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Anyone have any suggestions?
Nick
Golden rule: Never swipe at a wasp, thats why they attack you becuase you disturb there balance, and it drives them into attack mode - as in you want to affect my journey, well mate your going to remember me!
not to say that you took a swipe Nick, actually i have a natural remedies book downstairs, i'll have a look and see, if it suggests anything from the kitchen.
Damn! - I remember that as a kid....
>swipe
No, complete accident: it was between my arm and my chest and before I could stop myself I'd brushed my arm against my side to get rid of whatever was tickling me and got stuck... oh well, could have been worse ... ;)
Cheers caine!
Nick
That has got to hurt, Nick - right near lots of lymph glands :( I hope the remedies work.
Golden rule: Never swipe at a wasp, thats why they attack you becuase you disturb there balance
Golden rule 2: Slightly off-topic but remember reading this once - never kill a wasp. Attacking one wasp is considered an attack on the nest. They can detect the scent and others will then start to come over and find out what's going on.....
Let us know what the best of the above remedies is Nick. Always useful this time of year!
TJ
[edited by: trillianjedi at 2:15 pm (utc) on Aug. 3, 2003]
The vinegar works for jelly fush, so It should help with the poison.... suckign on it when it'S fresh can also remove some poison.
SN
Where I live we have yellow jacket problems. They are quick and swarm fast. They make their nest in the ground. The problem is cutting your grass. They come out in force to protect the nest and you don't get one sting, but 10 to 20. At least me or one of my neighbors has an attack every year.
On a related topic, anyone know what this might be:
HUGE - like as long as from the middle joint of my little finger to the tip
WASPLIKE - black and yellow back end with a HUGE stinger
YELLOW LEGS - Bright yellow, as well as antanae.
I tried checking out a few entomology sites but couldn't work it out. Ivana is fairly convinced that they also come in an electric blue variety though I find that difficult to swallow....
Found this thing last week, despite the grusesome decription I have to tell you that it was really, really beautifull and very docile and gentle. Weird...
Nick
Its the active ingredient in afterbite products and it *works*, I believe it neutralizes the poison injected by the wasp.
Relevant factoids:
Bees, wasps, and hornets (that's the big thing you asked about, Nick) all produce the same or a very similar venom, so they can all be treated the same way. The main differences are of mechanical nature.
Obviously, a hornet will produce more venom due to its size. Apart from that, both hornets and wasps have smooth stingers. That means you can simply pull them out again as fast as possible to reduce the damage, because you'll limit the amount of venom injected that way. On the downside, the same animal can sting several times.
In contrast, the stinger of a bee has hooks. For the bee, this means that it will die, because the tip of its tail gets ripped away from its body when you beat it off. For you it means more pain, because the stinger will stay in your skin until you carefully remove it, and the venom gland stays attached to the stinger. And unless you're very careful, your clumsy removal attempts will empty the full contents of that gland under your skin before you manage to get rid of it.
Ivana
Let me tell you that Nick_W is staring an affiliate program for this anti-bite thing that he is talking about :)
Nick, easy solution, put a can of Ice Cold lager between the chest and arm to reduce the swelling, whilst impressing Ivana with your strength...
shak ducks for cover
Shak
(Sorry the bugger got you Nick.)
..... Shane
