# STUNG by a hornet/yellow jacket!



## Sigman (Aug 7, 2005)

Gee, it's been "at least" 26 years (my wife says I've never been stung as long as she has known me!) since I've been stung.

Today, I took my boys (young men) to the driving range (golf), felt something tickling around the top of my shirt. "Swiped" with my left hand, and immediately felt an "iron hot stinging" on the cuticle of my left pinky finger.

I look down and see the stinger & guts (yes typically a sign of a honeybee) AND a hornet/yellow jacket's back half on the ground writhing. 

Therefore, I assumed I'd been stung by a hornet/yellow jacket. I can't really describe the pain and yes, sort of "lost control" with my language!

I'm telling you, I've been stung by honey bees earlier in life, but NEVER have I EVER felt the hot/stinging pain that I've felt today! It's approximately 6 hours later and my pinky finger is still stinging and ON FIRE!! 

I put some "Sting Eze" on it and ice - "seems to help" - but I can't wait till the pain goes away. 

Nature's defense is absolutely AMAZING! BTW, alergic reactions run in the family, but I've never had one, "yet"! 

Stilllll hurting......


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## FlashlightOCD (Aug 7, 2005)

I have a prescription strength topical steroid ointment and I've found that if I apply it *immediately* after a sting it does wonders to minimize the pain/swelling.

You might want to purchase the stongest OTC cortisone cream/ointment you can find and keep it around for such emergencies.

Living in Florida I have to deal with fireants, and my yard is infested with them. The pain they inflict does not result from a bite as many people think, they actually have stingers like a wasp.


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## Topper (Aug 7, 2005)

I almost feel your pain. Down here the big red wasps is the ones to look out for. They will indeed go out of the way to sting you if you get close. I have dug up the home of yellow jackets it was about one foot wide three feet long and maybe three inches thick. They were not happy I was not happy but thats life and death; they stung my 75 year old Grandmother (on my fathers side)so I killed them all, dug up the home and I have no problem with that, I feel good about that. My Grandmother has past but I still hate yellow
jackets.
Topper


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## Stingray (Aug 7, 2005)

I accidently discovered a yellow jacket's nest in the outside vent that goes to my oven not long ago. That was my first sting since I was a child. And I got a double sting too, then they chased me around the yard. They hurt a lot more than I remember, and they don't go away for a long time. It felt like I was stabbed with a hot needle. You might need a doctors appointment if you are allergic. Keep some benadryl handy.


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## Icebreak (Aug 7, 2005)

Maybe it was a yellow jacket but you swatted it hard enough to bust it up?

Or maybe it was a bee but that cuticle area has a more dense population of nerve endings than say, a meaty shoulder.

Doesn't sound like one bit of fun either way.

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- Jeff


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## turbodog (Aug 7, 2005)

Read this article. It's about a wasp that kills tarantulas.

http://www.desertusa.com/mag01/sep/papr/thawk.html

Yellow jackets and bees rate below paper wasps on the pain scale.

Wasps rate below velvet ants.

Velvet ants rate below the tarantula wasp.

Ouch.

I was stung once by a velvet ant. Once was enough.

Pain index scale:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_Sting_Pain_Index


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## LifeNRA (Aug 7, 2005)

My 7 year old was stung by a yellow jacket a month ago and it left its stinger in him also. This is the first time I had ever seen a yellow jacket leave its stinger behind like a honey bee. I know it was a yellow jacket because I saw it stinging him and it flew away before I could swat it. It did not fly but a few feet though and I stomped it.

I was stung 43 times by yellow jackets one time as a child of 8-9 years old. My brother who was with me was stung 27 times.


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## James S (Aug 7, 2005)

I killed a HUGE mud dauber in the kids bathroom yesterday. I have no idea where it came from or how a 2.5" long bug got into the house. Had to cut my sons bath short when I heard something large buzzing around up in the light fixture.

There is a very large regular wasp nest up in the corner of the edge of the house, but it's up so high that I can't get to it. the mud dauber didn't come from there but some of the others that get into the house periodically can probably be blamed on that. I need to find a way to get those guys knocked down somehow...


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## turbodog (Aug 7, 2005)

[ QUOTE ]
*James S said:*

There is a very large regular wasp nest up in the corner of the edge of the house, but it's up so high that I can't get to it. the mud dauber didn't come from there but some of the others that get into the house periodically can probably be blamed on that. I need to find a way to get those guys knocked down somehow... 

[/ QUOTE ]

Garden pump-up sprayer with gasoline in it.

Instant death to wasps.

Once saw a wasp nest in an old barn that was over 3 FEET in diameter. Being a stupid young kid (at the time), my cousin and I threw a brick at it. Not a good idea.


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## raggie33 (Aug 7, 2005)

sig ya will hate it around here there every where hundreds of em but they never sting me i donmt think i ever been stung buy one which is weird i walk barefoot a lot


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## IsaacHayes (Aug 7, 2005)

I've had the big white/black hornets here swarming before, red wasps, and those pesky woodbees (look like bumble bees) that chase you away from your deck (territorial).

Only been stung by a yellow jacket on the finger. It mainly itched more than hurt. I had a mosquito sized welp. I was in High School and eating a sandwich outside and it landed on it and wouldn't fly away. I shooed it away and it didn't move and I ended up hitting it with my hand and it stung me. Those things are stubborn!!


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## The_LED_Museum (Aug 7, 2005)

When I was 12, I accidentally stepped on a bee in a gutter on a street in north central California and got stung.
My foot swelled to ~2x its normal size, so I'm pretty certain I'm allergic to honeybee venom. :/


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## nethiker (Aug 7, 2005)

Have not been stung in a long time, but as I recall, if you have some meat tenderizer and make a paste to put over the sting right away, the enzymes are suppose to break down the poison and help with the pain. Sorry to hear about your sting, glad you arn't allergic.


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## FlashlightOCD (Aug 7, 2005)

[ QUOTE ]
*James S said:*
I killed a HUGE mud dauber in the kids bathroom yesterday. I have no idea where it came from or how a 2.5" long bug got into the house.

[/ QUOTE ]

If it was truly a mud dauber they are pretty timid, they look intimidating but they will only sting if you are a direct threat [like pinching them]. Unlike other wasps/hornets which are territorial and will go after you just for getting close to their nest, mud daubers will general only sting prey [food].

I wouldn't want one in the house, but I leave them alone outside, they will prey on other nasty insects.

[ QUOTE ]
*IsaacHayes said:*
... and those pesky woodbees (look like bumble bees) that chase you away from your deck (territorial)...


[/ QUOTE ]

Woodbees [Borers] will deystroy wood so you want to get rid of them if you can. The males are very aggressive and will get right in your face, but oddly they do not have a stinger [all buzz no bite]. The female is only aggressive to nest intruders and she *is* equiped with a stinger.


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## LifeNRA (Aug 7, 2005)

Dirt dauber's sting spiders and fill there nest with them so that their young feed on them when they hatch. The spiders are not killed, just paralyzed.


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## James S (Aug 7, 2005)

yea, but they are of no use in the bathroom /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif And I wasn't quite up to a catch and release... So I smushed it.

When I was about 8 or so I stepped on a wasp of some kind in the house, didn't swell up much but I sat with my toe under the freezing cold running water for an hour while I wailed about it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Hurt like nothing I'd ever been through before. Then when I was maybe 14 I had a bee or something get blown up my shorts while riding my bike. It wasn't as bad as you think /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Stung me under my thigh and while it hurt, it was by no means debilitating like the wasp I stepped on, so I assume it was just a honeybee or something.

I'd rather not spray gasoline all over the side of my house to try to get rid of them /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif that sounds like something that would end up on americas funnies home videos or at least the local police fire blotter in the paper... And they are up 2 stories and across another roof and I haven't see any sprayer that can reach as far as they are. I CAN get right up to them if I climb out my sons window, and then scale the second floor roof pitch on my hands and knees to get to the dormer roof over my sons window and then hang around the corner over the master bath gable... But that puts me rather closer to them than I'd like to be when spraying and also with no easy route of escape when they came after me...


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## Topper (Aug 7, 2005)

I like Dirt daubers just fine. The big red wasp is a bad guy no doubt about it.
Topper


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## turbodog (Aug 7, 2005)

[ QUOTE ]
*James S said:*
yea, but they are of no use in the bathroom /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif And I wasn't quite up to a catch and release... So I smushed it.

When I was about 8 or so I stepped on a wasp of some kind in the house, didn't swell up much but I sat with my toe under the freezing cold running water for an hour while I wailed about it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Hurt like nothing I'd ever been through before. Then when I was maybe 14 I had a bee or something get blown up my shorts while riding my bike. It wasn't as bad as you think /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Stung me under my thigh and while it hurt, it was by no means debilitating like the wasp I stepped on, so I assume it was just a honeybee or something.

I'd rather not spray gasoline all over the side of my house to try to get rid of them /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif that sounds like something that would end up on americas funnies home videos or at least the local police fire blotter in the paper... And they are up 2 stories and across another roof and I haven't see any sprayer that can reach as far as they are. I CAN get right up to them if I climb out my sons window, and then scale the second floor roof pitch on my hands and knees to get to the dormer roof over my sons window and then hang around the corner over the master bath gable... But that puts me rather closer to them than I'd like to be when spraying and also with no easy route of escape when they came after me... 

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh come on, live a little.

If you get them good with the gas, they die instantly.

Maybe a shop vac with a looooooong tube on it, like a couple of 20' sections of pvc pipe. Suck em up, then spray some wasp killer into the vac. That should get rid of 90% of them. The rest you can battle hand to hand.


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## 3rd_shift (Aug 7, 2005)

Definitely man versus nature in this thread. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/xyxgun.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I was stung by one of the big red ones 11 years ago while using a gas hedge trimmer on a row of hedges at an apartment complex.
I was a landscape crew leader at the time. 
It was definitely an attention getter. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif
I heard the sound first *pop!* and then the sudden burning pain.
I almost dropped the hedge trimmer.
The little (censored) got me on my right hand just below where my index finger and mid finger's joints are.
A very hard, swollen area formed about the size of a half dollar there in just a few minutes.
Then an hour later it was my whole hand looking and feeling swollen for a few days.
I ended up letting one of my workers finish with the hedge trimmer that day while I toured and supervised the crew with a bag of ice on my hand.

Another time was 21 years ago when I got stung by a huge cicada killer that was actually on a tree trunk.
I was trying to shoo it away from my 91 year old great Grandmother's (Mom's side) front yard.
It got me on my right thumb when I got too close.


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## big_guy (Aug 7, 2005)

A treatment I discovered quite by accident that works great for most people is to disolve an aspirin in water and put the paste on the "wound".

In my early teens, I was stung on the hand by a red wasp. Mom or Dad weren't home from work yet and I couldn't find anything that worked for stings. Being familier with aspirin as a mild pain reliever, I took a couple. Knowing it takes a while for them to kick in and doubting they would help much, I remember wondering what would happen if I put one ON instead of IN! LOL I got almost immediate relief and have used aspirin on others who have been stung. I've never heard of anyone else using aspirin on the sting but it works!

Arlen


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## PJ (Aug 7, 2005)

If you try the vacuum, put some Tide or other detergent with enzyme and water in the bottom of the vacuum. ( I am guessing you would use a wet/dry vac. ) The enzyme kills them and neutralizes the scent released when some stinging insects die.
I had a nest of some kind of small black and yellow bees under my aluminum siding right next to the front door. I rigged a 6 gal. Shopvac nozzle right where they were coming out and started it up just before dawn. A few hours later I had about a 1" deep by 10" diameter layer of bees floating in the vac. I did this again 3 days later and didn't see any more bees around there the rest of the summer.


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## Sigman (Aug 7, 2005)

I couldn't remember the meat tenderizer "trick". The pain kept me up last night, couldn't sleep. Found some kind of creme with some kind of "...caine" in it - dabbed it on, wrapped a bandaid on it and it's "finally" starting to feel better.

That little bugger ceratinly "nailed me"! But he paid the ultimate price!


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## LifeNRA (Aug 7, 2005)

Bee or wasp stings do not bother me much except for the initial pain from the sting itself. I get a swollen place of course but a few hours later the swelling is usually gone and I just have a red itchy spot. By the next day all that is left is the tiny spot where the stinger entered.


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## geepondy (Aug 7, 2005)

Ugh, we have bees, hornets and wasps where I live although it's been many years since I've been stung but I'm sure glad we don't have some of those hideous creatures you guys in warmer climates are describing.


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## JonSidneyB (Aug 7, 2005)

Ouch, getting stung on the cuticle does sound bad. The worst spot I have been stung on was the top of my head. The cuticle does sound worse. That said I will give some advice that might help some silly people avoid being stung.


Things not to do related to stinging insects.

Hunting bees with CCI .38 revolver shot shells is a bad idea.

Shooting a hornets nest with a handgun is a bad idea.

Shooting toilet at the dump full of bees is a bad idea.

These are things only a 16 year old would do I think.


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## tvodrd (Aug 7, 2005)

I was stung by a paper wasp in my early teens, and it about brought me to my knees! In my less-enlightened youth, I also survived downing a number of bumblebees with .22 birdshot. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif (They don't always stay "downed!" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/str.gif ) Rumors in my circle of friends has had it for at least 20 years that a Tarantula hawk's sting is quite mild! No first, second, or third hand experience- just rumor. The links in this thread got my attention!

Hey Jon, load your own .38 shotshells with #12 shot. Much more effective on the smaller targets! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Larry


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## LifeNRA (Aug 7, 2005)

Speaking of stinging insects, check out the bullet ant. 
http://www.sasionline.org/antsfiles/pages/bullet/bulletbio.html

Edit: Oops I see it was listed on the pain scale linked by Turbodog. I did not notice it before. 
An ant 1" long with a nasty sting.


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## JonSidneyB (Aug 7, 2005)

Hey Larry,

The CCI ones we were using did have #12 I think. This was back in the late 70s. 

A could of us loaded up our revolvers with the .38 shotshells and then hit the nest that was in a toilet at the dump with a single solid bullet. When the toilet broke there were lots of angry insects. 

The shotshells are not good on swarms.


Oooops, 
Larry, you are right. those .38 shotshells are #9. 
I think if we even had 12gauge with #12 shot it would not have been enough.

The new Taurus .410 smooth bore revolver looks interesting however.


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## offroadcmpr (Aug 7, 2005)

A few years ago I was at my friends house when we dicovered a bee hive in an oak tree in his front yard. being around 15 or 16 then we got a 20 foot pole and started jabbing the entrance of the hive with it./ubbthreads/images/graemlins/poke2.gif Of course you know what happened, a bee came down and stung my friend in between the eye lid and the eye brow. he yelled and ran and jumped into the street and started rolling around in the middle of the street until the pain went away. 
to make sure that his mom wouldnt notice he wore a pirates patch over the eye so she wouldnt notice!(he was known for doing things like this so it wasn't too much out of the ordinary)

we left it alone after that, but we always were thinkin of ways to get our revenge! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif

I've been stung by ground hornets or something? I was walking on this hill by my house and i guess I stepped too close to a hive that was built in the ground(they're kinda hard to see) and was immedeately stung. I ran down the hill and ran halfway down the street before they left me alone. I was stung on the calf and a couple times on the top of my head.

needless to say, I havent been on that hill in years.


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## LifeNRA (Aug 7, 2005)

Here in NC we call the velvet ants, cow killers. 
http://lancaster.unl.edu/enviro/pest/Articles/CowKillerAnt.htm


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## JonSidneyB (Aug 7, 2005)

NRA>listen to them someday. The velvet ants(actually wingless wasp) sing pretty songs.


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## LifeNRA (Aug 8, 2005)

[ QUOTE ]
*JonSidneyB said:*
NRA>listen to them someday. The velvet ants(actually wingless wasp) sing pretty songs. 

[/ QUOTE ]
I have heard them. Very high pitched, not really a buzz.


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## yuandrew (Aug 8, 2005)

I still remember the bee's nest on my neighbor's house. The exterminator got rid of it by spraying it with soapy water (I was told that he used DAWN dish soap)

I've only been stung by a bee on the belly; it got down my shirt while I was working in the yard. Scraped the top of the stinger off immediately then went inside and pulled the rest out with pliers.

I've delt with paper wasp using a garden hose and one of my old neighbor's delt with his using a truck mounted power washer (18hp Honda V-twin powered) and a very long pipe attached to the end of the wand. I've also tried shooting them down with an airsoft gun and a paintball marker but if you do do the latter, I suggest you pre-plan an escape route to an enclosed area before opening fire.


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