Thread: Advice, free.

There is something about some professions that makes one instantly vulnerable. I was out visiting people yesterday and was asked three times for advice, twice about sickly plants. I cannot imagine someone saying “You used to work in the clinic, would you mind coming out the back and looking at ...”

But it isn’t even phrased as a request usually; there is an assumption on their part that I shall be interested. The third was about bees, I used to keep bees before varroa. He told me that he had moved a cardboard box from under the bench in the garden, realised it was a nest, and put it down on the table. He wondered what sort of bees they were?

From his description they sounded like a very small colony of honey bees or red tail bumble bees, he didn’t get stung when he moved it which inclined me to the bumble bees which are not at all aggressive.

My eyesight is lousy, but I could see which direction they were flying and approached from behind the hive to see one land. “They are wasps.” I said just as I got stung on the eyelid. Luckily I have a fair bit of experience with stinging insects and was able to effect a retreat to the kitchen and apply a pad of tissue soaked in vinegar without any further stings.

Advice? Yes, wait until dark when they are all in there, pour in about a pint of petrol and stuff a rag in the hole quickly to stop it up, leave severely alone until morning, Oh and acid for wasp stings, antihistamine for bee stings. There is an acid element that stings a bit at first and can be treated with a mild alkali, like bicarb, but the main damage is done by proteins that react with the immune system.

Haha, good advice, Olly. Our old house had a bee's nest in the front yard. My dad got stung by one and his hand puffed up to twice it's normal size. Turned out he was allergic.

Most people are allergic, as a bee-keeper you get stung often enough that your immune system 'switches off'. I went to feed a weak hive in midwinter once. I didn't open the actual hive, there was a feeder on top that I simply poured syrup into, but there was one bee took exception. I had retreated about ten paces away, a safe distance normally, he came out of the hive, went straight for me (A beeline even) and stung me in the middle of the forehead. I came up with a brow like a Neanderthal, as it got better the swelling dropped down my face, so I had bags under my eyes like Droopy the cartoon dog. The whole thing lasted about a week but it seemed to take forever because every one I met started with "What ..."

My grandmother used to use Dolly Blue for wasp stings - Dolly Blue was a lump of something, which when grated and added to a white wash made it whiter then white; or you could pay a fortune to Unilever and have bits of it in Daz or Omo or somesuch.

I want to try keeping bees, but I can't for two reasons, one, my parents won't let me and two, we have two largish dogs (labradour cross & irish wolfhound cross, both are shelter dogs so not sure on exact parentage) who would probably attack the nest/bees. especially as they both enjoy hunting flying insects.

I was expecting a kill it with fire approach on the wasps nest. Do the fumes kill them or merely render them unconcious?

That sucks about getting stung though, interesting to know how to deal with each stings, never been stung myself but can't imagine it is too pleasant.

I wondered and went looking, I can't find anything that mentions the ph of dolly blue, but there is mention of it being used on bee stings. The rule is wasps are alkaline, treat with mild acid, bees are acidic, treat with mild alkali. Vinegar and bicarb are the most readily available acid and alkali respectively. Bee stings don't hurt too much, wasp stings are vile and go on hurting, it's worth going round smelling of pickled onions to treat it quickly.

Procrastinationstation, I can't advise about your parents, but there are ways around the dogs. Bees fly in bee-lines, If you surround a hive with fence panels they will fly straight to the top of the panel, six foot in the air and out of the way. I don't know where you live, but it is usually easy to find someone who doesn't mind the odd hive about on a flat roof or at the bottom of the garden. Bees are not aggressive like wasps, but they do add to security a bit. Urban areas actually have more flowers than the countryside, with it's acres of weed treated mono crops, but hives need more looking after and are weakened by the introduction of the varroa mite, so it's not as easy as it used to be.

A last bit of advice about bee stings, bees leave the sting behind, along with a small sac of the poison. scraping the sting to remove it is the best way, if you try and grasp it, with tweezers for example, you can inject the rest of the poison from the sac and make it much worse, scrape it out with a finger nail or a dessert knife and you can actually push a bit of poison out with it.

I've had a few bee and wasp stings in my life. I left my riding boots out on the porch one night, the next day I stuffed my feet in them and hopped in the truck (a stick shift) drove to the stables, got out and on the third or fourth step I felt like I'd been electrocuted on my big toe. Needless to say, it was a wasp in my boot. I was so glad it waited until I started walking before it stung me. I can only imagine what would have happened if it had happened when I was driving and shifting gears.


moral of the story: always check your boots

Ouch - on your eyelid!

Thank you for the advise. I was stung by a bee right before swimming a 1.6km open water dam swim. It hurt throughout the swim, but I think the cold water helped to prevent any swelling. I am making a mental note of your treatments...

I grew up in a place with scorpions, bees, wasps, cone nose and rattlesnakes and some scary spiders. You learn to shake your clothes and shoes out, watch your step and keep your eyes and ears open and still you are likely to suffer something or other. I've only been stung by a wasp once that I can remember. It was wrapped in the sheets and yeah it hurt! Somehow I was never stung by a scorpion. A bumblebee once though, and my face looked like those elves in the dark crystal. It got me right on the upper lip when I batted it away from a baby I was carrying.
That is good to know about the acid and alkaline, Olly. I learned to put the bicarb on bee stings, but didn't know about the wasps stings being different.

I think green tea's alkaline. Mint too. I don't have either handy. Perhaps a soaked teabag of Earl Grey from a neighbour would do the trick.

What about hornets Olly. When I see them (rarely) they look awesome.

I started as a mechanic at Lotus Cars, so my friends expected me to fix theirs when asked. Pete had an emergency so I fixed his car enough for the emergency journey and told him to take it to a garage the following day and get it done properly. Six months later he came back to me complaining that my fix had failed - That was the last time I helped a friend with a broken car...

Olly, Would you happen to know why bees would congregate on the beach of our pond? They have never been a problem until our three-year-old stepped on one and was stung a week ago. I don't know why they are attracted to it, but at times there seems to be hundreds of them in the sand just off the water's edge. They are small bees--not nearly as small as what we call sweat bees in these parts, but they are fairly small.

I take it from your description that they are not honey bees, and I don't know for sure about American bees, but my guess would be that they are collecting water. I used to float a spongey piece of wood on a container of water near the hive, but I have seen bees behaving as you describe on mud and wet gravel at the edge of ponds and streams. Anything much deeper than a thin film is too much for them to handle. Look closely and you might see their little tubular 'tongue'. Away from their hive like this they shouldn't be aggressive (Unless trodden on !) but watch their flight path before you approach so you don't get in their way as they take off. Then they should be quite relaxed about you being there, they won't like sudden movement or strong smelling scents, deodorants or 'brilliantine' type hair products though.

Being in the medical field I get this a lot too. Most common request: Hey can you write me a prescription for XYZ... I always say I wish I could.