[QUOTE=stevej37;11778267] I used to. ER doc told me next time I get stung to go IMMEDIATELY to ER. So, long after my epi pens expired, I got stung again and went directly to urgent care. Doc on duty says why are you here? I told him. So we just waited awhile, like 1/2 hour and nothing happened. So he says, I tell you what, we’re gonna pretend you were never here so we don’t have to fill out a buncha paperwork, charge insurance, blah, blah. I said fine with me! He explained that all bee venom is not the same so just because a person gets stung and has a reaction doesn’t mean that person will have a reaction next time he gets stung.

I am vigilant and wipe out any nests I happen to come across at home. So far so good.

^^^
I never thought of diff types of bee venom. My brother carries an epi pen whenever outside in the summer. I'll pass that info along to him.
Around here..I see the ground bees more often in dry late summer. If there is exposed dirt..watch out.

Long ago in my single days, at my bachelor pad house our neighborhood had the utility easement at the rear of the property dug up for three blocks. It was weird to see the long trench stretching off to the next block on each side, EXCEPT a 3 foot patch of dirt in my back yard.

The next morning at dawn, someone was banging on my front door. I saw several utility workers and one police officer. So I asked WTF? and they said I had ground bumblebees in a huge nest in my back yard. So I got dressed enough to go outside and they pointed at the area. He said one guy was stung, and everyone ran. They were going to douse it all with diesel fuel. I said nope, those huge trees in my yard will not like that.

So I went to the garage, and mixed up a triple strong dose of Malathion, and used a pressure sprayer to hose it down. The bumble bees came out, flew a few feet and died. I was almost out of spray when they stopped coming out, so I emptied the sprayer. The back hoe dude, hit it with the backhoe, and no live bees, but a huge nest.

I went to work, and when I came home the new natural gas and phone lines were laid in and covered up. It was funny (ironic) that a large crew of men with heavy equipment were stopped dead in their track in my back yard with bumble bees.

They were not aggressive bumble bees as they never bothered me at all. If I was working back there they would bump against me, but no sting. It was like a warning of hey buddy, scram. I never could find the nest as it was hidden well under the leaves from the trees.

Unbelievably, this morning before the day got to a double 85 (85°/85%rH) I was chipping/shredding some brush with the chipper-shredder right on top of a nest of ground bees. I didn’t think nothing of the first sting until about 3 minutes later when I got hit 4 more times on my lower left leg.

Painful, minimal swelling but nothing else. Hopped on the tractor and moved the rig a few feet and continued until the job was done.

All the while I’m being hyper vigilant about symptoms, too. Not a one, thankfully.

However, I’m told initial bee stings can be relatively asymptomatic but somehow sensitizes your immune system which can go haywire if stung again.

How's your face Steve?

Thanks....It feels fine, but the lip swelling has drifted over to the opposite side of the same lip. It's almost like a huge cold sore now. (which the sting might have triggered)

The cheek swelling is mostly gone.

Me: See 'em, kill 'em.
Got nailed a few weeks ago by a paper wasp, right at the base of the thumb. Walked inside and returned with a can of Instant Death. Hosed the nest and blasted a few out of the air and smiled as they writhed on the ground in the throes of death.
Walked back inside and gathered my Epi Pen and waited a while and iced. No anaphylactic issues so on with my day. Next day, I had a giant hand, wrist and forearm that itched like crazy. End of the day a bunch of blisters on my wrist and had to remove my watch as not enough holes to loosen it enough to wear.
Damm, I hate the miserable stinging insects.

Generally, I think it's the social wasps/hornets/yellow jackets that you have to worry about. If they have a big colony with a bunch of individuals and a queen, then they are usually defensive/territorial. The solitary bees and wasps (cicada killer, tarantula hawk, mason bees, spider wasp, etc...) are generally not aggressive so I don't worry about them.

paper wasps, hornets, ground wasps (in large groups), they'd all have to go. I've only ever run into paper wasps.

Honey bees would get a pass.

This is pretty cool. A guy collecting a swarm of honey bees.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YgOYLDf5Wv8" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/be-the-change/new-study-shows-honeybee-venom-rapidly-destroys-cancer-cells
Incredibly, the specific concentration of honeybee venom can induce 100% cancer cell death, all the while leaving regular cells mostly unharmed.

Researchers demonstrated that the melittin works in two ways: Within an hour of administration, it effectively punches holes in the cell membrane, killing the cell. In addition however, within 20 minutes of administration, it rapidly disrupts the cancer signaling pathways, shutting down the chemical messages needed for cancer cell growth and reproduction.

I have a one gal plastic pump sprayer that I devote to gasoline or kerosene.

If a nest is hanging off a branch of a tree, or I find a hole in the lawn where they are nesting, stand back and turn the nozzle to jet spray and they drop like flies. :)

Good question ‘cuz it’s killing me!

signed...
The elephant man :)

Hope this will bring some humor to your situation

https://youtu.be/YQ1vN_91KO0


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

^^^ It's on my playlist now....looks good.

I try to leave before 2am these daze :D.

Ouch .... Yellow jackets are evil!

I have learned since then to always look into the beer glass for wasps or flies.
Most of the time, it's just flies swimming in the beer. No problem, just pick em out and the beer tastes fine.:D

What, you are letting the flies drink yer beer! You need to drink faster.

Living in a very rural area...I don't worry one bit about slurping down a fly in my beer.

But those hornets seem to want to get even by stinging before I can swallow them.

A long, long time ago when I was still harvesting firewood from the forest here in NWNJ I dropped a lovely dead standing red oak right on top of a nest of some kind of ground wasps. However, I didn't know it until I had sectioned the trunk and rolled it off of the nest. They chased me all the way back to my truck. The wife counted 16 (IIRC) stings on my back.