I Just Survived Six (Count 'em... SIX) Wasp Stings!!

[arwalden]

Those yellow-jacket bastards REALLY don't like it when you run a lawn mower over their little underground nest. Who knew?? I thought they all lived in paper nests in trees or underneath eaves or in hollow trees.

I was just minding my own business... mowing along... when suddenly they attacked!! I got stung on my finger, arm, back, thigh, head, leg!

The one on my head hurts the absolute worst!!! It feels like someone threw a baseball at me and scored a direct hit. OUCH!

Sons of bitches!

-- Allen

[flamingyouth]

1. Geez, Allen, take care of yourself

That is a lot of stings! YIKES!:scared:

[arwalden]

9. It was about 30 minutes ago... and I'm recovered enough to type.

I think I'll be fine. I've been stung before (just one sting at a time though) and I have no history of allergic reactions to things like that. Thanks for your concern.

It was like someone had uncorked a bottle... it was just like you see in the cartoons... a flurry of flying warriors all headed to the nearest moving object!

Who knew that a John Deere riding mower/tractor could actually pop a wheelie as you shift into high-speed to hightail it outta Dodge?

-- Allen

[PatsFan2004]

41. Stung once as a kid and avoid them like the plague now

As a kid, I got stung on my hand for no apparent reason and within days, my arm was swollen up to my elbow and off I went to the doctor. He prescribed a LOT of ice and the swelling went away.

Whenever I am working outside with bees around, I am armed with the electrified "Swatter II".

[Placebo]

2. You have the true warrior spirit within!

:nuke:

[terrya]

3. Oh, man! That's horrible!

Take care of those wasp stings, Allen.

[Kolesar]

4. If you start to get an allergic reaction take a Benedryl.

The allergy is a histamine reaction. My buddy learned this the hard way when a hive of bald-faced hornets nailed her after she mowed over her nest. Better yet, call a doctor.

[billybob537]

5. I drove a stake through a nest.

Boy were they pissed. (simalar results) I poured a cup of gas on them and tossed in a match.

[Jokerman]

6. Beats My Record

I was taking out an old kitchen vent duct and didn't know there was a nest inside.

Three of those bastards stung my face and another two more got my arm.

[alphafemale]

7. You have my empathy.

I got one in my shirt when I was a kid.

Thing nailed me five times before I got it out.

Ouch!!

[olddem43]

8. They're not near as bad as the WASPs in the W.H.

They are evil and deadly, resulting in the deaths of thousands in Iraq and elsewhere.

[matcom]

10. OUCH! That would put me in the hospital!

mildly allergic here :scared:

[MuseRider]

11. My god Allen!

Are you OK besides hurting like a son of a gun? I have a farm and have to deal with wasps, yellow jackets and bees in the ground and above and I am terrified of getting stung. I know this is not the best environmental thing to do but you can pour kerosene down into the nest and that will get rid of them. I hope you are not allergic, please take some benadryl now just in case. Yikes, you are living one of my worst nightmares! I hate those things.

If someone has a more environmentally friendly way to get rid of them I would like to know. I hesitate to pour kerosene in the ground, one reason I still have many holes with bees in them.

I hope you feel better soon, really I fear those things and they always get you when you least expect it. Take care.

[ronnykmarshall]

12. Yikes!

That's why I don't do yards.

[redqueen]

13. They live in the *ground*?

Sneaky bastards!

Hope you feel better soon...

[liontamer]

14. are you sure you're okay?

you should put baking soda on the stings. If it were me I'd be in the hospital right now (i'm allergic)

[arwalden]

18. Thanks All... Yes... I've Been Stung Before...

Just not so many times at once. They look like REALLY BAD mosquito bites. I've got welts about the diameter (and height) of a 25-cent piece. Ugh!

I had already taken a Claritin this morning... I took 3 aspirin about 30 minutes ago.

-- Allen

[Magrittes Pipe]

15. Ehhhh...

I am afraid of bees! :cry:

[dumpster_baby]

16. Take out your revenge by trapping and eating them

Nothing like being at the top of the food chain!

[redqueen]

28. I wonder how they taste.

Hmmmmm... now I'm curious.

[Tom_Foolery]

17. I had one sting me right on the nose...

when I was mowing. It dropped me to my knees. Mix some baking soda with vinegar to make a paste. It smells bad, but it works.


Edit: Added paste info.

[arwalden]

Ouch! Of ALL The Tender Places To Get Stung...

I can think of only ONE (maybe two) places worse! But I was wearing pants... so he couldn't sting me *there*.

You're correct... it's literally "drop to your knees" painful!

-- Allen

[mrboba1]

19. I got stung by a ton of bees one time

when I stomped up some stairs that bees had built a nest under - about 10 stings!!

Bastards!

[Misunderestimator]

20. I did that weed-whacking over a "mud bee" nest...

One little bastard flew right at my face... I could feel his little feet on me right before he stung me under the eye. After I swatted him off, he pursued me while I ran screaming back to the house. I thought those things were supposed to die after one sting... I guess not all of them.

After that, I mowed the lawn wearing a really nerdy net hat I found at some outdoors website.

I hope you recover soon, friend. :hi:

[arwalden]

23. Thanks! It's BEES That Die After One Sting

because their stinger is barbed like a fish hook and when they fly away the stinger remains (along with some of their innards attached) to continue pumping venom.

The wasp (bastards) have smooth needle-like stingers. The (bastard) wasps can sting multiple times and live to tell about it.

(Bastards!)

-- Allen

[BurtWorm]

21. Wow! They look sharp. And mean.

But if you can Google to find their image, you must be allright, I hope. :scared:

[Zynx]

22. Ouch!!!

Get some gasoline and pay them a return visit.

[arwalden]

24. Revenge Is Definitely In Order...

I'm not sure about gasoline. I like my lawn too much... but I'm sure there must be some Ortho remedy to be found down at the True Value hardware store.

Whether it's pre-mixed aerosol... or a concentrate that I put in my compressed-air sprayer... those sons of bitches won't be around much longer.

-- Allen

[underpants]

25. Oh wow I thought you meant you went shopping at Target

:bounce:

That's sounds like it hurts.

[snoogins]

26. holy crap

thats gotta hurt!

[Sporadicus]

27. A Good Pain Remedy

Make a paste of Adolph's Meat Tenderizer or its generic equivalent & water. Apply to the stings. The enzyme (papain, from the papaya) breaks down the toxin in the stings. It really works!

Yellowjacket stings hardly faze me anymore, but a single sting from a 'cicada-killer' hornet put me on the ground. They're apparently not aggressive, but one was attracted to my underarm deodorant and lit on my shirt right at my armpit. Not knowing it was there, I lowered my arm and ZAP! The pain was like fire, spreading down my side and arm. Of course my arm flew up reflexively and I saw the monster fly away calmly. I could only roll around on the ground for an agonizing minute or more, then it left a raised welt that went clear down to my waist on that side and lasted nearly a week. Here's a photo; they don't call them 'killer' for nothing!

[arwalden]

29. Damn! That Gives Me Chills Looking At It.

Sounds pretty painful too. That's a pretty severe reaction.

The bastards that got me were about 1/2 to 3/4 inch long.

[sam sarrha]

30. take some antihistimines !!! use an ice cube on them

[arwalden]

31. Thanks. Fortunately I already had antihistamines in my system...

so aspirin was all that's needed for now.

[LisaLynne]

32. OOOOWwwwwwww!!!!!

I'm glad you're not allergic and feeling better. Dang -- one more reason not the mow the lawn.

[sui generis]

33. you know - paper wasps don't sting - they're beneficial

okay so now you get to find out that in addition to having half a dozen dog and cat critters plus an airconditioned and heated luxury doghouse for the outside dogs, one and a half porch cats (girl is B.I.G.), a raccoon, a family of brown bats, and some possums, I also have a wasp nest behind the pool house, but they're way cool. They're big and brown and eat mosquitoes and for awhile they'd get in the pool house by accident and I'd heard them out with a broom, but now they've figured out they don't have to fly and so they just land on the broom and ride back to the nest.

I have bumped their nest with tools, nearly sat on one, fished them out of the pool barehanded and mostly been around them all summer and they have never even acted like they would sting.

But yellajackets - I draw the line; they are aggressive. Mostly if the wasp is ground-dwelling or has more yellow than brown it is the aggressive variety.

[arwalden]

34. I Did Not Know That

I've never seen any paper wasps around here (Maryland)... but I frequently saw them on my grandparents property in south rural Georgia.

I've seen two types of "paper" nests. The honeycomb nests and the kind that are leavy textured and shaped like a football. Are those wasps too?

-- Allen

[sui generis]

36. honeycomb nests are all paper wasp

they CAN both bite and sting but they really prefer to save that for other insects. Mostly if you can leave them alone if it's not a safety issue, then just take the nest down in late fall when they abandon it. They'll eat other insects all season long - and birds eventually eat the wasps, but of course your safety comes first.

Gawd I just read over that last post of mine and I should think about changing my handle to ElliMae Clampett.

[newsguyatl]

35. awww, poor guy

if i were there, i'd insist you strip naked and i'd rub you down in alcohol :-D

[arwalden]

37. We'd Have To Go To Confession Afterwards

[Surf Cowboy]

38. Two country-fried methods to feeling better after bee stings:

1) Chew some tobacco for about 2 minutes. Take it out of your mouth and hold it to the stings. Don't ask how or why it works, but it really does.

2) Take your gas can and pour about 8 oz. of unleaded right down their little hole. Fuck 'em. If you really want some revenge, follow that up with a lit cigarette. The real fun is when the little bastards come flying out of the hole, all on fire, like a bunch of me-109s in WWII.

Hopefully, these two steps will make you feel better both physically and emotionally.

[arwalden]

39. I Shudder To Think Of What The Gasoline Would Do To My Lawn... BUT...

the thought of seeing those little bastards flying out of their little hole all ablaze... now that's almost too good to resist!!

-- Allen

[Pithlet]

40. Oh no!

I hope you feel better soon. I can't imagine a bunch of stings all at once. :scared:

[newsguyatl]

42. allen can take it

:D

[arwalden]

43. How Come...

when *you* say that it sounds so dirty?

[newsguyatl]

44. me?

...i'm just sayin' O8)


you just strike me as that strong "give it to me i can take it" kinda guy. :evilgrin:


by the way, are you still swollen?

not sure if that alcohol rub earlier helped. :smoke:

[SmileyBoy]

45. Glad I'm not you. I'm deathly allergic.

Last time I was stung by a bee/wasp was the summer of 1992. My arm swelled up like the Michelin Man. Thankfully the swelling didn't travel to my throat, or I'd really be SOL.

[flamingyouth]

46. I had a HUGE bald-faced hornets' nest in my photinia this summer

The previous owner never pruned those shrubs, so I had a gardening company come in to trim them for me. They couldn't finish one of them because of the nest - and they were very freaked out over it.

So, I nonchalantly call an exterminator. He comes over, I show him the nest, and I kid you not, he grabbed me by the arm and said, "Get in the house, ma'am! This is dangerous!"

LOL - I had been bbqing right next to the thing for over three months, but whatever... :D

Anyway, I watched him destroy the nest, and it was really quite the sight. He saved the queen's body and said he was taking it back to the office because it was the biggest one he'd ever seen. He estimated that there were 1,000 hornets in it! :scared::wow:

[arwalden]

47. Yowza!!

I'm guessing he had a safety suit and hood and gloves, etc, etc. How big was the nest? The size of a soccer ball, basketball, football?

[flamingyouth]

48. Bigger than a football!

About 2x bigger than a football. The shrubs were very dense, and hadn't been trimmed in over five years.

How you feeling, love? Still okay? :hug:

[arwalden]

50. It Feels Like A Cigarette Burn... Not Like A Regular Bug-Bite

Three aspirin and three beers later... I'm doin' fine. Whee!

[flamingyouth]

51. Woo hoo! The cure-all for just about everything!

Glad you're doing okay and haven't had any severe reactions to it. Like I said before, that's a lot of stings! Let Mike baby you tonight!

[MissB]

49. They suck. I walked across a nest last summer

We'd just moved in, and the neighbors had kindly invited my kids over to their house to celebrate one of their kids' birthday. I stepped on the nest (which was on the path between our houses), got stung about 4 times, and ran running towards their house while I yelled at my kids to run the other direction. I had some following me, and some were caught under my shirt.

I made quite the entrance to the b-day party :)