OUCH!! Does a wasp leave its stinger in you like a bee does?

[Andy Perreault]

During the week, I always go in and out of my house through the front door. Coming home this evening, I went to the back door. While I was fumbling with the key with my hands full, a small, very fast-flying black wasp hovered around me and then stung me in the scalp. It was then that I realized that almost right above my back door is a grapefruit-sized wasp nest, with wasps swarming all around it! I ran away from the door but then had to go back to get my key out of the lock. I heard buzzing around my head, but I got away without getting stung again.

That sting hurt like a red-hot hypodermic needle. I'm going bald, but I got stung in what's left of my hair, above the ear. Looking in the mirror, I can't see anything, and I can only feel just a slight bump. This happened about 2 hours ago, and it doesn't hurt anymore, so I guess there's nothing to worry about. Or is there?



Note to self: first thing tomorrow, go to the hardware store and get one of those wasp-killing spray-from-a-distance cans!



Andy

 

[M Barnett]

They don't leave their stinger in you, but it sure hurts!

Michael

 

[Jeff H]

I think they just bite? I got nailed three times when I moved my trailer oh I mean there trailer. Now I see one I look for the nest and rid of it.

 

[illflem]

Wasp stingers don't have barbs like honey bees, they pull out and can sting you several times. If you spray them make sure to do it at night when they're all home, otherwise you'll have bunch of POed ones hanging around when they return.

 

[BCFAST]

A bee stinger is barbed like a fish hook only straight. It goes in and tears away from the insect leaving the venom sack and the surrounding muscles (still pumping in the juice like mad!) eventually killing the bee in about 15 minutes. Needless to say, they only sting once. Wasps and hornets are a different breed; their stingers are NOT barbed. Hornet stingers are single, straight needles but wasps have a 'U' or V' - shaped stinger. They dont have to lite (land) in order to sting, they can fly past you, drop that nasty little 'tail hook' and just rake across your skin and keep going! Burns like fire, doesnt it? Their vision is ultra violet, so they can see your heat signature. Nature has them programed to go for your eyes first. I guess, if your eyes swell shut you cant hurt the nest anymore. The venom is a neurotoxin that temporarily paralyzes the surrounding area, and is a nasty irritant to the body... so it swells. Some folks are very allergic to the venom and can have horrible reactions... not good. Personally, I take great pride in hunting down and destroying wasp nests... sort of a vendetta for past wrongs. They seem to be attracted to my heat signature and come for me from long distances. Glad you're OK. End of entomology 101.

 

[nickleinonen]

i'd smoke the hive to get them calmed down, then knock the hive into a steel pail. put it in the backyard, soak the hive in methanol and drop a match in... they go snap, crackle pop. .

 

[Boldt's Wagon]

Bumble Bees can sting more than once. One got me three times when I was a kid.

 

[RT66DOC]

BRAVO

BCFAST, erudite to say the least. Entomology For Dummies. Bravo.

 

['956Wheel]

A few years back, I went to Alaska and was warned about getting bit by the "no see ums". I was told by a frequent visitor to take brewers yeast tablets to avoid the bites... it worked great till I missed a days dose and was lunch for those bugs.



Now, does anyone know just how/why taking brewers yeast has this effect?, and will this effect work with bees, wasps and others? I tend to have reaction to some bug bites, lots of swelling and such.



Mike

 

[illflem]

Mike, not sure how it works but brewers yeast in their diet will also keep fleas off your pets.

 

[C Schomer]

What is the real name for those shiny black, wasp type SOBs? They have the nastiest disposition of anything in the air - and FAST! One nailed me on my right forearm when I was about 8 and I can still see the crater where it got me. I'm fairly allergic to stings and my arm got got HUGE! Now I have those black demon Kamikazis nesting on my front porch every year and I revel in spraying them with Malathion. Craig

 

[JSmith]

Schomer

Get down to the local hardware store and buy 2 or 3 cans of flying insect spray. You can shoot this stuff from 10 ft. away. Always keep plenty on hand.

 

[RT66DOC]

WARNING: LONG

I've heard that from our vet about the brewer's yeast.



Anybody who's had a fairly significant reaction to a sting - wasp, bee, hornet, whatever (C Schomer are you listening?) - ought to carry an emergency kit whenever he's anywhere the critters might be. Just ask your friendly neighborhood HMO Provider (what used to be known as your doctor before some damn bunch of feelgood panty-wearing liberals thought up the "P" word - provider - most likely to further dumb down the medical profession) that you're allergic to bee stings and you'd appreciate a prescription for an "Epi-Pen" or "Anakit".



Significant reaction = redness, swelling, itching, pain. If it was a bee pull the stinger out with your fingernails; don't squash up the tissue with tweezers which you probably don't have anyway, you'll just spread the venom around. Shoot the epinephrine into your arm or leg first, then go after the stinger. While you're doing all this, don't forget to call 911. No joke, just do it.



Folks who develop allergic reactions to whatever tend to have increasingly more severe reaction with each succeeding exposure. What that means is that your next one might be your last one #@$%! unless you act fast.



Worst I've ever had to deal with: Wife brings husband to the ER (parking lot, btw - he was collapsed in the car) with a bee sting reaction. This guy was a 36 y/o vet who had a home office and knew he was allergic. So when he got stung he goes in and starts rooting around for some epinephrine (adrenaline) while his wife is telling him to forget it let's just go to the ER RIGHT NOW. (btw, ER was <10 min. from their house) He keeps hunting for the epi and winds up blowing 30-40 minutes in the process. Finally he gets very weak and queasy so the wife drags him into the back seat of the car and speeds over to the ER. So back to the top - She runs into the ER yelling for help, we run out to the lot with the crash cart, load him up with epi, steroid, benadryl, get the IV line in, get the monitor hooked up and bang---> he goes into V-tac :{ . So we shock him and he converts back, then he does another V-tac number - more shocks - CPR - converts - more V-tac, etc. , etc. , 18 shocks later - craps out - nada. Adios. So long. Goodbye. Somebody call the priest while I go - joy - talk to this guy's wife.



Absolutely one of the most frustrating ER experiences I ever encountered during the whole 15 years I did ER medicine (big city up north, busy, busy, 45k visits/yr, MVAs, GSWs, stabbings ,etc) The irony was that the poor guy had the background, training, experience to know better. The delay killed him. Had it all: nice wife, two young daughters (<10) who had to grow up w/out dad, And it didn't have to happen.

 

[illflem]

Craig, what you probably have are bald-faced hornets also called white faced hornets. These suckers are fast and most always go for your face.

 

[nickleinonen]

brake kleen is pretty good at killing bees, wasps, hornets too. they drop dead. windex works well. . wets them so they fall to the ground, then dye by breathing in the ammonia. .

 

[DieselDoghouse]

And if you run out of Baygon bug spray (seems the fastest for diptera (the stinging family), you can always use brake cleaner!! If they get through that, just light 'em on their way by!!

 

[DHatfield]

I alway seem to have those silly little paper wasps that like to build there nest convently near the front door, until one day one bugger stung me on the back of the neck (hurt like a son of a bee), now I kill any I see just flying around and there nest to avoid any stings. Once when I was young I got stung in the forhead in the middle of the night while sleeping as the wasp landed on my head and in fright I covered up my head the the bed sheet, but stupid me the wasp was under the sheet with me, ouch. Won't do that again. My oldest brother is very alergic to wasp and be stings. My dad once got attacked by a herd of them as he was cutting an old rotten log in our back yard little did he know there nest was inside, he got sting several times in the back chest and head.

 

[Rotty]

DieselDoghouse

you can always use brake cleaner!! If they get through that, just light 'em on their way by!!







That is almost what I always did! Have you heard of a flame thrower! Except I would light the brake cleaner when I started the spray it!:--)

I absolutly hate wasps! :{

 

[wcaldwell]

On yellow-jackets/hornets, WD40 (or it's Wal-Mart equivalent) works very well, too.



It makes their little wings slide through the air faster and faster and this causes their little, tiny heart just burst from the extra exertion.

 

[Rob Thomas]

Oh yea, I &$@%*#'n HATE wasps too. #@$%!



Nothin' like a big'ol can of brake cleaner! Half the price of wasp killer, no residue and it'll knock 'em outta the sky... ... ... DEAD!!



Later, Rob