Wasps!

[daddyo]

I was mowing the front yard yesterday afternoon when I apparently got too close to a wasp's nest that I didn't know was there. I don't know if it was one or several, but I got stung several times on my legs. Had to pull the stinger out after one of them had lost it. Man, those things hurt! At first I didn't know what was going on, but it didn't take long to figure it out.

 

I'm not allergic, but the pain was enough to keep me up most of the night, so I'm staying home today to take it easy. The pain has subsided somewhat, but I never knew those little buggers could put the hurt on you like that.

 

Guess I'm going to have to work on my situational awareness.  :huh:

[Spiffy]

Dad plowed up a yellow jackets nest one year. We actually watched him bail off the tractor and got the heck outta dodge. We didn't know what was going on.

[Wiljo05]

Dad plowed up a yellow jackets nest one year. We actually watched him bail off the tractor and got the heck outta dodge. We didn't know what was going on.

Like Ricky' Bobby in Talledega Nights?

[jhc77]

I got hit with a wasp about a month ago. Flew up my shirt in the struggle.  It's a different feeling for sure.

[gun sane]

I was out barefoot in the backyard just after a good rain.  I rounded a corner where the gutter drainpipe was and stepped on one of those red devils that the water had washed from his nest.  Dang, I wish I hadn't done that.  A baking soda poultice brought the swelling down and I was pain and itch free in a couple of days.

Edited July 24, 2013 by gun sane

[johnboy]

Had one go down the back of my shirt at 60 mph on the bike last year.It nailed me several times before my wife smashed it.Ruined my ride for the day.

[10-Ring]

It's not the initial sting that bothers me it's the days of itching that follow.

[Troutburger]

Make a paste from meat tenderizer and water. Or just plain ole tobacco spit.

[peejman]

Make a paste from meat tenderizer and water. Or just plain ole tobacco spit.

 

Don't have experience with tobacco spit (ew!), but meat tenderizer and water works quite well for dealing with the itch. 

 

I ran over a yellow jacket nest with the mower earlier this year.  I got hit 3 times before I figured out what was going on.  Hate those little bastards.

Edited July 24, 2013 by peejman

[UncleJak]

Witch hazel works pretty well for me

sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

[Beretta Bob]

Many people are deathly allergic to them; taking Benedril after a sting could save their life. Be aware though, Benedril makes a lot of people VERY sleepy.

[whitewolf001]

Don't have experience with tobacco spit (ew!), but meat tenderizer and water works quite well for dealing with the itch. 

 

I ran over a yellow jacket nest with the mower earlier this year.  I got hit 3 times before I figured out what was going on.  Hate those little bastards.

 

Lol, chewing tobacco in its raw form works. Got stung at a cookout as a kid and a family friend there had a pack of chew with him. He pulled out the pack and took a little pinch then put it on a napkin, numbed the pain in minutes and didn't itch at all the next few days.

[subsonic]

I got tagged on the leg by one of those large orange hornets a couple of years ago .,Two weeks later I was going through the security scanner at the airport and the machine got a hit on it. The area was still red but no swelling, but there was enough of a skin temperature difference that the machine picked it up..

[JGunner]

I was walking under the deck a couple years ago and one dive bombed me and stung me at the base of the skull on the back of my neck.  That was that little guy's last action in this world, I promise you that ... but man did it sting (pun intended!!!).

 

This year I killed a wasp and tore down his nest under the deck (I used a shovel ... was the 'best' tool I had handy at the moment).  

[whitewolf001]

I was walking under the deck a couple years ago and one dive bombed me and stung me at the base of the skull on the back of my neck.  That was that little guy's last action in this world, I promise you that ... but man did it sting (pun intended!!!).

 

This year I killed a wasp and tore down his nest under the deck (I used a shovel ... was the 'best' tool I had handy at the moment).  

 

Cojones, you has them.

[tartanphantom]

Dad plowed up a yellow jackets nest one year. We actually watched him bail off the tractor and got the heck outta dodge. We didn't know what was going on.

 

been there done that. There's nothing quite like the feeling of inadvertently running a bush-hog over a yellowjacket nest, getting stung, then throwing the tractor in neutral and jumping off...running like hell--- all the while the tractor gets smaller and smaller in your rear view, as the inertia from the PTO takes the tractor another 10-15 yds on its own.

 

And yes, the wet chewing tobacco thing really works.

Edited July 24, 2013 by tartanphantom

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I was cutting a large shrub down at my mother's house, years ago, and noticed a hornet's nest in the middle of the shrub.

I looked around the house for anything that would kill the damned things and found a can of spray undercoat. I watched

the nest for a few minutes, gaining courage for what I was about to do, then sprayed the heck out of the bottom of the nest.

I then promptly started running. The next day the shrub got cut down.

 

I've had to run from those little P-51's too many times as a kid. Never been stung by a hornet, but the venerable wasp has

gotten me enough times to know to stay away from them, also. The other guys have the right ideas about reducing the

swelling, and the Benadryl does help. A hornet got into my house, once, and I cornered him in a coffee can and through him

in the freezer. Probably still in there!

[gun sane]

I'm not a connoisseur of insect stings, but I'd rather be hit by a hornet than one of those red, black-winged wasps.   They do some serious hurtin'.  We had some hornets burrow a hole by the house foundation last year.  One of them got me as I was taking out the trash.  It was a faint little sting and I didn't really notice it until later.  Turns out there were about 20+ down in that nest hole.  But I'm especially on the lookout for red wasp scouts looking for a good place to hang a nest under the eaves or elsewhere.  I welcome them as I would a bloodthirsty home invader.

[mikegideon]

I do battle with wasps quite bit. We keep regular hornet killer at all of our transmitter sites. When I find a nest, it's genocide. When you think about it, a meat eating bug just ain't right. They're evil. I almost never get stung because of situational awareness. Been at war with them for years.

[Spots]

I get hit at least 3 - 4 times a year. Always keep a pouch of redman in the truck for just that reason. Ive hit yellow jackets bushhogging and it sucks. Also hit a yellow jackets nest once plowing with a horse.... That sucked... anymore I just tear them down and crush them with my hands most of the time. Watched my dad do it for years and after working manual labor I have so many calluses it doesnt matter anymore lol.

Tapatalk ate my spelling.

[mikegideon]

I was on a horse once when he stepped on a yellow jacket nest. They only got me once, but the horse wasn't so lucky. Took me a minute to get him stopped.

[Fivestring63]

  I had a big nest on a utility poll out of reach once. I took some BB's, sprayed them with bee killer and shot about 100 BB's in the nest.

Yes, it worked. About 2 days later they were gone.

[gjohnsoniv]

Every year we have to go and find the nests where I work and spray them.  Easily the worst day of work having to climb in and over things in very tight quarters to spray some of the nests.

[peejman]

I'm not allergic to bees, I'm mildly to hornets and yellow jackets, but I'm quite allergic to red wasps.  

 

Went to a cabin in the mountains with my girlfriend's family many years ago.  Got stung by wasps 3 times on my right ankle and foot within 5 minutes of arriving at the cabin.  From a couple inches above my ankle down to my toes swelled up big time.  I spent the whole weekend with my foot propped up wishing I could just cut it off so it would stop itching.  That was miserable.