Bee Sting

[Whiteman]

Bee Whispering

I was pleased to see that Nartreb is a bee whisperer. Like him, I will occasionally pet a honeybee or bumblebee, as long as they seem relatively preoccupied by a flower or are running really slow because it's cold. Little kids are very impressed, others are really impressed by my stupidity. I have not had a problem.

But those little ground wasps, GRRR I hate them. We just finished off a nest in our front yard. While this is hardly practical on the trail, I used a leaf sucker/shredder, which I placed near the hole, and let them all get chopped up into little pieces as they tried to come in or out. That and a little spray (sorry environment).

Lots of good wisdom here for trailside medicine. Thank you.

 

[Tony]

I was stung on Mt. Washington once. I didn't have a reaction, but since then I've carried Benadryll.

 

[WinterWarlock]

OK - I'm going to admit I'm a little odd, but when I was a kid I used to catch bees and let them sting me...

Don't know what the heck my parents were slipping me to try that, but now if I get stung I agree with Leaf, they don't bother me at all. They might itch for a couple minutes, then nothing.

Just the same, I always have an epi pen in my bag when hiking, since I don't know what my hiking partner's reactions may be.