Rocket got one too

My dear sweet helper dog got a sting too!  This was actually earlier this summer.  I  felt pretty bad for her when I noticed she had a swollen eyebrow.  She's been a champ about it though!

The Stinging Saga

Ahhhhhh!  I got stung again today!

I was just out looking through the supers.  I wanted to get out the empties that I'd put in for the girls to clean up after the harvest.  It was late, and dark, but I went out anyway.  I started reorganizing, and was able to clear out a whole super's worth of empties, or at least frames without comb drawn out.  But the girls were not in a very good mood.

I could hear the guard bee swarming me, and they were crawling on my veil.  Actually, I had two inside the helmet.  So I ran off and was able to pull it off before I got stung.  I shook them out and put everything back on since I still had to put the hive back together.

I went back over and the bees were definitely mad.  I put the supers back on and could hear another bee very close.  It had gotten quite dark, so I could barely see her crawling on the front of my veil.  I tried to brush her away and then froze, realizing I might have a third bee inside my hood.  Sure enough, when she got to the white veil seam she walked OVER it . . . meaning she was inside.  I bolted, but struggled with the knot so I couldn't get it off.  I felt her bump my face just below my eye and then the sharp burn.

I knew it was going to be bad because it was centered in the soft tissue just below my lower eyelid.  Ahhhh!  Having already seen some beekeeper face stings, I knew it was bad bad news.  I raced in and pulled the stinger out in a matter of seconds.  Pinched and rinsed, washed my face and took some benadryl.

I was pissed.

I went outside and put the helmet on AGAIN.  I put the inner cover and top cover and the brick back on as fast as I could and put away all my gear.  I got an ice cube and laid on the couch.

My latest sting at about 30 minutes . . . still smiling

Still smiling 4 hours after a bee sting to the face

 By the time I went to bed, my eye was nearly swollen shut, and I was realizing I was having another bad reaction.  My breathing was fine, and it was hot, but not especially painful.  So I took two more benadryl and ibuprofen, and was quickly asleep.

Swelling 12 hours after being stung in the face by a bee

When I did finally wake up, the mirror confirmed for me that benadryl isn't strong enough for any of my allergies.  My eye was completely swollen shut.  The skin hurt from being stretched so tight, and it was hot.  Awesome.  It's not like you can call into work and say "I got a bug bite and won't be in today."  So I took a shower and a double dose of Zyrtec and went.

I was actually pretty amazed that people that aren't in my department don't really look at you in the face when you pass them in the hall, so no one . . . no one . . . said anything in passing.  However, the people who do look me in the eyes were all shocked.  I looked bad enough that people didn't give me a hard time, they were actually very compassionate and concerned for me.

I was grateful that I really didn't feel that bad . . . aside from having a fat head.  I took another double dose of Zyrtec (4x for the day) but it didn't really seem to help either.

24 hours after being stung in the face by a bee

This warped smile was 24 hours after the sting.  It was beginning to really itch as the swelling went down and I started to get some feeling back.

Bee sting at 36 hours

 The next morning I looked worse again.  I think being laid down was the biggest factor.  I decided to double up on Allegra to see if it would help.  It's the most effective for my grass allergies.  And more ibuprophen.

I don't mind the stings so much, and the swelling isn't even that bad.  It's that it takes 3 or 4 days for me to get back to normal.

Still swollen at 60 hours

4 days and still a bit swollen

 So I guess the moral of the story is to be sure you don't have any open folds in the back of your veil.  I'm pretty sure that's where they were coming in from.  I need to figure out how to tie it tighter or perhaps wear my coat over it.

That and it's probably time for me to get an epipen.  This definitely isn't anaphylactic shock, but I do react much worse than most people.  I can see how multiple stings or a freak sting inside the mouth or throat could put me in really dire shape.  Better safe than sorry.