bee stings and keeping them away

[FriedGreenTomatoes]

What can be punt on a bee sting??

Is there anything that will keep they away from the house?

I figured here would be the place to ask!

[applestar]

Best immediate remedy IMHO is plantain leaves. Chew up (or ball up in palm of hand with spit if uncertain of quality) then slap the green wad on the sting. Secure with bandaid or tape if available.

I like to make a mixed poutice of plantain, jewel weed, and peppermint. Peppermint is anaesthetic and eases the pain. I grow all three in my garden and use on other insect, etc. bites as well -- mosquito, ant, spider, etc. I have heard it is also effective for snake bites but no personal experience.

[FriedGreenTomatoes]

Very cool thank you!

Only thing is, I have almost 3 acres and no plantain!! I don't believe it.
I've walked around looking for it because it is great stuff.

I do however have some mint....on my way to get it. Again THANK YOU!!

[applestar]

You are welcome.
Plantain is a common weed. (don't ask for it at the garden center )

I also came across this in an unrelated but serendipitous search
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Beekeeping ... ntial_Oils

Think about body care products you are using that may contain these scents.

[rainbowgardener]

I would never be without plantain, it is a miracle cure for bee stings, used as applestar described. I don't have to work to have it, it is as noted a common weed. But if you really don't have any, you can get seeds for it from herbal seed companies:

https://www.sandmountainherbs.com/plantain_greater.html

[imafan26]

I am around bees almost everyday in the garden. We don't have Africanized bees just European, carpenter, leaf cutter and a tiny native bee. I have learned a few things over the years

1. Don't wear bright colors, oranges, yellows, the bees may mistake you for a flower

2. Bees don't go out in the very early morning, they like things to warm up first.
During the middle of the day, you might find a bee napping in a flower dead to the world. They will only wake up in the afternoon when it cools off again. So that is the best times to work in the garden. Bees don't bother plants that are not in flower.
3. I try to do most of my gardening around the bees schedule. If I have to share the garden, I gently push them with a gentle shower from the hose. They usually
move over for me.
4. Pay attention. Bees usually give a warning buzz when you get too close
a. I can get within 6 inches of foraging bees before they will buzz me
b. I have only gotten stung a couple of times. Once when I picked up my pick not realizing a bee was on the handle. I don't wear gloves in the garden.
c. Don't scare them. Fast movements, swatting and screaming scare them and they will defend themselves
if a bee hovers too close for your comfort stay still. They usually depart after a few minutes.
If you accidentally get to close, slowly back up.
d. If you have any allergies to bees make sure you have your epi pen with you.
5. In my yard at least, the bees visit the same plants at the same time of day.
They are particularly fond of flowering plants, allyssum, cuphea, and blooming
basil, squash, cucumber, and fruit trees. Bees pollination are essential for some fruits and vegetables to set.
If you don't want bees at all near you, either cut all the blooms off those plants or remove them or plant those things far enough away that the bees and you can both be happy.

[rainbowgardener]

This is all good advice. But just remember, honeybees die if they sting you, so they only do that as a last resort, if the hive is threatened or you do something like swatting them or putting your hand on them. Otherwise, they will coexist peacefully. I have reached in to a plant to deadhead a flower, with a bee sitting on the next flower over a couple inches away, with no problem. So I really don't worry about avoiding them, or trying to garden when they are not around. I love seeing them, it makes me feel like my garden is still ok, and all those natural processes are going on around me.

[applestar]

I believe there are aggressive bees (and wasps) and not so aggressive ones. The little beneficial wasps are not, bumblebees are usually not. I once accidentally dropped a large drapery -- actually Japanese carp windsock (so appropriate that today is Children's Day in Japan when they are displayed HAPPY CHILDREN'S DAY ) from upstairs indow into the shrubbery below, startling a bumblebee. It zoomed away and directly hit my then toddler daughter who was watching from below on the ground in the forehead... But it didn't sting her even then.

The yellow jackets that were nesting on my driveway attacked if anyone came within three feet, and a couple of family members were stung within one foot of the nest until I cordoned the area off.

I was stung by a paper wasp when I lost my balance while picking raspberries and slapped my hand right next to a hive on a fence. But they don't bother me while working in the garden when they are patrolling the cabbages and broccoli or scraping the bamboo for making their nest.

When I wade through the honeybees, bumblebees, other bees and wasps in the lawn, some of them get buzzy and zoom around me a couple of times, but they break off and get back to work if I just keep walking. I *think* it's a matter of them getting used to me because it's just early in the season. I've picked mint while they are in full bloom (and swarming with over a dozen different kinds of bees and wasps) and don't remember them ever getting upset.

I've had cicada killers (they're over 2 inches long) zoom past me or capture a cicada over my head and drop in front of me and they paid no attention to me whatsoever -- they are too preoccupied by their hunt.

[SOB]

The yellow jackets that were nesting on my driveway attacked if anyone came within three feet, and a couple of family members were stung within one foot of the nest until I cordoned the area off.

Yellow Jackets are by far the most aggressive of the common bee/wasp family. There also seems to be confusion among some people but the yellow jackets are the smaller bees - NOT the large yellow bees.

Being allergic to bees it's hard for me to not swing at them when they are around but like someone said above, they sometimes get even more aggressive when you go after them. I find that in the garden I have no problems co-existing with them. Maybe it's me being relaxed and happy knowing they are pollinating for me.

[LGT]

We do this and it always works. If you get stung and know someone that chews tobacco, you can have them chew it up or chew it up yourself and put it on there.

https://voices.yahoo.com/how-treat-bee-s ... html?cat=5

I have never tried the vinegar and baking soda mix. My daddy chews tobacco so we always used that. None of us kids were anywhere close to being allergic to bees though.

[ElizabethB]

The thing with bee stings is that you have to get the stinger out. Use a pair of tweezers. I keep a jar of unseasoned meat tenderizer - I know probably not consideed organic. A paste of meat tenderizer and water relieves the sting of wasp and bees. It breaks down protein and the poison in wasp and bee stings are protein based. I have always heard about using chewing tobacco but had never tried it before last summer. We were at our camp on Toledo Bend when I was stung by a paper wasp. My step-son chews. He slapped a wad of tobacco on the sting - instant relief!

As for working with bees I have no problem. If the bees are buzzing around I just go about my chores with no sudden movements. As another poster pointed out when a bee stings it loses it's stinger and litterally guts itself so they don't sting unless seriously threatened. When Dad was alive he messed around with raising fowl and had an incubator on a covered slab in the back yard. I was visiting one day and noticed a huge swarm of honey bees around his incubator. They were trying to establish a hive in his incubator. At first Dad thought the idea of a bee hive was cool but then he realized that the hive would ruin his incubator. I grabbed some foil and duct tape. Moving slowly I plugged the vent holes with foil and sealed all openings with duct tape. My Mother had a fit. There were so many bees that I was a blur in the swarm. I did not get stung once. I later learned that I could have called my County Agent and they would have sent a local bee keeper out to collect the hive. Any way when it comes to bees I have no problem with them. Don't EVEN get me started on wasp! Another issue entirely which I address in a very non organic manner.

[KeriFord]

In addition to colors, be careful about patterns on your clothes. I worked alongside bees for a long time. Taught my toddler (at the time) to just be perfectly still, they'll fly around you, see what you're about and go on. And they do! Then one day I wore a speckled pattern. Was stung in minutes. The pattern resembled a landing strip on a flower. I googled and read up on colors they see.. Very informative.

And I've seen bees hoover over the plants, run off wasps and others, then resume their guard. I like them by the house for that.

[FriedGreenTomatoes]

I ended up putting ice on ny sting to sooth it until it was bearable.

I must have an allergic reaction to stings because it bothered me for a week. I also ended up with what looked like a rash from armpit to elbow and it was so itchy!! The sting was about two inches from my elbow.

I was holding my one year old in the same arm, so I'm thankful it wasn't him who was stung.

Thank you so much for remedies!

My fiancé chews tobacco, so next time I'll be ready on the spot.

It's great to have a place to talk to such knowledgeable people about so many topics!