Hornet Sting Treatment

[pyroman53]

OK, so the hornets are out in force this time of year. No biggee if only a few stings. I'm not allergic. How about more than that? What's the first aid? Benadryl? (I'll be carrying Zyrtec for allergies) I would like at least a fighting chance that I wouldn't have to go to the ER - that would suck.

[modiyooch]

Benadryl will make you sleepy. It was hard for me to walk after taking. I now carry Alavert.

[cowboy nichols]

I carry a small bottle of bleach which I use immediately on any insect bite.Just a drop is all. I've used this for years as my kids were always getting bit. It also works well when you step on a nail or even when you stick a pitchfork in your foot. (one of my more stupid actions)

[Bob S]

I carry a small bottle of bleach which I use immediately on any insect bite.Just a drop is all. I've used this for years as my kids were always getting bit. It also works well when you step on a nail or even when you stick a pitchfork in your foot. (one of my more stupid actions)


What does the bleach do? Take away the pain, clean the wound?

[Footslogger]

What does the bleach do? Take away the pain, clean the wound?
========================

it aids in neutralizing the toxin from the stinger.

'Slogger

[mtnkngxt]

For those of us that are allergic ME ME ME. I carry 2 epipens on the trail. As far as immediate relief I find that the bleach method works quite well yet have not found a way to carry it on the trail securely.

[workboot]

Best thing for bee/wasp/hornet stings is to take smoking tobacco , from a cigarette or rolling tobacco pouch and place good amount in your mouth and chew it slightly till is gets good and slobbery .Place the spit soaked slobbery mass of tobacco over the offending sting and hold it there for about 20-30 minutes. I know it sounds odd but it works.

workboot

[oldfivetango]

What about using household ammonia on the sting?
Some of us rednecks chew up a cigarette and paste it
on the sting which works pretty good from my experience but
of course I have never been bit by a hornet.(got bit by the
love bug a long time ago and used a diamond for that rememdy-it worked)

I hear the first thing you do after a hornet sting is to get
back upright as they can knock a full grown man to the ground.
I wonder if that's a wives tale though.:rolleyes:
Oldfivetango

[adventurousmtnlvr]

OK, so the hornets are out in force this time of year. No biggee if only a few stings. I'm not allergic. How about more than that? What's the first aid? Benadryl? (I'll be carrying Zyrtec for allergies) I would like at least a fighting chance that I wouldn't have to go to the ER - that would suck.

Wasp and Hornet stings are actually venomous ... applying baking soda can help but take the stinger out immediately; apply ice or if hiking cold water will work and make paste out of baking soda

for hornet stings (http://harshrealities.info/nutrition/?p=1180)

[cowboy nichols]

========================

it aids in neutralizing the toxin from the stinger.

'Slogger
Thanks Slogger, I never knew exactly why it worked but it always did, One of my sons was alergic o bees which we never knew 'til he left home and thought mom remedy was old fashion.

[Appalachian Tater]

Some of us rednecks chew up a cigarette and paste it
on the sting which works pretty good from my experience but
of course I have never been bit by a hornet.

Chewing a cigarette is a bad idea as nicotine is a potent poison when orally ingested. Putting saliva on an open wound is not a good idea, either, as it can lead to infection.

Here is appropriate advice for hornet stings that has is based on effectiveness (science/reality) and is unlikely to cause harm:

First Aid
For emergencies (severe reactions):


Check the person's airway and breathing. If necessary, call 911 and begin rescue breathing and CPR (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000010.htm).
Reassure the person. Try to keep him or her calm.
Remove nearby rings and constricting items because the affected area may swell.
Use the person's Epi-pen or other emergency kit, if they have one. (Some people who have serious insect reactions carry it with them.)
If appropriate, treat the person for signs of shock (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000039.htm). Remain with the person until medical help arrives.

General steps for most bites and stings:


Remove the stinger if still present by scraping the back of a credit card or other straight-edged object across the stinger. Do not use tweezers -- these may squeeze the venom sac and increase the amount of venom released.
Wash the site thoroughly with soap and water.
Place ice (wrapped in a washcloth) on the site of the sting for 10 minutes and then off for 10 minutes. Repeat this process.
If necessary, take an antihistamine or apply creams that reduce itching.
Over the next several days, watch for signs of infection (such as increasing redness, swelling, or pain).

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000033.htm

[berninbush]

Baking soda works well on fire ant bites, I can say from experience.

I got a couple of wasp stings a while back and a paramedic friend recommended good old Ibuprofen. It reduces swelling and pain. I think that did more for me than some of the other odd remedies I tried, including some herbal stuff a friend gave me to rub on that just made my hand greasy and funny-smelling.

[workboot]

Chewing a cigarette is a bad idea as nicotine is a potent poison when orally ingested. Putting saliva on an open wound is not a good idea, either, as it can lead to infection.

Here is appropriate advice for hornet stings that has is based on effectiveness (science/reality) and is unlikely to cause harm:

First Aid
For emergencies (severe reactions):


Check the person's airway and breathing. If necessary, call 911 and begin rescue breathing and CPR (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000010.htm).
Reassure the person. Try to keep him or her calm.
Remove nearby rings and constricting items because the affected area may swell.
Use the person's Epi-pen or other emergency kit, if they have one. (Some people who have serious insect reactions carry it with them.)
If appropriate, treat the person for signs of shock (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000039.htm). Remain with the person until medical help arrives.
General steps for most bites and stings:


Remove the stinger if still present by scraping the back of a credit card or other straight-edged object across the stinger. Do not use tweezers -- these may squeeze the venom sac and increase the amount of venom released.
Wash the site thoroughly with soap and water.
Place ice (wrapped in a washcloth) on the site of the sting for 10 minutes and then off for 10 minutes. Repeat this process.
If necessary, take an antihistamine or apply creams that reduce itching.
Over the next several days, watch for signs of infection (such as increasing redness, swelling, or pain).
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000033.htm


Newsflash a insect sting isnt an "open wound" unless you consider a puncture hole the size of a small hypodermic needle an "open wound" . Nor does the tobacco method I mentioned actually call for orally ingesting tobacco. If it was such a potent poison then tobacco chewers would be falling dead in droves from tobacco juice ingestation. The tobacco method works...........you dont have to use it if you dont like/want to.....but it does work..........

[Blissful]

I will never do the baking soda paste again. My son had two infected bee sites from using it (I thought that was best but it wasn't) requiring oral antibiotic treatment. Instant removal of the sitnger and using ice and antiseptic solution on the wound is the best. And Tylenol for pain - it can really hurt.

[Odd Thomas]

Thanks Slogger, I never knew exactly why it worked but it always did, One of my sons was alergic o bees which we never knew 'til he left home and thought mom remedy was old fashion.

Bees are different, wasp stings are acidic, bee stings are basic. bleach will only neutralize acidic stings.

[budforester]

Do hornets leave a stinger? Several referred to removing the stinger and I 'm familiar with that in honeybees. I have not had a stinger left in me by wasps, bumblebees, or yellow jackets, but maybe their "needles" could break off. So far, I have been spared an introduction to hornet stings.

[Two Speed]

Can't answer that one, so I'll add another source of confusion. Recently I've been around folks that called yellow jackets "ground hornets." To the best of my knowledge the insect that's doing most of the stinging around the southeast is yellow jackets. According to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_jacket) yellow jackets are wasps, and not hornets.

Not that I really cared about technical differences when I was beating feet to get away from a nest.

[MOWGLI]

Can't answer that one, so I'll add another source of confusion. Recently I've been around folks that called yellow jackets "ground hornets." To the best of my knowledge the insect that's doing most of the stinging around the southeast is yellow jackets. According to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_jacket) yellow jackets are wasps, and not hornets.

Not that I really cared about technical differences when I was beating feet to get away from a nest.

The paper nest we saw lying on the ground along the Bald River Trail was a hornet nest. Yellow Jackets are ground nesters. This seems to be a particularly bad year for them.

[Two Speed]

I know that, but Tipi kept referring to the yellow jackets that got after us as ground hornets.

Seems like the last two, maybe three years have been unusually bad for yellow jackets. Never got hit by yellow jackets before that, don't seem to be able to go hiking in the late summer without running into them somewhere.

[Heater]

I guess it it where you are located. We have mostly Yellowjackets. Not too many Hornets. The Yellowjackets here nest mostly under the eaves of buildings or the to window trim just up out of reach. Trees and buses too.

And to the other poster, yes they do leave the stinger in. I have used the baking soda method to remove stingers. Never done any of the other stuff. I gues I am not real allergic to them.

[berninbush]

I will never do the baking soda paste again. My son had two infected bee sites from using it (I thought that was best but it wasn't) requiring oral antibiotic treatment. Instant removal of the sitnger and using ice and antiseptic solution on the wound is the best. And Tylenol for pain - it can really hurt.

As the last several posts have pointed out, there are differences between various species of stinging bugs... bees, wasps, hornets, and fire ants. Baking soda does work beautifully on fire ant bites, but had no discernible effect on wasp stings for me.

I also know it's true that bees leave a stinger in the wound (and die shortly after they sting you) while wasps don't. Thus, treatment for bee sting involves removing the stinger, while wasps are different. I guess the bottom line is to try to identify what got you and find the appropriate treatment accordingly.

[Two Speed]

. . . We have mostly Yellowjackets. Not too many Hornets. . . Same around here, much more likely to run into yellow jackets than hornets. Not that I'm complaining. Based on my limited experience with hornets I believe they pack more of a wallop than yellow jackets.

[leeki pole]

As Peyton Manning said, "just rub some dirt on it."
Chewing tobacco is good too. Rednecks rule.

[weary]

Best thing for bee/wasp/hornet stings is to take smoking tobacco , from a cigarette or rolling tobacco pouch and place good amount in your mouth and chew it slightly till is gets good and slobbery .Place the spit soaked slobbery mass of tobacco over the offending sting and hold it there for about 20-30 minutes. I know it sounds odd but it works.

workboot
My technique is to just wait 20-30 minutes and the sting pretty much goes away.

Weary

[adventurousmtnlvr]

NOT going to multi-quote this one but as I list on my previous post (see site) the stingers are NOT the same on various types (I'm allergic so "I" do pay attention to these things). For someone saying baking soda didn't work on bees, I'll agree ... it's for hornets and wasps. You do NOT take the stingers out the SAME either as some have barbs on them (see below on how). I agree with the person who says yellow jackets live in the ground (killed over 1000 in my yard just 2 weeks ago). Wasp normal make nests unless it's a Cow Killer. And some types of bees die after a sting, others do not. For ME from experience the tobacco thing did not work, for another person baking soda didn't ... I end up in the hospital frankly on steroids, injections, benedryl etc. so frankly everyone is different so different things will work. I believe that most were trying to be helpful and frankly I'm thrilled to hear the bleach thing if for nothing else to kill the potential infection (that was new for me) ... thanks :)

From the site I provided earlier:

Wasps and bees sting to defend themselves or their colony. Stinging involves the injection of a protein venom that causes pain and other reactions.
Wasps and bumble bees can sting more than once because they are able to pull out their stinger without injury to themselves. If you are stung by a wasp or bumble bee, the stinger is not left in your skin.
Honey bees have barbs on their stinger which remain hooked in the skin. The stinger, which is connected to the digestive system of the bee, is torn out of the abdomen as the bee attempts to fly away. As a result, the bee soon dies. If you are stung by a honey bee, scratch out the stinger (with its attached venom gland) with your fingernail as soon as possible. Do not try to pull out the stinger between two fingers. Doing so only forces more venom into your skin, causing greater irritation.

[JERMM]

Same around here, much more likely to run into yellow jackets than hornets. Not that I'm complaining. Based on my limited experience with hornets I believe they pack more of a wallop than yellow jackets.

well yeah, you just live up the road from Georgia Tech, Yellow Jackets are everywhere. :D

The degree of "wallop" from a hornet sting is much worser than a yellow jacket :eek: I received seven stings last Aug from hornets, hurt like %#!&%#!&%#!&%#!&%#!&%#! I don't have a remedy for pain, but was given something for it in the ER, I'm allergic and require medical attention anyway they gave me two dosed by IV for pain.

I suggest you contact your doctor or pharmacist for a remedy to use in the field to relieve the pain.

Be careful with bleach it can cause a chemical burn.

[NICKTHEGREEK]

[quote=Appalachian Tater;687426]Chewing a cigarette is a bad idea as nicotine is a potent poison when orally ingested.

That's why so many folks use Mail Pouch tobacco to commit immediate suicide.
Come on, starting out with something like that statement doesn't lend much cred to the rest of your post. It's true nicotine is a poison but your wording is very misleading.

[MOWGLI]

My technique is to just wait 20-30 minutes and the sting pretty much goes away.

Weary

Last year, I got stung by a yellow jacket, and had the most hellacious itching I've ever experienced for about 3-4 days afterwards. It was CRAZY!

PS: I'll add that I get popped every year a number of times - since I do a lot of trail work. That itching episode seemed to be a one time thing.

[NICKTHEGREEK]

Newsflash a insect sting isnt an "open wound" unless you consider a puncture hole the size of a small hypodermic needle an "open wound" . Nor does the tobacco method I mentioned actually call for orally ingesting tobacco. If it was such a potent poison then tobacco chewers would be falling dead in droves from tobacco juice ingestation. The tobacco method works...........you dont have to use it if you dont like/want to.....but it does work..........


[quote=Appalachian Tater;687426]Chewing a cigarette is a bad idea as nicotine is a potent poison when orally ingested.

That's why so many folks use Mail Pouch tobacco to commit immediate suicide.
Come on, starting out with something like that statement doesn't lend much cred to the rest of your post. It's true nicotine is a poison but your wording is very misleading.
Didn't see workboot's post, amend mine to Yeah, what he said.

[leeki pole]

Same around here, much more likely to run into yellow jackets than hornets. Not that I'm complaining. Based on my limited experience with hornets I believe they pack more of a wallop than yellow jackets.
Them dern red wasps pack a heck of a wallop. One got me on the nose while I was fixing a gutter on the house. I looked like Jimmy Durante for a day or so. So I went down to the dollar store and bought two cans of that long range wasp and hornet spray. Lined 27 of those suckers up. Mess with me, I get payback. Ha!:)

[Nearly Normal]

Paper wasp nest is roundish, flat and open. The wasp are seen on the nest surface. The wasp are brown and black. I've seen nest as big as a pie pan. Not to be fooled with.

Guinny wasp are a small version of the same type of wasp. Yellowish or grayish in color. Same type nest.

Yellow Jackets live in the ground, when disturbed they are very aggressive and will follow or chase you. Yellow, bee sized.
They love open drinks and food, especially meat. They will both sting and bite.
Always check your drink at a picnic, I've seen people stung in the mouth and it's not pretty. In warm weather you can't dress fish or a deer for the durn things.

Hornets live inside a paper oblong sphere. They enter and exit at a hole in the bottom. I've seen nest as big as a 5 gallon bucket, usually hanging in a tree. They are very aggressive if messed with. In early winter you can shoot or cut down the nest for a keep sake. They overwinter somehow in the ground.

All of these wasp make and reproduce on or in a paper nest. All can sting repeatedly.

I have been stung by all except hornets.
I did see a 10 year old boy stung by a hornet on the eye lid and he did fall as if shot.

I have never had an allergic reaction but being stung does cause me to see red and makes me angry for a few minutes.

[atraildreamer]

For those of us that are allergic ME ME ME. I carry 2 epipens on the trail. As far as immediate relief I find that the bleach method works quite well yet have not found a way to carry it on the trail securely.

Take an empty nasal spray bottle. Pull off the top and remove the plastic tube inside the bottle. Clean and fill the bottle with bleach. You now have a secure, unbreakable dropper bottle that can be used to dispense the bleach a drop at a time for stings, water purification, etc. Be sure to label the bottle so you don't try to squirt it up your nose! :eek:

You could also use an empty eyedrop bottle (smaller and lighter), but rest assured, some idiot will try to use it in their eyes!:eek:

[weary]

A couple of weeks ago I was cutting down some invasive multifloral roses, when I got too close to a "paper" wasp nest. I got about six stings on my legs and arms. It hurt for a few minutes.

I bought a couple of cans of wasp spray and zapped them a few evenings later about dusk. Dusk is important. You want them all to be in the nest, not outside defending the nest.

One can probably would have been enough, but I wanted to be sure I killed them all. The spray tore the nest totally apart. I sort of expected to be stung again as I attacked the nest, but the spray killed them all before they could defend themselves.

It was a small nest, about 6 by 8 inches. I'm not sure what my strategy would have been had the nest been the size of a 10-quart pail or larger, which I see occasionally.

Weary

[Two Speed]

. . . I'm not sure what my strategy would have been had the nest been the size of a 10-quart pail or larger . . . I'm thinking "wait for colder weather."

[SurferNerd]

Funny this topic is here, I got stung by one walking out my front door to work this morning. On my left forearm, dam I hate them things.

[Hoop]

Last year, I got stung by a yellow jacket, and had the most hellacious itching I've ever experienced for about 3-4 days afterwards. It was CRAZY!

PS: I'll add that I get popped every year a number of times - since I do a lot of trail work. That itching episode seemed to be a one time thing.


If that was the last time you were stung and the reaction was unusual, then you could have developed a sensitivity to yellow jackets. It's what happened to me, and the doc in the ER said it can and does happen that way. I had no idea I was allergic until it happened. One year you can handle a sting then the next year you're carrying an Epipen.

[NICKTHEGREEK]

The Navy didn't name two pre-WW-2 Aircraft carriers Wasp and Hornet because they made tasty honey. These are 2 bees that you learn to leave alone one way or the other.

[Wags]

yellow jackets do not leave their stingers in, which is why a single one of them can give you multiple stings. bees are the ones who leave in their stingers. wasps/hornets/yellow jackets don't

i too use the baking soda paste

[weary]

If rewarded with sugary water, wasps can be trained in minutes to follow specific smells. The olfactory sensors in their antennae can sense chemicals in the air in concentrations as tiny as a few parts per billion. Wasps could be cost-effective helpers in searching for explosives, toxic chemicals, and even fungi on crops.

Weary


"ATHENS, Ga. -- Wasps are not man's best friend -- probably their worst. But when it comes to sniffing out trouble, scientists believe they may be better than dogs.

They ward off intruders, track down criminals, find bombs and detect toxic chemicals, but dogs could soon be replaced by wasps. They have the same sensitive odor detection as dogs and are now being trained to sniff out trouble.

"The advantages of a wasp over a dog is you can produce them by the thousands. They are real inexpensive, and you can train them in a matter of minutes," Joe Lewis, a research entomologist at University of Georgia in Athens, tells DBIS.

He and Biological and agricultural engineer Glen Rains are doing just that. Olfactory sensors on the wasps' antennae can smell chemicals in concentrations as tiny as a few parts per billion in the air.

"So far, they've been able to detect, to some level, any chemical that we've trained them to," Rains tells DBIS.

Training is simple and quick. The wasps are fed sugar water. At the same time they're introduced to a smell for 10 seconds. The process is repeated two more times.

Lewis says, "We can train a wasp within a matter of 10 to 15 minutes."

For example, a set of wasps is trained to detect the smell of coffee. When they are put into a simple container, a tiny web camera watches their actions. When the smell of orange is pumped into the pipe, nothing. But when it's coffee, the wasps crowd around the smell.

So far, Rains and Lewis have not found anything the wasps cannot be trained to detect. They can be trained to detect everything from drugs to human remains to fungi on crops. They could one day even be able to detect deadly diseases like cancer.

BACKGROUND: Scientists from the University of Georgia and the USDA Agricultural Research Service are training wasps to detect the telltale odors of concealed explosives, drugs and human remains, and possibly one day certain diseases like cancer. They are now investigating whether it is possible to train mosquitoes as living odor detectors as well, and plan to eventually study other insects with excellent sniffing ability, like honeybees and moths.

HOW IT WORKS: The Georgia scientists have built a device they call the Wasp Hound: an odor-detection device that costs around $60. It is made of a small PVC tube containing five wasps that can be trained to detect any target odor within minutes. The device has a fan at the top, which draws odors into the tube through a filter. If the wasps catch a whiff of whatever they've been trained to smell, they crowd around a hole in the filter. A web cam inside the tube is attached to a computer, which alerts the operator to the wasps' reaction with a beep or a flashing light. The Wasp Hound could be used by farmers to monitor crops for diseases and pests; to check for explosives in airport security applications; to help doctors monitor diseases, or even by defense forces searching for buried land mines.

ADVANTAGES: Unlike dogs and the electronic sensors more commonly used today, wasps are cheap and disposable. It costs pennies and takes minutes to train them: Feed them sugar water while introducing them to a target smell for 10 seconds; give them a 30-second break, repeat the process twice more, and they are completely trained to track that single scent.

ABOUT WASPS: Wasps have olfactory sensors on their antennae that they use to stay alive. For instance, one strain of wasp lays its eggs inside a specific variety of caterpillar. The insects are attracted to the caterpillars by chemicals released by plans as the caterpillars much on them -- a type of SOS signal from the plants. This is also how wasps attract mates. Wasps can sense chemicals in concentrations as tiny as a few parts per billion in the air ý the same range to which dogs and chemical sensors are sensitive. Some species can pick up scents at concentrations as low as one part in a thousand billion, which is a hundred thousand times weaker that the concentrations detectable by commercial "electronic noses.""

[pyroman53]

Thanks for all the responses. Great discussion. I think I'm worried about the darn ground dwellers, the Yellowjackets. I've been hit 2-3 times at the same time before and was cussin out the wrong critter.

So...other than some real pain and maybe some serious itching, as long as I am not allergic, if I get stung by Yellowjackets 8-10 times I should be OK?

[Surplusman]

I've been stung a lot of times, but the sting of a bald-faced hornet was the worst. I guess I was lucky that the baking soda routine worked for me.

If you see a hornet nest where no one is going to hit it or fool with it, leave it alone. Bald-faced hornets love to kill flies, and the more they kill them the better I like it.

If you do cut one down as a decoration for the winter, I would suggest putting it in a
trash bag, spraying some bug bomb it it, and let it set for a while. Just to make sure. A friend of mine brought a hornet's nest into his living room from the cold and a little while later his house was full of p.o.'d hornets.

[Blue Jay]

These suggestions are good, however if you have none of them, chew a leaf of plantain and place it on the sting. Plantain is a very common broad leaf weed that grows in disturbed (shelter/trail) areas. I just looked on line to see if there are pictures and they're all over the place because people use it for cooking. It takes the sting right out. I got blasted by the ground ones once and was very glad I knew this trick.

[Deadeye]

Unfreakinbeleivable. In 3 pages of posts, not one suggestion to ask your doctor and/or get tested for allergic reaction?!

[Blue Jay]

Unfreakinbeleivable. In 3 pages of posts, not one suggestion to ask your doctor and/or get tested for allergic reaction?!
Unless your throat starts to tighten there is no need for a doctor and if it does you can be sure you'll be heading that way.

[Deadeye]

Unless your throat starts to tighten there is no need for a doctor and if it does you can be sure you'll be heading that way.

My point is to find out before you go out or you may need a coroner. If you're at all concerned about your reaction, get tested. I'm allergic - I carry epipens and benadryl, and hope for the best, but I still go out.

[Blissful]

Unless your throat starts to tighten there is no need for a doctor and if it does you can be sure you'll be heading that way.


You don't have much time if that happens. It happened to my son. The first sign we had is that he said his ears itched. Hives broke out, then he began swelling like a balloon. All in less than 30 minutes. We carry an epi pen now.

[Blue Jay]

My point is to find out before you go out or you may need a coroner.

You could have said that.

[Deadeye]

You could have said that.

True enough, and no offense was or is intended, but I'm always amazed when folks ask hikers questions that are best left to doctors. I mean tobacco juice and bleach??? Really? Once your throat starts to close up, you ain't gonna get from the trail to the ER, so you better be able to take care of it yourself. Home remedies might ease the sting, but they won't save your life.

[Tinker]

OK, so the hornets are out in force this time of year. No biggee if only a few stings. I'm not allergic. How about more than that? What's the first aid? Benadryl? (I'll be carrying Zyrtec for allergies) I would like at least a fighting chance that I wouldn't have to go to the ER - that would suck.
If I know it's a hornet, I try to squeeze the stung area while I try to suck out whatever venom I can (probably only good for the first few seconds). Then I apply baking soda (or plain salt, or beef jerky, or ANYTHING SALTY) - salt causes moisture to flow toward it - in other words, stinger venom out of the wound.
Then I stick my thigh with an Epipen :eek:, hope I survive the adrenaline rush, rest, drink plenty of liquids and hike on. If I swell up too much, I hitch or hike out at the next road.:(
If I know it's a bee (honey or bumble), I try to scratch the venom sac off of the end of the stinger, then treat as above.

[Tinker]

I've been stung a lot of times, but the sting of a bald-faced hornet was the worst. I guess I was lucky that the baking soda routine worked for me.

If you see a hornet nest where no one is going to hit it or fool with it, leave it alone. Bald-faced hornets love to kill flies, and the more they kill them the better I like it.

If you do cut one down as a decoration for the winter, I would suggest putting it in a
trash bag, spraying some bug bomb it it, and let it set for a while. Just to make sure. A friend of mine brought a hornet's nest into his living room from the cold and a little while later his house was full of p.o.'d hornets.

Bald faced hornets (white-faced hornets) are probably the worst when it comes to territorial defensiveness. They seem to think that their territory covers a quarter mile around their hives. If they can see you from the hive, they will come and check you out. If you don't leave, they'll sting you just because they can. Best to leave those basketball sized paper nests (they can be much smaller, too) alone.

Wasp nests for a decoration.......:rolleyes:.

[Chaplain]

My biggest problem when I am stung is panicking. I start to run or something like that. I hope I am never on a ledge or something on the At when I am stung.

[Ox97GaMe]

I have used the tabacco treatment for years, never had any side affects from it, that I am aware of, I think. Or maybe that IS my problem. I can blame the whole 'wanting to long distance hike' on the fact that my mother and grandmother always put tabacca chaw on my bee/wasp/hornet stings.

And if you happen to actually HAVE tobacco on you when you are hiking, it is likely because you chew or smoke anyway. The nicotine you will be exposed to for the brief 10 seconds it is in your mouth will pale in comparison to any damage that might have already been done from the constant use of the product.

On the trail, you are very likely to find hikers in your close proximity that are smokers or chewers. If you are worried about getting stung or have a history of regularly being stung, it definietly wouldnt hurt to have a cigarette or two added to your first aid kit.

[Surplusman]

Bald faced hornets (white-faced hornets) are probably the worst when it comes to territorial defensiveness. They seem to think that their territory covers a quarter mile around their hives. If they can see you from the hive, they will come and check you out. If you don't leave, they'll sting you just because they can. Best to leave those basketball sized paper nests (they can be much smaller, too) alone.

Wasp nests for a decoration.......:rolleyes:.

Well put. We had a basketball sized nest in a bush in front of our house. We really had no problem with it as long as everybody stayed away from it. The biggest problem, though, was keeping our two fascinated 13-year old boys away from it.

As for decorating with a hornet's nest: I could thing of a lot better things to decorate my house with than one of those. But some people do...even spray paint 'em gold for a festive touch.

[Feral Bill]

You could have said that.

He did. In plain English.