Reactions to bee stings
Some beekeepers develop immunity to stings while others become more sensitive. Yet others have an out of the blue severe reaction after not showing any signs of developing sensitivity and may never react the same way again after subsequent stings.
Stinging insects use stingers for two main purposes: defense and predation. Honey bees and bumble bees use their stingers strictly for defense. Bees that are away from the hive foraging will rarely sting unless they are stepped on or unnecessarily aggravated.
To sting, a bee jabs a barbed stinger into the skin. Bee sting venom contains proteins that affect skin cells and the immune system, causing pain and swelling around the sting area.
A blunt object such as a credit card or butter knife gently scraped across the affected area is the best way to get rid of the stinger. Avoid using tweezers or anything else that could puncture or squeeze the venom sack and make symptoms worse.
You probably won't have a severe allergic reaction the first time you are stung. But even if your first reaction to a sting is mild, allergic reactions can get worse with each sting. Your next reaction may be more severe or even deadly.
Severe pain or burning at the site lasts 1 to 2 hours. Normal swelling from venom can increase for 48 hours after the sting. The redness can last 3 days. The swelling can last 7 days.
To help alleviate the panic, it's important to know what to do — and not do — to treat a bee sting. The first thing to do is to get the stinger out quickly. The longer the stinger stays in the skin, the more venom it releases, adding to the person's pain and swelling.
While both types of stings can be painful and cause swelling, the venom in wasps is typically more potent. This means that you may experience greater symptoms after being stung by a wasp.
With honey bees the toxic dose (LD50) of the venom is estimated to be 8.6 stings per pound of body weight. Obviously, children are at a greater risk than adults. In fact, an otherwise healthy adult would have to be stung more than 1,000 times to be in risk of death.
If it's any consolation, stinging is lethal to the bee. A bee stings to defend her colony against intruders or if she perceives her own life is in certain jeopardy (only female bees have stingers). An individual bee can sting only once in her life and dies shortly afterward.
Apply hydrocortisone cream or calamine lotion to ease redness, itching or swelling. If itching or swelling is bothersome, take an oral antihistamine that contains diphenhydramine (Benadryl) or chlorpheniramine. Avoid scratching the sting area. This will worsen itching and swelling and increase your risk of infection.
Symptoms on your skin like swelling, skin discoloration and itching may last for a few days following the sting. Your skin will return to normal once your injury heals. While rare, severe allergic reactions to bee stings can happen. They're life-threatening and require immediate medical attention.
A bee sting may cause an allergic reaction or anaphylaxis. Symptoms of a severe allergic reaction can vary, but may include hives, a swollen throat or tongue, flushed skin, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and more. For most people, a bee sting only produces temporary pain and irritation at the site of the sting.
Step 1: Take Out the Stinger
You'll likely see a red bump. If a stinger was left behind, you'll also see a small black filament sticking out of the center. It may have a bulbous end, which is the venom sac. If the skin around the stinger is loose, pull it tight to get a better look.
From the data, the bee sting that hurt most came from a tropical species of carpenter bee (the giant Borneo carpenter bee). But how painful was it, exactly? Schmidt ranked the sting pain across all the insects he studied from 1 (least painful) to 4 (most painful).
The three most painful locations were the nostril, upper lip, and penis shaft (9.0, 8.7, and 7.3, respectively). This study provides an index of how the painfulness of a honey bee sting varies depending on body location.
Stings are more painful than bites. Insects that can sting include: Bees: These fuzzy insects feed on flowers. There are thousands of different types of bees, and they can be many different colors.
Baking Soda. Baking soda, when mixed with water, is said to help neutralize bee venom, reducing pain, itching, and swelling. Mix baking soda with enough water to make a paste, then apply a generous amount onto the affected area. Cover the area with a bandage, then leave it on for at least 15 minutes.
Persistent swelling: 24 hours or more
If a person's symptoms are worsening or if the person is showing any signs of anaphylaxis, they should seek immediate medical attention. People can treat swelling at home by: taking OTC anti-inflammatory drugs. taking antihistamines to reduce the swelling.
Local reactions – Local reactions are the most common. These stings will look like a bad mosquito bite, with swelling at the bite site. The area will be red, the center may be white and there may be a small brown stinger still in your skin. A welt may also form.
Volume: Bees only sting once, but use all of their venom on this sting, usually totaling around 50 micrograms. Wasps limit their stings to 2-15 micrograms of venom, but it is more powerful and can be used multiple times in quick succession. Venom: Wasps and bees' stings also differ due to the venom that they contain.
Sensitisation to wasp venom requires only a few stings, and can occur after a single sting. In contrast, allergy to bee venom occurs mainly in people who have been stung frequently by bees. Thus almost all patients who are allergic to bees are beekeepers or their families, or sometimes their neighbours.
About 2 million people in the United States are allergic to bee stings. Three percent of children who are stung will experience allergic reactions.