I don't know if you know this, but bee stings hurt for a long time. And then they itch for a really long time.
Our second trial run of our new touring business, Free Durham Tours, went really well this Saturday. I was hoping to take more pictures and even got gussied up for them. I wore a cute outfit and did my hair and makeup, but it was not to be. Or not to bee, if you enjoy a good (bad) pun. I got stung by a bee on our very first stop! After that, it was all I could do to just concentrate on not having a grimace on my face for the next two hours.
I put some ice on it straight away, which really helped, but after the ice melted I could still feel sharp pain in my arm from my neck down to my fingertips. When we got home I put some AfterBite on my arm (which is just ammonia, basically) and Nathan made a baking soda paste to put on the affected area. I didn't sleep well because every time my pajamas rubbed against my arm, I felt like I was getting stung again, but thankfully the pain eventually turned to itching. It still itches.
I didn't used to be scared of bees, but now I am. There are no screens on windows or doors here, so when the weather is nice, bugs of all kinds (mostly flies, but occasional bees) just fly on in. It didn't used to bother me, but now I freak out.
I was stung on my heel at age 6 after accidentally stepping on a bee, and I was stung on the leg by a yellow jacket wasp at the beach around age 10, but I don't remember feeling the painful effects of the sting after a few hours. Maybe because it's the inside of my arm. Now, please don't be frightened by the paleness of my skin. Remember my location.
This was taken 28 hours after the incident. I'm flexing my pathetic bicep, in case you were wondering.
Nathan wanted to put in an everyday object for scale, and he wanted his fingers shaped just right. I think he took a few pictures before he was satisfied. I'm not flexing my bicep in this picture, which you may have noted in stark contrast to my chiseled, muscular arm in the previous shot.
I was feeling quite proud of the way I was enduring such continued discomfort after the unpleasant encounter with the bee until I heard about Pamela's horror story. She was attacked by a swarm of bees as a child ("My Girl style," she said) and was dunked in the bath to remove more than 150 stingers.
I'll shut up now.
Does anyone else have a bee/wasp/piranha story to share? It'll help me stop complaining.
11 comments:
I got bit by a wasp the day before our wedding at our family bbq. The pain didn't last as long as yours, it seems, but the initial bite was not fun! I was mostly offended that the wasp bit the bride! My dad promptly killed it though and all was well :)
I saw your FB message about Quinn and will be responding soon. So much to share but... today was the first day of BHS for Quinn. Tears..... Anyhoo, my bee sting story is about Quinn. I actually stung Quinn with a bee when he was two. How do you do that???? I was trying to smack a bee away from his kiddie pool and ended up smacking the bee right into his foot. Terrible feelings of guilt still to this day.
Much love to you!!!
Misty
Hmmm, I do in fact have two bee sting stories. I am not making up neither of these stories. The first one, I sat on it while my Dad was fixing my bike when I was a little girl. I must've had my bathing suit on because it was right on my fanny. That hurt. The second one... well... mmm, I was driving my VW bug on a hot day. No A/C in that car and in Bakersfield. It was along Ash road and something flew in the window. I didn't see it but I sure felt it. I had shorts on and hmm, the bee stung me very close to the you know what (female part). I slammed on the brake and it slowed the car down but it was still moving slowly when I jumped out the car frantically trying to remove the bee. My car is rolling along and I realize no one is manning that car so I run to catch up with it and jump inside and proceed to drive to my friend's house (which was where I was headed anyway). My friends mom is a nurse and she noticed I was in pain when I got there but I was too embarrassed to tell her where it hurts but she managed to get the information out of me about where I was stung. She insisted she had to see if the stinger was still in there and did the baking soda treatment. My dignity went out the door. I kid you not. This whole thing is true. Moral of this story is 1) don't wear short shorts and 2) watch where you sit.
That does not sound fun! I'm pretty darn scared of anything with a stinger or fangs or teeth for that matter. And Kristen, man!, that's an incredible story. Thanks for the chuckle, even though I know it wasn't funny at the time!
PS, the bee landed between my thighs and crawled to an area where it got stuck and then stung me. Again, this is not a made up story. It hurt like the dickens. So, I sympathize with you Nicole.
That looks bad. I stepped on a wasp once. It wasn't too bad. Also I sat on a bee once too. But I have enough padding there it didn't hurt too bad. I think the location of yours is what makes it so painful. That's a very sensitive spot!
Bummer! My hubby used to have those types of reactions, but they get worse everytime. He got cellulitis from the sting last time. Now he has to keep an allergy pill with him.
My dad is a beekeeper, so bees are just part of who I am. One summer when I was extracting honey, I got stung 7 times in one hand, in one day! My hand was HUGE! I'm usually not afraid when I'm at my dad's house and there are a million bees around, but one wild bee by itself gets me worked up...I'm not sure why.
My poor Aubrey has been stung twice and she is not a fan!
P.S. you're buff!
Kristen, I'm chuckling because in England the word "fanny" doesn't mean "bottom" but rather the certain female body part where you got stung the second time. :)
What terrible luck!
EBQ and I were riding in a taxi in Mexico last year. A small bug flew in and landed on her arm, right below the wrist. While we weren't exactly admiring the bug, neither of us were recognizing it as a stinging "bee" type creature either. We were staring at it,wondering what it was, when she YELPED! Whatever it was left a sting that was painful that day. Then, slightly swollen and itchy for about a week or so. Weird. To this day, no idea exactly what it was.
Nicole and Nathan, a dear Korean friend was here one day when my neighbor was stung and they yelled for help--Duk Sun asked if I had an onion--I did--she sliced it and had my neighbor rub it on the sting and in a very short time, the pain subsided and no swelling occurred. I have since used this method on grandchildren and with another friend and was successful each time--there was never lingering pain. You may need to keep slicing the onion if it begins to dry out.
I stepped on a yellow jacket's nest when I was around 12. And while I wasn't stung anywhere near 150 times - my 20 or so stings was plenty! Getting stung in the scalp is really not pleasant. Also everywhere I got stung swelled up like crazy. So not much sleeping, wearing shoes, or walking around got done for the next week. Also, Shiloh and Caleb both got wasp stung last summer - the first for any of our kids. No fun seeing the panic on their faces as they ran away from the wasps. FYI zyrtec really helps with the swelling and itching - so we found out with Shiloh. Hope its feeling better!
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