coates]

I'm not looking forward to ear or eye hits though I know I'll eventually get them. The back of the neck is my worst so far. It felt like I'd been hit by a large stick after that for about 3 days. Didn't really swell but was quite sore over a large area.

I did get one under my nose between my nostrils and although it hurt it was done within a couple of hours, didn't really swell, but the itching lasted a few days. My eyes an nose watered for only a little bit. I can't help but think she didn't give me a full wollop as I got her off me faster than I even knew. How I didn't gouge and eye out or sever my nose moving a hive tool that fast and close to my face I'll never know.

[WayneW]

On the eyebrow was fun, but not a full on attack.... just a pinch, and a small bump. Hurt for about an hour and then itched for a few days.

[kopeck]

Yes, mine was on the inside though.

I've been hit a few times but the ear was the worst by far.

[ScadsOBees]

Sorry, can't relate to the ear. I got it right in the temple one day. That is the most painful one I've had. Kind of injected right into the brain there.

Maybe that kind of apitherapy will ward off alzheimer's!!

Top of the ear...that is an awefully little body part to be absorbing all the venom. I did get one on the front part of my ear, but it wasn't any worse than any other sting.

Rick

[BigDaddyDS]

I got it on the temple, right above the ear, once. It felt like someone hauled off and clocked me with a full on punch! If I remember correctly, it swelled up something fierce and was on fire for a day or two. Definitely a strange reaction.

Personally, I've really grown to hate getting stung on the fingertips! I knew they were sensitive and that there were a large number of nerve endings there, but, dang! And then the next 2 days your finger tip is swollen, sensitive and itchy.

(Good fun thread, by the way.)

DS

[Parke County Queen]

Yeah and the hands swell up like you blew up a rubber glove!

[RSB]

I will take this oportunity to introduce myself to the group.

I have been reading this forum for several months as I am planning to
get a couple of hives this coming spring. After many years of being
interested in beekeeping this is the first time I have had the place
and resources to get started.

Up until now I have not posted as I have had nothing to contribute,
but even though I have no hands on experience keeping bees I do know
about being stung.

The most memorable sting was when I was on a survey crew in the San
Joaquin valley, CA. It was in the summer and we were driving down
a road lined with hives. The beekeeper had set the hives on the right
side of the road and the bees were all flying to the field on the left
side of the road. We were traveling through a thick cloud of bees.
A bee came through the window and hit me in the lobe of my ear. I had
to dig the stinger and half the bee out of my ear with my pocket knife.
It smarted just a bit.

Another time I was out on the west side of the valley helping build an
adobe house when a bee got under my glasses and stung me on the eyelid.
I went around like Popeye for awhile.

My worst sting ever was when I was walking through the grass barefoot
and stepped on a bee. My foot swelled so much I was worried and after
a day of swelling with no relief I went to the Dr. He just said it
happens that way sometimes and took my fifty dollars. That was humiliating
as well as painful and expensive.

Well, that is my two cents worth. I really enjoy this forum and hope to
have more to contribute in the future.

Roger

[SCBEEKEEPER]

I have not been hit in the ear by my girls yet but I got 7 stings from yellow jackets inside the ear when I ran over a ground nest while mowing a few years ago.

[Eaglerock]

I think that is why they make Veil's and Gloves... nah...

[Parke County Queen]

Eaglerock,

Believe it or not. I had a veil on. I think the veil was up against my head and they stung through it. Either that, or one got in, but I didn't hear it.

I always hear other beeks talking about not wearing protective clothes, but I get stung all the time WITH them. Their bees must be nicer than mine.

[berkshire bee]

my most painful was right on the front edge of my big toenail.........I know, I should have been wearing shoes.

[Joseph Clemens]

I almost always wear loose shorts whenever I'm outside, even when working bees. I also wear a white T-shirt, recently I use long sleeved T-shirts. I use the type of veil that uses a hat for support - I just let it drape over my shoulders, I don't fasten it down.

I've been stung just about anywhere I have skin - fortunately for me, at least the past thirty years all my sting reactions have been localized and minor. The most painful part of being stung, for me, is the initial penetration of the stinger and the initial pain induced by whatever venom makes it into the wound. Stings smart for less than a minute, and about five minutes later its hard to tell where I was stung, even if its in the nose or eyelids. But my most painful stings are the ones where the bee manages to slip up my shorts unnoticed, then they make there presence known as they sink their stingers through my undies and into my Gonads. When this happens an onlooker would surely think I'd lost my mind. Fortunately no one has ever seen my reaction to Gonad stings.

[sqkcrk]

The last time I got stung on the top edge of my ear I seem to remember that it not only hurt, but it got rather hot. An interesting reaction to a bee sting.

By the way, there are some much more sensitive places to get stung and ones that are quite painful to try to get the stinger out of. But I won't go into any details, so as not to offend or frighten.

[seamuswildhoney]

If you put some apple cider vinegar on a tissue and apply it to the sting it will instantly take all the pain away!

[Joseph Clemens]

If you put some apple cider vinegar on a tissue and apply it to the sting it will instantly take all the pain away!

Not fast enough - in the time it would take me to open the bottle and put some vinegar on the tissue, my pain would already be gone.

[knadai]

I got my first sting of the year on Sunday. I don't usually wear gloves but I'd read posts of some of you raving about nitrile gloves. I tried them and did something wrong, perhaps because I was wearing gloves. She got me just below and to the side of my thumbnail. It felt like my thumb had been slammed in a truck door. I'd never had one hurt that bad before.

I woke up at 4:00 a.m., about twelve hours after the sting, with a swollen hand. I left on a busines strip to Houston and by 4:00 p.m. on Monday my hand looked like a balloon animal. It was bright red and so swollen I thought the back of my hand would split.

It's finally about normal as I type this. The funny thing is I had such a bad reaction to a single sting, and I've had as many as six stings on that hand before with nothing the next day other than an itch. The immune system is a funny thing.