Granny know how when dealing with Bee Stings

By Joseph Parish

When it comes to bee stings there can be no doubt in my mind that granny knew best. If you search around I am sure that you will encounter at least a dozen or so different remedies that originate from someone’s family tree telling you how to deal with stings experienced by bees and wasps.

These remedies always begin with the saying “When I was little my Grandma would take….” The usual conclusion on these remedies would continue with everything from placing tobacco juice or chewing tobacco on the stung area to morning glories.

I remember the one about granny chewing some tobacco up then spiting it on the sting. She would hold it on there for a short period of time and then like magic the stinger would come out every time.

Even the Morning glories with its green and white flowers along with its green woody stem that contained what many consider a magic liquid that could easily complete with camphorphenic, an item that is usually obtained from the local drug store.

Although it may seem elementary the most important thing that you can do when stung by a honeybee is to quickly remove the stinger.  The best way to do that would be to take some sort of flat object and lay it carefully upon the stinger and slowly sweep it out of your skin. As you do this you should allow the poison to also flush out from the skin area as well.  These stingers usually carry a pretty good quantity of poison so you can be sure that they will pump it out for some time.

For those that are allergic to all of the above items and remedies then when they occur you have perhaps 1 to 2 minutes in which to remove the venom or to neutralize it before you begin shaking so bad that you can not help yourself. The main objective in that case would be to get the stinger out as quickly as possible. After which there are alternatives in play that may benefit you. According to the poison control center you should keep some Meat Tenderizer with you and handy at all times. The facts which support this concept are that most of the venom from these pests is protein based and as such the tenderizer will neutralize it. After using the meat tenderizer you should place an ice cube on the sting for approximately 20 minutes.

While treating your sting you may want to consider this little trick. Here one person has stated that since the young age of ten no mater what they happen to be having a reaction to they begin counting their breathing. Slowly counting to three inhale as deep as possible. On the count of one inhale, hold your breath for a slow count of two, exhale for a slow count of three. You should repeat this process for up to ten times or perhaps as long as necessary. This tends to keeps one for hyperventilating.

Copyright @2008 Joseph Parish