cause they sting just cause they have a stingy bit to sting with

[OafFish]

Did you get stung? I hope not. I hope you're just talking generally and not of current experience.
Wasps are cruel and like to sting for fun and will repeatedly. They aren't content with flowers but want people food and will chase you down to get at your sandwiches. They are terrible awful bugs with no redeeming qualities.

Originally Posted by OafFish

Did you get stung? I hope not. I hope you're just talking generally and not of current experience.
Wasps are cruel and like to sting for fun and will repeatedly. They aren't content with flowers but want people food and will chase you down to get at your sandwiches. They are terrible awful bugs with no redeeming qualities.

i remember i got chased by one as a kid

[OafFish]

Just one is bad enough, I was chased by a gang of those winged hoodlums, and I was stung several times until I gave them all my cookies and ran off to hide in a greenhouse

Originally Posted by OafFish

Just one is bad enough, I was chased by a gang of those winged hoodlums, and I was stung several times until I gave them all my cookies and ran off to hide in a greenhouse

wasps are ungreatful bass turds

[rechu]

They are awful. I am allergic to them and as a kid I stepped on one and my whole foot swelled up. I found the beginnings of a wasp nest on my house last year and had to destroy it.

[lizardlady]

Originally Posted by rechu

They are awful. I am allergic to them and as a kid I stepped on one and my whole foot swelled up. I found the beginnings of a wasp nest on my house last year and had to destroy it.

Rechu, I am also allergic. Years ago I had one fly behind my glasses and sting me on my eyelid. My whole face swelled up. There was this tiny bump (tip of my nose) poking out of this swollen mess of a face. Couldn't even wear my glasses because my face was so swollen.

The little buggers love to build nests around the farm. I have cans of wasp spray in strategic spots around the farm.

[unaluna]

liz!

[eskielover]

Originally Posted by lizardlady

Rechu, I am also allergic. Years ago I had one fly behind my glasses and sting me on my eyelid. My whole face swelled up. There was this tiny bump (tip of my nose) poking out of this swollen mess of a face. Couldn't even wear my glasses because my face was so swollen.

The little buggers love to build nests around the farm. I have cans of wasp spray in strategic spots around the farm.

Oh, I get that, only I am allergic to plants like stinging nettle too. The wasps are all over my farm & are the huge red ones that attack. Noticed the other day it warmed up & they were swarming all around my windows.

When I first moved to my farm, I closed off several rooms upstairs. Opened the door & there were 100's of dead wasps laying all around the room. After I got my new roof & the wood repaired under it, i only get a few inside now.

When I had my horse up at the neighbors barn, I opened the turnout gate. Something flew at me & stung my face. I am sure it was a wasp though I didn't see it. It got swollen but I put mud on it immediately. That always seems to help.

There were so many red wasps swarming around my roof when I first bought my farm I had this vision of my house flying away with all the wasps.

Yep, cans of wasp spray in the garage, basement, front porch & in my family room for the back deck & they have to spray at least 25 ft. I even provided cans of spray to the guys who did my roof & gutters this summer.

They are evil bugs. I also have a neighbor who raises bees for honey. The heavy equipment guys he had working there at first made him remove the bees because their equipment annoyed them & they were getting stung by them. I like bees but am as careful to avoid them as I am wasps

[lizardlady]

A co-worker told me about a Benadryl cream that works wonders to help hold down the swelling from bee/wasp stings. Wally World has their own, cheaper, version. I make sure to always have some in case I need it.

[eskielover]

Originally Posted by lizardlady

A co-worker told me about a Benadryl cream that works wonders to help hold down the swelling from bee/wasp stings. Wally World has their own, cheaper, version. I make sure to always have some in case I need it.

I don't take any prescribed meds but I live on antihistimines during the summer. It controlls the itch from within on chigger or mosquito bites & helps with stings also especially after the sting feel is gone & left with the itch

[rechu]

That wasp sting day was terrible. I had just gotten stitches due to a slipping accident at a swimming pool. I could only consume liquids because the stitches were on my lip. We were having away party with our neighbors because we were moving to another state. So, I couldn't enjoy any of the party food. Then I stepped on a wasp. I was only 8 but that day has remained stuck in my head until now. And my dad wasn't around because he had moved already. I really missed him not being there.

[lizardlady]

Oh Rechu! What a rotten day for you.

[Fuzzybear]

Originally Posted by OafFish

Did you get stung? I hope not. I hope you're just talking generally and not of current experience.
Wasps are cruel and like to sting for fun and will repeatedly. They aren't content with flowers but want people food and will chase you down to get at your sandwiches. They are terrible awful bugs with no redeeming qualities.

They sting repeatedly, and for fun. Very cruel. I have not found any redeeming qualities in them either.

[MuseumGhost]

I have to keep actual Benadryl tablets on me at all times because I am allergic, too.

I can kind of forgive the bees, but not the wasps.

Bees honestly only sting if they feel they are in a danger (UK bees, I'm assuming it's the same for other countries)

[Stronglady1]

I keep a couple cans of wasp spray on my toolbox.Last time I used it was on a manure spreader.Sprayed the nest down good before I work on it,was in the area I was working on

[MuseumGhost]

Yes, I have an immediate and involuntary repulsion where wasps are concerned. A huge blue one flew up my sleeve and stung me while I was riding my bike, years ago---and the sting was so painful, I nearly fell off the bike. I was literally blinded by the pain! And it took weeks for that sting location to heal. I still have a scar!

Lizardlady, my heart goes out to you. That must have been awful.

You're right about the bees, willowtigger. They only sting when they feel in danger. And then, they die.

[*Beth*]

Bees are good and important (for the environment), but...

In my childhood home bees had made a large nest in a wall (they had actually bored a hole through cement lining next to the chimney). The bees were very active in the summer; they did occasionally sting someone (once my mother was stung on her lip while she was sitting and reading the newspaper), but not too often, really. All in all, though, the bees seldom stung.

~BUT~

When I was a kid I seldom wore shoes all summer, unless I was roller skating. Even bike riding - bare feet. We had a large, lovely yard and...

bees would die and then be lying on the ground. So here I was, running around with bare feet and OUCH! I STEPPED ON A BEE!!!

There wasn't anything like Benadryl and who bothered their mothers with the situation, anyway. We kids would try our best to remove the stinger, then we'd mix up a paste of baking soda in a bowl and apply it to the swollen, itchy toe (it was always a toe, for some reason). That insulted toe would burn and itch all night. But, after about 3 days all would be well...until I stepped on yet another bee.

[lizardlady]

Beth, I stepped on a bee in my teen years. My whole foot swelled up. I remember baking soda paste too. I don't think it did anything to help except give a sense you were doing something.

This thread is bringing back memories of past stings.

I once had a wood borer wasp crawl in my ear and sting inside my ear. Ear canal swelled almost closed, ear swelled up like a cauliflower.

[unaluna]

Liz, you have had an eventful life!

[*Beth*]

Originally Posted by lizardlady

Beth, I stepped on a bee in my teen years. My whole foot swelled up. I remember baking soda paste too. I don't think it did anything to help except give a sense you were doing something.

This thread is bringing back memories of past stings.

I once had a wood borer wasp crawl in my ear and sting inside my ear. Ear canal swelled almost closed, ear swelled up like a cauliflower.

I am absolutely sure that the baking soda paste idea was invented by some mom somewhere who was trying to calm down her bee-stung child. i.e., no, it didn't do anything to stop the sting/swelling/itch.

I guess I'm not allergic to bees or I'd be dead by now.

The ear canal thing sounds horrific, liz.

[eskielover]

I think the baking soda actually does draw out & drys up some of the fluids that go with a sting. If I am outside near mud or where I can make mud, I do pack it on stings or poison ivy or stinging nettle. Always has worked for me.

Was out backpacking with my daughter & she got into some poison ivy or oak. Packed mud on it, let it dry, brushed it off & all the reaction was gone & it had been all over her arm.

I have used it on stings & even jellyfish stings & it helps.....though I used wet sand on the jelltfish stings

[*Beth*]

Holy cow @eskielover, where did you get jellyfish stings and what did that feel like?

[eskielover]

Originally Posted by *Beth*

Holy cow @eskielover, where did you get jellyfish stings and what did that feel like?

Was just walking around in Santa Barbara harbor (only knee deep) looked like just 1 inch bubbles on the water. Had no idea they were jellyfish until they started stinging