Remedy for bee stings from your yard

[BeeMaster2]

Here is an article about Plantains that you can use to stop the pain from bee stings.

Plantain leaf to the rescue! 🍃 Just got stung by a bumblebee (my fault: I was harvesting a flower and somehow didn't see it). Plantain (Plantago sp.) is my go-to because it works...fast! Chewed up a leaf, put it on the sting, and now the pain is 100% gone. I use plantain for stings, bites, rashes, splinters, and more. It's a great "drawing" plant as it draws things out of you (like venom). It's also an ingredient in my all-purpose salve for this very reason. A good one to teach your kids too. Thank you, plantain, for your help today!!! 🍃💕😊

Here is a picture of it.


Jim Altmiller

[Occam]

Always nice finding these posts in the archives, one of the great things about this place. Was sitting on the bench observing  my bees today when one of them got offended at my presence for some reason, buzzed over, and stung me right on my eyebrow. Apparently my face needs some improvements 🤣. Having recalled reading about its use i did a quick search here to confirm my recollection. I thankfully have plenty of plantain around and retrieved some 👌

[The15thMember]

I got stung 3 times a few weeks ago working my mean hive, and I not only put plantain on my stings but I also ate of bunch of leaves, and it really helped to keep the swelling from getting out of hand like it often does for me.  Both broad-leaf and narrow-leaf plantain works well.   

[Occam]

I mainly have the narrow leaf variety around I find. I haven't been nibbling any but maybe I'll go pick some and eat it while I watch something tonight. It started to swell on me a couple hours ago but is starting to subside.

A lot of trauma for my head today. I was driving tposts and raised the driver a little too high catching the top of the tpost with the bottom of the driver and tilt slammed the driver on top of my head. Got a small split in my scalp for my troubles. Ground yarrow to the rescue for the bleeding there

[The15thMember]

A lot of trauma for my head today. I was driving tposts and raised the driver a little too high catching the top of the tpost with the bottom of the driver and tilt slammed the driver on top of my head. Got a small split in my scalp for my troubles. Ground yarrow to the rescue for the bleeding there

Eesh, you and my dad both.  He was at the dump today, and the hatch on our car went on the fritz and lowered a few inches, and the corner bashed into his head.  Thankfully he had a hat on, or it would have been much worse.  It wasn't bleeding much anymore by the time he got back home, but he did have a blood trail running down the side of his face.  I wonder what people driving by him thought!      Incidentally, we just harvested our first round of yarrow flowers ourselves the other day and put them in the freeze dryer.
 

I mainly have the narrow leaf variety around I find. I haven't been nibbling any but maybe I'll go pick some and eat it while I watch something tonight. It started to swell on me a couple hours ago but is starting to subside.

The smaller leaves taste better.  The big ones are kind of bitter, but I'm not eating it for the flavor, so I often just force down a big one or two.  Something else I have been doing lately when my stings swell up (which is frequently for me) is making some strong tea (green or black), soaking some gauze in it, and applying that the sting.  Tea has a quercetin in it which is a natural anti-histamine. 

[Ben Framed]

I have found the best remedy in my situation is being stung often. Talking Honey Bees not Bumble Bees lol. When I first began beekeeping, I had a swelling problem. I think it was Beemaster2 and another member Vikingcnp, who told me of using Cortisone cream and Benadryl cream combination along with Zantac and a Benadryl.
That helped... Since Zantac has changed their ingredients, I do not know it the effective ingredient for the purpose we are discussing is still present...

[Lesgold]

I find a few curse words said under my breath seams to help with the pain. The words should be loud enough for all sister to hear. Doesn?t solve the problem but it makes me feel better.

[The15thMember]

I find a few curse words said under my breath seams to help with the pain. The words should be loud enough for all sister to hear. Doesn?t solve the problem but it makes me feel better.

You know, it's funny, I hardly ever swear.  I'm a believer that swear words lose their power when overused or used indiscriminately, so I keep them in reserve so I have the real power-hitters when I need them.  But for some reason, beekeeping cancels out my filter and if I'm working a difficult hive in my apiary by myself, I swear about everything whether it's an actual problem or not.           

[Michael Bush]

Every beekeeper knows the first thing you do when stung is swear.  Then you scrape out the stinger.  Then you roll up some plantain and bite it and rub it on the sting if it is particularly painful.  Nothing I've ever tried comes close to being as effective as plantain.

[The15thMember]

Every beekeeper knows the first thing you do when stung is swear.  Then you scrape out the stinger.  Then you roll up some plantain and bite it and rub it on the sting if it is particularly painful.  Nothing I've ever tried comes close to being as effective as plantain.

I usually just do the ol' chew poultice.  I got a yellow jacket sting the other day and it worked great on that too. 

[Michael Bush]

Tobacco is somewhat effective.  But no where near as good as plantain.  An aspirin poultice is just as effective as the Tobacco.  But no where near as good as plantain.

[Ben Framed]

Tobacco is somewhat effective.  But no where near as good as plantain.  An aspirin poultice is just as effective as the Tobacco.  But no where near as good as plantain.

When I was a very small boy I was beneath the shade of an old flat bed work truck parked in clover, next to a pea patch where my folks were working the peas. A honey bee stung me in the palm of my hand and my Grandaddy rubbed tobacco on the sting area and it helped. 

[Occam]

Got a call for a swarm so I came over early this morning. In the process of the capture one of the girls got my finger. Wouldn't ya know it, walked all over the yard and surrounding area, not one plantain to be found 🤦

[Ben Framed]

Take you pocket knife, mark an X on the sting hole and suck the poison out!! That will do it! The sooner the better!      LOL    Im just kidding.
Im in a kidding mood this morning! A nice, bright, but cool sun shining morning here in Mississippi! 
Congratulations on you new bees Occam!! Keep us updated on their progress..

Phillip

[The15thMember]

Got a call for a swarm so I came over early this morning. In the process of the capture one of the girls got my finger. Wouldn't ya know it, walked all over the yard and surrounding area, not one plantain to be found 🤦

Ain't that just the way. 

[Occam]

Take you pocket knife, mark an X on the sting hole and suck the poison out!! That will do it! The sooner the better!      LOL    Im just kidding.
Im in a kidding mood this morning! A nice, bright, but cool sun shining morning here in Mississippi! 
Congratulations on you new bees Occam!! Keep us updated on their progress..

Phillip

Worked out to be a nice 5lb swarm (weighed the nuc box before and after putting in frames while empty after moving the bees into the hive). Also, it started raining an hour after getting them in.

[Occam]

Got a call for a swarm so I came over early this morning. In the process of the capture one of the girls got my finger. Wouldn't ya know it, walked all over the yard and surrounding area, not one plantain to be found 🤦

Ain't that just the way.

Indeed. The pain goes away pretty quickly for me, it's the swelling that I like to try to keep down afterwards

[JurassicApiary]

Indeed. The pain goes away pretty quickly for me, it's the swelling that I like to try to keep down afterwards

The more I've been stung over the years, the milder my reaction has become.  I suppose our bodies get somewhat accustomed to the venom after extended and  repeated exposure and see it as less of a threat than initially.  Occam, hopefully you'll develop a better tolerance and the swelling reactions will become increasingly minimal over time.

[animal]

Jurassic, I think you are correct when it comes to some people (myself included) maybe most?  For some, the reverse happens.

Monitoring the difference in swelling .. how localized it was in past stings versus recent ones might be a way to tell how your body is reacting??

Like ... if last year a sting on the hand made a little lump, and this year the whole hand blows up ... you might want to get one of those pen injector things.... ?

imo, pain level is too subjective and even relative within the individual to be of much use .. If a person that is depressed and moping around gets hurt, they'll feel pain more acutely than they otherwise would, had they been in a good mood and active.

[JurassicApiary]

Jurassic, I think you are correct when it comes to some people (myself included) maybe most?  For some, the reverse happens.

Monitoring the difference in swelling .. how localized it was in past stings versus recent ones might be a way to tell how your body is reacting??

Like ... if last year a sting on the hand made a little lump, and this year the whole hand blows up ... you might want to get one of those pen injector things.... ?

imo, pain level is too subjective and even relative within the individual to be of much use .. If a person that is depressed and moping around gets hurt, they'll feel pain more acutely than they otherwise would, had they been in a good mood and active.

Absolutely true--some people have worse reactions over time.  Thankfully, most do not. 

Every one and a while I get a sting that triggers a reaction more than usual.  Could be more potent venom, more venom than usual, got it deeper in the epidermis than usual.  Funny, stings around my knee still heat up.  Perhaps physiology plays a role too.  Lots of variables.

My doc had me tested for venom antigens and bee sting allergies when he found out I had taken to beekeeping.  I aced two tests and threw a positive on the third.  Doc asked how many times I'd been stung and I told him hundreds...he laughed and said I'll likely be just fine but prescribed me an Epipen as a precaution.  I carry it and hope I never have to use it; It carries it's own risks.

[Ben Framed]

JurassicApiary
Absolutely true--some people have worse reactions over time.  Thankfully, most do not.

Y'all are right, it could go either way. I am grateful it got better for me. I joined Beemaster back in 2017 and simply read post here while searching the older post, trying to learn all I could, before I got my first bees. From my first experience on my first cutout (a year later) I was concerned that my body would not allow me to keep bees.  Now I rarely swell..  I do not mind taking stings often and I really believe being stung regularly has made the difference.



From the archives:

Some times where you get stung is relevant, early in my career I was stung on a vein on my wrist and went into a hive like reaction, but never since.
Have also had the ankle bone sting, swelled a little but painful for about 6 hrs.

If I had an anaphylactic reaction, as a migratory bee keeper we are often many miles from medical help, would have to think about finding another occupation.

I was doing a cutout for a lady a few weeks ago and took stings on my hands as usual. I was wearing a ventilation jacket and received no stings on the neck and facial areas. After a couple Hours, not minutes, a couple hours, my left eye started feeling funny. Keep in mind, Up to this point my hands were not swollen. My eye felt so funny that I looked in the mirror of my truck and it was blood red! About that time my hands started showing signs of swelling. The lady that owned the house is a nurse and she had  Benadryl . I took a couple tablets and finished the job but I felt bad for two days. The next job I took Benadryl with me and took the tablets pronto after being stung a few times. All good. I was wondering if I might have took one to the vein in the eye situation??

[Occam]

Indeed. The pain goes away pretty quickly for me, it's the swelling that I like to try to keep down afterwards

The more I've been stung over the years, the milder my reaction has become.  I suppose our bodies get somewhat accustomed to the venom after extended and  repeated exposure and see it as less of a threat than initially.  Occam, hopefully you'll develop a better tolerance and the swelling reactions will become increasingly minimal over time.

Yeah recently I've received a few stings that are pretty much non-issue stings. A couple times I've found the stinger stuck in me but never felt the sting or had any pain/reaction. Usually the only ones that are bothersome are the finger stings. I'm not avoiding the stings at all because I often have some wrist pain and it does improve when I'm stung in the hand.