The Buzz on Bee Stings: The Bugs of Summer
Jun 19, 2010; 9:27 AM ET
As I write this, my left foot is swollen, relentlessly itchy, and looks like a puff-pastry with toes. It's all because of a bee sting that happened while I was walking in my backyard a few days ago. I had flip-flops on, but somehow a little bugger got my toe, causing me to release a host of profanities while the stinger released its venom. It was a not-so-subtle reminder that summer is here, and so are the bees.
While we usually find bees happily flying through the air and minding their own pollination agenda, unfortunately we sometimes have those chance encounters that don't end well. The discomfort and sleep deprivation (it's that itchy) of my bee sting have me wondering if I could have prevented some of the symptoms. Should I have put on a paste of baking soda and water like my grandma always did? Or rely on over-the-counter drugs? And how can I prevent this from happening again?
Bee Careful
Stinging insects are in the order Hymenoptera, which includes wasps (like yellowjackets), bumble bees, and honey bees, among others. The stinger originates in the egg-laying apparatus, so only females cause the pain. Bees, which have a barbed stinger that remains in the flesh, can only sting once in their life. Wasps, on the other hand, have a retractable stinger, so they can hit you multiple times. Most bees and wasps don't sting unless provoked, disturbed, or defending a nest. As social insects, some members of the group have the sole function to protect the hive, so they launch into attack mode when they think their home has been disturbed. This became evident to me when a friend and I were trail running and one of us accidentally stepped off trail and onto a wasp's ground nest. Before we knew it, we were covered in wasps letting loose on our legs and arms. When the nest is disturbed, wasps can send out a pheromone alerting their peers, and the entire group goes into defense mode. Faced with a swarm, we ran faster that day than ever before.
Brie Cadman for DivineCaroline.com
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