[rand]

Hi all
In addition to my previous post.
I was stung in my head, neck and hands yesterday morning
and feeling itchy but perfectly o.k.

After something like 12 hours, my backhand and neck and scruff are swollen
and hot, something like 4-5 cm around the stings.

Im really not a hypochondriac, but as a beginner beekeeper, just want to know if this is a normal sting reaction after something like 12 stings in a time.

I thought about buying a overall with a veil as one unit instead of separate veil and seperate overall, because the smart bees always find the little hole to enter through ?

Thanks alot
Randi

 

[randydrivesabus]

I get the swelling up reaction too but it goes away after a while. The one unit bee jackets or suits do give more protection.

 

[Ravenseye]

Sounds pretty normal to me but it's better to ask a doctor. I was stung once right under my eye. Within a short time, I was red from the waist up. Took some benadryl and it was gone in an hour or so. I really think it depends on where you are stung. I've taken 13 on my arms and just had red, itchy bumps the next day. For the most part, I get stung, get a red bump which continues to swell a little for a few hours and then stays an itchy spot for a day or so depending on where the stinger was. If in doubt, ask a Dr.!

 

[rand]

Thank you for the relaxing information

The fact that i got some stings close to each other, made it much more swollen
and very itchy. Thanks god it wasn't in the lips or eyes

I'm looking now on youtube, mabye im not wearing the veil right and
need to tied him other way

Thank you
Randi

 

[pcelar]

mabye im not wearing the veil as i should be.

Rand forget that macho crap.
ALVAYS WEAR VEIL!!!!!!!!
YOU NEED ONLY ONE STING IN RIGHT PLACE TO LOOSE YOUR EYE!!!

 

[rand]

Rand forget that macho crap.
ALVAYS WEAR VEIL!!!!!!!!
YOU NEED ONLY ONE STING IN RIGHT PLACE TO LOOSE YOUR EYE!!!

I didn't express my self clearly in english.
I retype my previous post - be tolerant man, nobody is perfect.

 

[bigbearomaha]

He's just typing in caps to be hyper reactive. Just because some folks don't use a hat/veil or a suit doesn't mean they are putting on a 'macho' act.

every individual dresses in a manner that is most comfortable to them.

Just because one does wear a suit/veil doesn't mean they are being a weenie or whatever the counter 'machos' would call it.

just do what makes you comfortable. comfortable beekeepers are calm and less likely to have the dropsies, shakes, etc.. making them better beekeepers.

relax, enjoy the bees.

Big Bear

 

[davejw]

Always have some diphenhydramine (Benadryl) on hand. Other antihistamines work well but this works the quickest to help stop the reaction. When taken 20 to 30 minutes prior to getting stung, this would be most advantageous but most folks cannot predict the future. On the other hand, if you are in fact having a more severe reaction you may want to call 911 or be seen by a healthcare professional who can give you some epinephrine or go through the entire box of meds....
Epinephrine prescribed in an auto-injector may save your life. Talk to your doctor or anyone who you may see regularly and ask them about a just in case prescription. The only trouble with this kind of item is it needs to be stored within reach and in someplace cool. Not exactly the place near an apiary in most cases. Also needs some very easy self injection instruction. Epi is also used in some over-the-counter inhalers. Again, talk to a professional. So many options, so little time.....
Dave

 

[dvwilson]

I second the advice given by Davejw. Most of my stings have been my fault -- just going to lift the cover to do a quick check, don't need the hat and veil, etc. Benadryl is usually available in liquid, and that is absorbed more quickly than tablet or capsule. Also ibuprofin (Motrin) helps reduce secondary swelling. I use both after a sting on the face with much help.

Debbie

 

[wolfpenfarm]

Rand forget that macho crap.
ALVAYS WEAR VEIL!!!!!!!!
YOU NEED ONLY ONE STING IN RIGHT PLACE TO LOOSE YOUR EYE!!!

Has nothing to do with macho. I don't wear a veil all the time. Only when the girls are cranky. Even if i wear the veil i usually don't glove up and am wearing shorts in warmer weather.

I get stung yeah, but not too often.

The last thing i will wear is some hot miserable beesuit. Makes it so much more enjoyable if you aren't dying of heat exhaustion.

 

[wolfpenfarm]

Also,
I don't react to stings other than a slight swelling. But if i get stung on the forehead, it will cause my eyelids to swell.
I found that forehead stings will swell more due to it being very vascular area.

I do use benedryl, but i also have a epipen that i store in the house. Its there just in case. ALl you have to do is tell the doc you want one for insuance and explain that your working with bees and they will write one for you.

 

[SwedeBee1970]

Rand,

This may be an old wives tale, however, try to use a drop of the honey you get from your bees. Place it on the sting to see if anything happens. It may/may not be an antidote.

I've gotten stung on the atoms apple and it swelled up the size of a baseball (diameter) not girth. Itched like crazy. Hydrocortisone 2% or higher is better and you don't have to take medicine. Call your doctor and get the prescription.

 

[DRUR]

Hi all
In addition to my previous post.
I was stung in my head, neck and hands yesterday morning
and feeling itchy but perfectly o.k. After something like 12 hours, my backhand and neck and scruff are swollen and hot, something like 4-5 cm around the stings.

My son took 2 stings on the side of head temple area and one on the eye lid last spring. He had taken several on arms and legs with no swelling at all. These stings on his head swelled a little at first and then the next moring his eye was swelled almost closed and looked like he had been in a fight. He has had no other reactions since but hasn't been stung by the eye since either. The bees had come up through the veil where it ties at the middle of the chest, when he was leaning over looking.

Im really not a hypochondriac, but as a beginner beekeeper, just want to know if this is a normal sting reaction after something like 12 stings in a time.

Depends on the person. I have been stung over 100 times at one time with no swelling, wife digs the stingers out later on and most of the time I don't even know I was stung. I swelled a little when I first started working bees, but have developed some kind of immunity since. I can feel the prick, sometimes, but no reaction from the venom. This time of year I don't usually use a veil or gloves as the populations are lower and they don't seem to be as aggressive, but during the summer dearth I won't be without them; although I have never worn anything except dennim blue jeans and most can sting right through them.

I thought about buying a overall with a veil as one unit instead of separate veil and seperate overall, because the smart bees always find the little hole to enter through ?

You can buy the zippered veil and have a shirt made with no buttons, just blousers on the wrists and waist area and zipper around the neck. I am thinking about having these made for all my children. This would be easier than a tie veil to slip on and off and sounds like a good idea to me with your reaction.


BUT WARNING: I have told this true story before. During the early 80's a couple of our Beekeeping club members went out to work one or the others bees. Came home about dusk and dropped him off at the end of the driveway, about 50-75 yard walk uphill to the house. He made it about 1/2 way and collapsed and died after having a reaction to the bee stings that swelled his windpipe shut. The dead beeks wife called the first beek who told him where he had dropped him off. She went out and found him already dead. Dead Beek had been keeping bees for over 30 years and had never previously had a reaction. I didn't know him personally just by sight as one of the many members we had at the time in our club (maybe 50-75).

 

[devdog108]

You can buy the zippered veil and have a shirt made with no buttons, just blousers on the wrists and waist area and zipper around the neck. I am thinking about having these made for all my children. This would be easier than a tie veil to slip on and off and sounds like a good idea to me with your reaction.
QUOTE]

I went to go check the sugar i just put on the hive and even before i got there i was beibg harrassed. I took a picture an immediatly got nailed in the back of the neck. Came back, got the ol'e suit on(top half) and accidentially fogot to zipper it all the way shut. Opened the hive and placed syrup inside.... Stings 2-6 were inside the suit. 2 chest, 1 cheek, 1 forehead, and 2 in the neck. I had walked into the woods to get them off, and there was still 3-4 more inside my hood that just flew off when i took it off. Grabbed the benadryl, took 2 tsp, and I am not swollen anywhere. I know where i got stung, but that is all. I guess i am used to it at this point!

 

[Joel]

I found my face and hands were the last areas on me to gain resistance, not sure why but maybe one of the Drs. on the post could say. It's actually better not to avoid stings since a few stings a long time apart have the tendendancy to increase reaction whereas regular stings usually build up recognition to the foreign proteins and decrease reaction. Of course eventually there's the "magic sting".

 

[NeilV]

Really, wear the veil. It's pretty simple. Stings in the face/head are not good. I had some really crazy bees in a hive last year that would get in the veil unless I tied a towel around my neck (which I started doing). But absent that kind of aggression, wearing a veil is a fix.

Swelling around the sting site is not a big deal and is essentially a normal reaction.

If you have itching, rashes etc. on a part of the body where you DID NOT get stung, that's a sign of a more systemic reaction, and you need to be really careful/see a doctor.

 

[Countryboy]

Folks, I believe Randi was saying he was not sure if he had the veil tied correctly. I do not believe he was saying that he was not wearing the veil.

I don't know how the veils in Israel are designed. Here, veils which are tied have a ring at the bottom of the veil with two strings. The strings wrap around your body, and are tied together at your sternum. This keeps the bottom of the veil pulled tight.

In my experience, where I get stung affects the reaction. Some stings don't swell, and some cause itching. If I get stung on a blood vessel, I often have intense itching in my palms and feet for 15 minutes or half hour afterwards.

Swelling and itching is a normal reaction. Any difficulties breathing need medical attention fast.

I try to have benedryl pills with me in case I need them. I don't wear gloves, and on days the weather is miserable or the bees seem irritable and I know I will be getting stung, I sometimes take a benedryl pill before working the bees. This seems to minimize the reaction to stings.

 

[honeydreams]

Lighten up on the guy. Hey randi, swelling is normal 12 hours later hot red swelling not normal last week I got stung and for some reason the bee that stung me also got me with a staff infection 12 hours later my arm was twice the size it normaly is bright red and hot. Not normal for me to swell. went to my doctor who is a fellow beek and he schooled me on winter stings. do to the fact that bee are in their hive and clustering for days on end they can build up bactiria on thier bodies and inject it with the venom as well in the winter time. So if it stays red and hot you might need to go see your doctor and get stung again with a bigger stinger.

 

[devdog108]

MIne are close to the house. Use liquid Benadryl so your body absorbs it faster. Works for me every tim. Minor itching today after 6 stings, but thats all.

 

[Robbo]

I get that hot swelling when stung above the neck or on the face. On the rest of my body its no dramas. Not sure why, but sound like we have the same problem. A good head sting ruins my day for the most part - really knocks me about.