Got stung in the face >:(

[vossejongk]

Yesterday was the first time the weather allowed a full spring inspection,  all hives are well with a good queen and plenty of food left, I used no smoke and after an hour or so the ladies were back to normal, so i sat about 15 feet away from them to the side out of their flight path. Then this lady comes in hot and stings me straight in my eyelid! I couldn't get the stinger out at first so I had to run back to the house to have my girlfriend pull it out with a tweezer, but I lost a minute or two before that was done. Enough time to pump all its venom into me and make the right side of my face look like a balloon. I can't see a thing through my right eye atm and beeing a truck driver I had to call in to work that I won't be be to drive today. They weren't amused at first until I send them this photo of how it looks



So my question is, is there anything I can do to bring the swelling down so that I can go back to work tomorrow? I tried cold packs but that didn't had any more result then giving me a cold nose...

Thanks

[Jen]

Hi Vosse, I'm trying not to giggle, there's always that one pissy bee hidding behind the hive somewhere ready to launch. I had a tough day with the bees today as well. I takes about 3 days for the swelling and itching to go away, but there is Benedryl that will ease the symptoms, and If you have to work, might try Daytime Benedryl so you don't get sleepy. Might try a head veil as well.

Something like this is nice to keep stings off of the face

http://www.amazon.com/Mann-Lake-CL122-Stingless-Binding/dp/B00B8L5IY8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459747085&sr=8-1&keywords=bee+veils

[vossejongk]

Yeah I have a veil that's not the problem lol, I thought it was all clear but it seems one had a grudge against me
I hope the swelling goes down sooner though, this is horrible!

[Perry]

Benadryl is your friend, works for me.
Wow buddy, I feel your pain.

[lazy shooter]

Like Perry, I feel your pain.  Next time you are stung remember to scrape the stinger from your body.  Tweezers inject the remaining toxin into your body.  A credit card or the back side of your knife will scrape the stinger from you without injecting more toxin.  And, as stated, benedryl is your friend.

[vossejongk]

I was stung just above the eye, almost in the eyelashes, that's why it was so hard to get the stinger out :(

I got some benadryl and the stuff actually works, thanks

[apisbees]

I feel your pain and have been there.

So my question is, is there anything I can do to bring the swelling down so that I can go back to work tomorrow? I tried cold packs but that didn't had any more result then giving me a cold nose...

Get stung more, eventually you get to a point where you become immune to the venom. or allergic. If you take Benadryl 20 minutes before going to work the bees then if you do get stung it is already in your system to counter the venom If you son"t get stung it wont hurt you.

[Ray4852]

I looked like that once. Both my eyes closed up. It took four days for the swelling to go down. I missed 3 days of work. 6 months later. I got stung in the face. Face swelled up again, broke out with the hives, had a funny heart beat, itched from head to foot and my tongue swelled up a little. went to the hospital. Now 3 years into the bee venom program. If you have any of these symptoms. Follow up with a allergy doctor. 

[Bakersdozen]

Tell the truth vossejonk!  Your girlfriend has a mean left hook!
Just kidding.  That looks pretty miserable.  I feel your pain.

[Ray]

 (Perry, where's the pie?)
I've been there, not quite that bad though.
IMO: Where the bee stings and how old the bee is makes a big difference on the reaction.
I've had stings to my hand that felt like it was hit with a hammer and some I didn't even feel.

[riverbee]

what ray said perry? where's the pie, man you are slackin'............

will cheesecake do vosse?...............



a little late to the party vosse, but ice and benadryl and a FEW DAYS...........
experience......
1. always wear a veil and use a little smoke
2. don't invite a friend over to help you when his daughter is getting married and wedding pix are later in the day........oops!........
3. don't allow the husband to work bees when they are pissy and has a trial the next morning.....

.............

btw, how did work go?...........

[LazyBkpr]

Ouch, Ouch, Ouch... LOL!!!   
  I do feel the pain as well.     
   I used to swell a little, but dont any more..   I got stung about six times hiving the 17 packages, no swelling, itched a little the next day and done..   The NASTY part of the whole story......

    I had a couple bees bouncing off my forehead.. so i started to giggle, thinking of a certain individual that literally slapped his own glasses off his face when a bee did that to him...  I had my mouth open giggling..  bee ZIPPED straight in, and I got nailed on the tongue as I tried to spit it out.....
   No swelling, but my tongue tingled and annoyed me for a couple hours...   a vid of me spitting the bee out, and trying to get the stinger out of my tongue may well have amused a lot of people. Thankfully there was no camera present.
   So long as you have local reactions instead of allergic reactions you will be OK, and as time passes those reactions "should" lessen. I no longer fret over stings.. I scrape the stinger out and have mostly forgotten about being stung within the hour. However... being prepared and careful until you are sure how you will react is always advised.
   

[Chip Euliss]

I'd add that getting your doc to prescribe a bee sting kit wouldn't be a bad idea.  Severe allergic reactions can happen fairly quickly.  I got allergic to the point of anaphylaxis years ago and I didn't swell up that bad.  Hope you get back to normal soon.

[neillsayers]

Several years ago I got stung by a bumblebee on the eyebrow and it looked like that. Kind of freaky

[Barbarian]

Nasty one. Vosse. Hope it soon responds and goes down.

Benadryl is no longer marketed in the UK. Is it still diphenhydramine ?

I have an evil vision of Vosse being greeted back to work with a chorus of " I'm Popeye the sailor man " 

[vossejongk]

Lol ok, I called work on Monday morning and said I got stung in the face by something and couldn't see sh*t through 1 eye, and beeing a truck driver that's fairly important so they accepted i couldn't come in (little hard to deny that). Swelling went down after 2 days, but the whole time my eye was watering up and the skin around it getting irritated because of the constant rubbing against the other skin, which both itched like hades.

I did wear a veil when working the bees but this was an hour later right as I was about to sit down a few meters away from the hives to read a book and sit in the sun.  I also kind of figured it out why I got stung, apparently I sat down right between the hives and their water source that was a few meter behind me, so bees beeing bees they went in a beeline right for the water and I was in the way lol

[LazyBkpr]

Line of flight...  With the wind we have here, I have been pegged twice by bees hitting me because of that wind.. both times the bee landed on my arm like it was stunned...  Kind of felt sorry for them... kind of....