BEE STINGS
This morning, when my cat came in from her daily prowl of the backyard, I noticed her right front paw was quite swollen and tender to the touch. This is not uncommon. This cat of mine has a habit of batting bees that dare to buzz her, and unfortunately, every once in awhile she does get stung. Fortunately, the swelling always disappears after a few days, with no lingering effects. Every time she gets stung, it reminds me of my one and only bee sting, when I was about ten years old. Somehow, a bee managed to fly up the leg of my jeans, and sting me right on the kneecap. The only symptom of the sting I can really remember was that it itched like mad! However, I count myself very lucky that I'm not severely allergic to bee stings like some people are.
Before delving into first aid for bee stings, let's first look at bees and wasps, as well as how and why they sting:
Bees and wasps belong to the order Hymenoptera, which includes all species of bees, wasps, and ants. There are many species of bees and wasps (over 120,000), but for our purposes, we're only interested in the species that sting. You can have a reaction (slight to severe) to a sting by either a bee or a wasp. The difference is in HOW they sting:
(Stingers on bees and wasps actually do serve a purpose other than defense. Only female bees and wasps have stingers, and the stinger helps the bee or wasp lay eggs.)
A bee capable of stinging has a barbed stinger on its back end. The barbs on a bee's stinger cause it to detach from the bee's body and embed itself in whatever the bee has just stung, such as my knee or my cat's paw. The barbs on a bee's stinger resemble those on the end of a fish hook-designed to keep the hook (or stinger) in place. The bee will die a short time after losing its stinger.
The stingers of both bees and wasps contain a tiny venom sac, which can release venom for up to a minute after the sting occurs.
Wasp stingers are smooth, without barbs. This means that wasps can sting over and over, without losing their stingers. The best means of avoiding multiple stings from a wasp is to brush the wasp off your skin (with something other than your hand, if possible) and quickly vacate the area!
Latest Articles