Wasp sting

[zico]

I haven't been stung by a wasp since I was a kid, thanks to the common and effective strategy of continual vigilance for nearby wasps, combined with flapping my hands and running away whenever a wasp came within 10 feet of me. However, this afternoon a wasp snuck in below my radar and, for no reason at all, it stung me.

What's surprising is how painful it is. Started off as a stabbing pain for a few minutes, then settled down to a steady throb that I can still feel 6 hours later. Maybe I've got analyglyptic (or anabolic or annasoubry) shock and should call 999 immediately.

I recently saw a contraption on sale that mimics a wasp nest, and claims to keep wasps away. Maybe I'll get one and hang it round my neck until winter!

[GrandOiseau]

My daughter got stung on the hand about 3 years ago. Had to go into hospital and on drugs for a couple of days as it swelled up really bad. If it doesn't calm down quick get down A&E.

[kiloran]

I got stung three times last week. I chopped down a big hebe which had self-rooted in a nearby planter, and wasps had built a nest in the planter. I thought I was being suitably careful and wary, but they got me twice on a hand and once on my leg.
Wasn't so much painful as extremely itchy for 12 hours or so.

I won of course, the wasps are no more. Well, maybe one or two escaped.

--kiloran

P.S. the hebe was about 4 feet high, and when I chopped out a big bit and threw it to one side, a frog hopped out from the bit I'd chopped off and into the undergrowth. Absolutely no idea what it was doing several feet off the ground. Maybe on a wasp hunt?

[vrdiver]

Last summer we had a wasp nest under the patio. That was shifted by pouring petrol into the hole, a tube attached to a butane cylinder was fed in, and a lit match was added. There was a bit of a "wump" and a few wasps staggered out, but generally, the nest was quiet after that. I poured water in, just to make sure there was no residual fire burning anywhere. Returning wasps continued to fly around the entrance for a couple of days, but eventually decided it was a lost cause and disappeared.

This year we had a nest under the front doorstep. Mrs VRD vetoed a repeat of the previous tactics for some strange reason! My "new improved" method was to insert a narrow bore tube into the entrance and then pump a very strong acetic acid solution in (with a bit of washing up liquid mixed in). This was followed up by spraying the whole area with the same mixture several times a day.

Took about a week, but the wasps are gone. The vinegar smell also faded quite rapidly. Any time one came near me they got sprayed. I don't think they ever associated me with the ongoing destruction of their nest, as there was no attempt to attack; nor was there last summer. In both cases, I did everything quite slowly and walked away as soon as any wasps came to investigate me, rather than the tubing.

I recently learned that ant powder will also shift wasps if you can get it into the entrance of their nest. Not sure how the wasps would take to the application unless done very, very gently!

Last time I was stung was on a bus. My grandmother swatted a wasp that was hovering near the window. The fell down between me and the back of my chair and shortly after, I sat on it...

VRD

[melonfool]

I haven't been stung by a wasp since I was a kid, thanks to the common and effective strategy of continual vigilance for nearby wasps, combined with flapping my hands and running away whenever a wasp came within 10 feet of me. However, this afternoon a wasp snuck in below my radar and, for no reason at all, it stung me.

Karma!

[quote="zico"]What's surprising is how painful it is. Started off as a stabbing pain for a few minutes, then settled down to a steady throb that I can still feel 6 hours later. Maybe I've got analyglyptic (or anabolic or annasoubry) shock and should call 999 immediately.

Hmm, I have bad reaction to wasp stings and was hospitalised the time before last. The last time I was stung on the head and due to having such a bad reaction the time before I was hysterical. But it didn't seem to have gone very deep, maybe due to my hair, so actually I was OK.

I do my best to avoid the annoying sods though.

Mel

[ReformedCharacter]

I used to keep bees, a pastime I highly recommend to those so inclined. Anyway, at some point I was given a colony by my ever-loving in-laws. I realised fairly quickly that they were aggressive (the bees, not my ever-loving in-laws). One day I decided to inspect them, mid-season when they had built up to be quite a strong colony. I took off the roof and cover-board and removed a few frames. The bees were not happy and I realised I was getting stung with some frequency. In retrospect I should have called it a day at that point but decided to persist and replace the frames, cover-board and roof. I got as far as replacing the frames when I realised that I didn't fancy any more stings. One of the characteristics used to describe bee aggression is their propensity to 'follow', ie. continue aggressive behaviour after you have left the vicinity of their colony. These were definitely 'followers'. By the time I reached my back door, several hundred feet from the colony, I was still under severe bombardment and it took the efforts of my wife with a hose-pipe to subdue the majority. By the time I had removed my bee suit and regained safety in the house I started to feel slightly woozy. My wife insisted on calling an ambulance who duly took me off to hospital with the aid of a little oxygen. I didn't actually feel too bad, especially after the oxygen. The medics at the hospital were somewhat bemused as I don't think they had ever had a similar case before and insisted despite my assurances that they look for and remove any actual stings present in my skin. Of course there weren't any as they would have been removed with my clothing. I received probably about 300 stings. Do beekeepers get 'immune' to bee-stings? I don't think so, you just get used to them. 300 stings was a bit much though. I did get a day off work for my troubles. I bear no grudges I still think bees are amazing creatures.

RC

[tea42]

The way to avoid getting stung when destroying a wasps nest is to simply do it after dark. Those cardboard fake wasp nests are extremely effective. I have seen a National Trust cafe festooned with them and no wasps will approach for fear of being mobbed by the occupants. Hang one near your garden table and eat that BBQ in peace. https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Paper-Decoy-Wa ... b1fffdd045

[melonfool]

What is the point of a 'bee suit' if it doesn't stop you getting stung?

I have one actually, oddly, and have never used it, since I don't keep bees.....

Mel

[zico]

Well I survived overnight, and it's just itchy now. Useful to know the pretend wasp nest thingies actually work.

What is it with nature's tendency to massively overprovide venom for certain creatures though. Wasps use their stings to subdue caterpillars mostly, so why do they need so much venom? Some snakes are even worse in that they hunt small frogs, yet have enough venom to kill adult humans in seconds - fortunately we don't have ones like that in the UK.

[PinkDalek]

Well I survived overnight, and it's just itchy now. ...

So you are not still suffering from annasoubry?

In your OP, you mentioned flapping your hands or something similar. We were always told to avoid that action, as it encourages the blighters to investigate further.

Is that incorrect?

[vrdiver]

Well I survived overnight, and it's just itchy now. ...

So you are not still suffering from annasoubry?

In your OP, you mentioned flapping your hands or something similar. We were always told to avoid that action, as it encourages the blighters to investigate further.

Is that incorrect?

Is there more than one annasoubry, and if so, what would they be investigating? Bit harsh to label them as blighters though

[malkymoo]

I have a large (judging by the numbers coming and going) wasp nest in the rear eaves of my house. Entrance is via a hole left when an overflow pipe was removed.

The wasps are causing us no problem so far, they just seem to fly off at roof level. Even eating in the garden we have only had one wasp buzzing round, which is to be expected anyway. Unless they start to become a nuisance, I am inclined to leave them alone, partly on the live and let live principle, but mainly because I do not fancy climbing a ladder to tackle the nest, leaving myself exposed to retaliation!

[Gengulphus]

What is it with nature's tendency to massively overprovide venom for certain creatures though. Wasps use their stings to subdue caterpillars mostly, so why do they need so much venom? ...

Mostly, but not only! A wasp's nest will provide a highly attractive meal for lots of bigger creatures - it's full of nutritious larvae - and so the wasps need an effective defence... Of course, that defence makes us (who generally aren't even after the larvae) want to destroy the nest, but that's a relatively small hazard for the wasps.

There's probably also an evolutionary arms race - the creatures that specialise in raiding wasp and bee nests evolve some immunity to wasp venom, so the wasps evolve more potent venom, so the specialist creatures evolve better immunity, and so on ...

Gengulphus

[kiloran]

What is the point of a 'bee suit' if it doesn't stop you getting stung?

I have one actually, oddly, and have never used it, since I don't keep bees.....

Mel

Now come on, you can't just matter-of-factly drop that into the conversation without any explanation. How the heck did you manage to acquire that? An errant click on eBay when you really wanted to buy a CD player? A costume for a fancy dress party?

--kiloran

[neversay]

Another person here who was stung last week - right in the webbing next to my thumb. Very painful but immediate icepack and an ammonium anti-sting pen and it took all 'bite' out of it. It did throb for 24 hours afterward and typing was uncomfortable.

Of course, it was all my fault. A nest in the eaves/loft under the insulation but right next to my young son's bedroom window. They were coming in and audible through the thin ceiling plaster. Rather than the £65 callout fee of a pro, I hit them with wasp powder and fly/wasp spray. It has done trick.

[melonfool]

What is the point of a 'bee suit' if it doesn't stop you getting stung?

I have one actually, oddly, and have never used it, since I don't keep bees.....

Mel

Now come on, you can't just matter-of-factly drop that into the conversation without any explanation. How the heck did you manage to acquire that? An errant click on eBay when you really wanted to buy a CD player? A costume for a fancy dress party?

--kiloran

Years ago I wanted to keep bees (I'd still like to but not practical). A chap I volunteered with at CAB was just downsizing at home and had kept bees but couldn't at his new house, so he gave me the suit and a load of magazines.

I went off the idea though and am now not able to since I've moved but, as I was given the suit I have never really felt able to get rid of it.

Mel

[melonfool]

I have a large (judging by the numbers coming and going) wasp nest in the rear eaves of my house. Entrance is via a hole left when an overflow pipe was removed.

The wasps are causing us no problem so far, they just seem to fly off at roof level. Even eating in the garden we have only had one wasp buzzing round, which is to be expected anyway. Unless they start to become a nuisance, I am inclined to leave them alone, partly on the live and let live principle, but mainly because I do not fancy climbing a ladder to tackle the nest, leaving myself exposed to retaliation!

That's what I thought about one in the roof of my porch, until autumn, when they got all silly and that was when I got stung on the head and they chased me up the garden. After that it was professional exterminators as quick as possible.

I'd suggest you deal with it, especially if you have children.

The world is not short of wasps.

Mel

(I've got a beekeeper's suit I can lend you if you want to do it yourself...)

[ReformedCharacter]

What is the point of a 'bee suit' if it doesn't stop you getting stung?

I have one actually, oddly, and have never used it, since I don't keep bees.....

Mel

You can get bee suits that offer a high degree of protection but they tend to be bulky and hot especially during the warmer months when you are most likely to be beekeeping. It depends on the sort of bees you keep. Most responsible beekeepers weed out queens that produce aggressive bees. The person who taught me practical beekeeping wore no gloves and only a vestigial veil, but that was because his bees were docile. I used to wear a white (darker colours produce a more aggressive response) pair of tradesmans' overalls, gloves and veil. Bee stings will get through leather gloves. On the day that I got badly stung I was just wearing pants and a T-shirt underneath the overalls, so not much protection really. My in-laws, who gave me the colony, thought I must have been telling fairy stories about their aggressive bees until they started getting the run around from the rest of the colonies in the same apiary.

RC