Special Stings

[Grandma_DOG]

I've done a few cutouts this year, and have had 30+ stings. I thought I had immunity to a degree as a sting now hurts for 5 minutes, then I can't see where I was stung after an hour.

Yesterday, however, I got popped only once on my right wrist and it swelled up and has gone ichy for over 24 hours.  Why do most stings not affect me much while this one really did a number?

I scratched the stinger out in under 1.5 seconds, so doubt I got a full dose.

Ideas?

[luvin honey]

Nerve density, blood vessel density or skin depth? Just ideas :)

[wildbeekeeper]

I vary in reaction as well.....if I get hit on my bicep it leave a little white pustule and then leaves a black and blue mark about the size of a 50 cent piece... if I get hit on the wrist it gets itchy and swells up a bit, if i get it on the neck it burns and turns really red......if I get hit above the eyebrow my eye swells shut......I I avioded narrowly was one in my ear canal.....man those bees are loud when they are that close!  lol   but i DONT want to know what that would have felt like... or looked like!

[Natalie]

The same thing happened to me this weekend.
Whenever I have gotten stung by bees it usually hurts for a couple of minutes and then you can't even see where I got sting a short time later.
I do not swell up or get itchy.
Until this past weekend when I was at someone else's apiary and I got nailed on the hand and it blew up so bad that it was twice the size as it normally is and the skin was tight and shiny.
It itched for a couple of days after and ached like I slammed my hand in the door.
I have no idea what the difference was with this one and it was only a couple of stings in the back of the hand.
Maybe they all have different strengths of venom?

[beemaster]

Sometimes, it is pressure points that get stung - just a simple look at the CHI CHART of points where acupuncture and pressures are located and where they go to should be enough to scare any of us a little.

Skin fold areas to are tough, we are constantly exercising those spots just by moving and doing things and they get more attention then an obsure site that doesn't bother us as much.

Just a few thoughts :)

[beedad]

i usually hardly react to the stings, but last month i got stung on the inside of the wrist and it got all bruised.  i could barely move my hand for a day and a half.  and the other day i got stung under the eye (bad spot) and it almost swelled my eye shut.  ive been stung under the eye before and it didnt react like that.  i was wondering if some bees are just more potent.  yeah like super bees!javascript:void(0);

[Bee Happy]

i usually hardly react to the stings, but last month i got stung on the inside of the wrist and it got all bruised.  i could barely move my hand for a day and a half.  and the other day i got stung under the eye (bad spot) and it almost swelled my eye shut.  ive been stung under the eye before and it didnt react like that.  i was wondering if some bees are just more potent.  yeah like super bees!javascript:void(0);

I've only been stung once and I'm a noob but someone on this site mentioned something about the bees serving as guards having more potent venom due to their youth. (feel free to correct me if need be.)

[Cindi]

Such an interesting topic.  Bee stings vary with me too.  If I am stung on the hand, nautta.  If I am stung above the head, holy creepola!!!  I look like something from outer space.  Blood vessels.

Also, if you are really hot I think that can make one swell even more, like a hot day, if it is cooler, I think the reaction is less.  Well, it is with me anyways.  If I get stung on the top of my head, it gets REALLY itchy, not like that has happened very often, but once I can remember it there.  I can't wait to get another sting, it really helps out the stiffness that I get sometimes in my knees.  I know I should do some self-administered stings, but I have been too busy playing with my chickenyard critters, smiling.  Beautiful days, to love and live, to share with those that care so much, our forum friends, health.  Cindi

[beegrlAK]

I was pulling some grass away from the fence and was stung on my middle finger.  Wow, does it hurt and it's numb!  My other stings didn't hurt and itch like this one did right away.  It's getting better now, but that was a zowie.   :shock:

[the kid]

Since the tip of her sting is heavily barbed, the worker bee normally loses her sting when she impales an
enemy as she attacks in self-defense or in defense of the hive. Shortly thereafter she dies as a result of a
sizable loss of internal organs and tissue. If she doesn't lose her sting but empties the venom sac the
worker is unable to replenish the venom. Adult worker bees must eat pollen (bee bread), grow, and
mature before they have a full complement of venom. Venom gradually accumulates until the bees are
about 15 days old. Hence, young bees are unable to sting effectively

[the kid]

Out of all the stings I gotten from  WASP, JACKET , HORNET, honeybee  ,worst place I've gotten is  from a honey bee last week ,,  that was in between the fingers at the base were two fingers come together on the webbing,, that hurt for over ten min ..  I've been hit on the neck ,face, eye , finger tip   ,tummy ,bottom of the foot , the finger nail edge and a lot of other places , but so far the webbing hurt worst ..
if you thought the bee in the ear was load ,, put a hearing aid in your ear then have a bee land on the aid , and buss .

[irerob]

Maybe it's the location. my watch slipped and hit a bee that was crawling on my wrist right at the back of my hand, the results......
http://img202.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=hpim1651.jpg

[hardwood]

I can get zapped anywhere but the hands and it goes right away or at the worst feels a little sore the next day. On the hands however, I blow up like a balloon and itch for days. My wife says I look like I have Mickey Mouse hands!

Scott

[doak]

The older the bee, the more potent the venom. doak