Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Leave me alone or I'll sting you

And I found out that is exactly what will happen this past weekend.  I was trimming the boxwoods along the east side of the house with the manual hedge trimmers.  I was making my way down the row, chopping away and when I got to the very last boxwood I evidently upset a visiting wasp who then proceeded to let me know just how upset he was.  I was topping each of the bowoods to give them a uniform height and I noticed when I made the very first cut on this end boxwood that something flew out of it.  It didn't take long for me to find out what that something was.  He made his way to my ring finger on my left hand and got a good grip on it and stung away.  All I can say is it was very painful.  I threw the hedge clippers, flicked him off my finger and made my way inside.  Always leave the area where you have been stung because they send off a scent that alerts other wasps in the area that danger (that being me) is near and the others come to their aid.  So get out of there as soon as possible.  I went inside and made a mixture of apple cider vinegar and baking soda, the same remedy my mother always used for us when we were children.  I don't know how much to tell you to mix together.  Believe me, when you are standing in the kitchen with a painful wasp sting, you are not going to be worried about getting out the measuring spoons and precisely measuring anything.  Just pour some vinegar and baking soda in a glass and mix it up with a spoon or a butter knife or a fork or a toothpick of whatever you can find - your finger - whatever.  Just get it mixed up and then apply that solution to the bee sting.  Takes the pain away immediately.  Some say it helps draw out the poison from the sting, but I don't know if that is actually true.  But I do know that it stops the pain and that is what is most important.  I also took a Benadryl right away.  Of course, if you are allergic to bee stings, then find your epi-pen or get to a hospital right away.  Don't waste time mixing up vinegar and baking soda.  I don't think I have been stung by a bee or a wasp since I was about 11 years old until the past weekend.  Luckily I seem still to not be allergic to the sting.  The spot where I was stung hurt for a few hours and then eventually it stopped and everything returned to normal.  And that's my bee story and hopefully my final bee story for the season.

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