# Normal reaction to a sting?



## ski's bees (Sep 16, 2013)

I have been having bad swelling when ever I get stung. Do you guys swell up like this too or could I be mildly allergic?


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## Wolfer (Jul 15, 2012)

My first few stings of the year swell me like that. Over the course of the summer the reaction decreases until there's virtually no reaction at all. Woody

I keep an epi-pen with me just in case.


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## dirt road (Jan 4, 2011)

I got nailed on the thumb during a cutout this fall, 3 days later my hand looked just like yours in the photo. Thumb swelled so bad it split across the knuckle. What was interesting about this is that a nasty, ill tempered hive I have from a caught swarm, popped me 7 times during the 10 days before the cutout, (for various reasons), and none of the 7 swelled at all. Makes me wonder if some hives/races etc might be more venomous than others.


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## Bee Bliss (Jun 9, 2010)

Great local swelling like that (no breathing problems, etc.) just means you have a very healthy immune system.


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## Dacypher (Oct 11, 2013)

Dirt road, I have had similar observations. With Italians the reaction is not as intense as my Russians.


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## Bees In Miami (Nov 30, 2012)

That is usually what I look like on day 2 or 3....Sucks, doesn't it? Seems every sting reacts differently. Call me a sissy, but I wear a full suit to avoid stuff like that! If I get popped in the face or tender spots, I end up at the clinic and on steroids. You aren't "allergic", you just don't react too well to the local reactions.


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## TRIMMAN (Apr 15, 2012)

i sting my hands all the time and have never swelled up lucky i guess


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## GLOCK (Dec 29, 2009)

My first year I read if you let the stinger in you will help your body build up a tolerance to bee venom I don't know if that's true but I let a stinger in my hand for some time and my hand really swelled up i all most thought about going to the ER but did not. Now when I get stung it's never more then a mosquito bite and I do get stung all the time just can't seem to leave the bee alone.


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## NewJoe (Jul 1, 2012)

I swell even worse than your picture. A sting to the back of my hand swells all the way to my elbow. A sting to the face swells my eyes shut.

I have no other reactions and the swelling has not improved over time, so now if I am going to touch a hive I put on my jacket/veil and gloves. The few stings that I get through my equipment still swell, but not as bad.

I do not think it's an allergy...just a reaction.


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## LeonardS (Mar 13, 2012)

My hands get like a catchers glove if they get stung. The Doctor gives me a shot of steroids and some antibiotics to take, so I don't get cellulitis. I am much more careful now.....I wear a full suit and gloves at all times.


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## jimsteelejr (Sep 21, 2012)

My wife and I both get stung sometimes doing cutouts or inspections but our reactions vary wildly. If she gets stung on the main part of the hand she gets a know and it goes away in a few hours. If she gets stung on a finger her fingers swell up so bad that we have had to cut her rings off a couple of times. Now she takes her rings off before we work and she wears gloves. I generally have little or no reaction most times except when one of the little darlings gets inside my veil and nails me on the lip or ear. We have also noticed that when we work different lines of bees the sting varies. We worked a Russian hive a year or so ago and every sting raised a good size lump on each of us while stings from the rest of the apiary were normal.
According to the allergist doctor she went to for another problem you would be considered more sensitive to the sting not allergic. According to her if you were allergic you would break out in hives, have problems breathing etc. We got certified for Epipen use last year and carry one just incase one of the bystanders at our cutouts get stung.
By the way we help teach a bee class and at least one of our students is truly allergic - she wears a full suit (a real ***** in july heat) and carries a pen. That is one dedicated bee keeper!


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## merince (Jul 19, 2011)

Same reaction, and the reason I wear a full vented suit.


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## KPeacock (Jan 29, 2013)

when i get stung in my hand/wrist i swell up worse than that. other areas of my body don't seem to swell quite so significantly. every sting is different, from what i can tell.


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## Bob J (Feb 25, 2013)

Wolfer said:


> My first few stings of the year swell me like that. Over the course of the summer the reaction decreases until there's virtually no reaction at all. Woody
> 
> I keep an epi-pen with me just in case.


My observation as well..... First stings of the year swell and itch for up to 3 days..... Later in the season (after a few more stings) there is virtually no reaction at all....


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## oklabizznessman (Oct 24, 2011)

I bought a new jacket and hood the other day. Well, the first time out I didn't get it zipped properly and a bee got in my hood. I usually just crush them once they've gained access...ooooppps to slow and up my nose he went talk about a bad feeling total panic, finally got away from hive and jerked hood off to get him out with some calmness restored I headed back to the hive. Well dang another got in and before I knew it she was in my ear, now I hate getting stung in the ear to begin with but talk about setting someone into over load. Finally backed away from hive and just drug her out but before I could get my hood back on her sister tagged me right in the upper lip below the nose ouch. Turned around and went to the house hunting some honey shouldn't have been down there just before dark anyway. Kids thought it was funny to hear me talk with a fat lip. Also bought another jacket!!


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## rmcpb (Aug 15, 2012)

Bob J said:


> My observation as well..... First stings of the year swell and itch for up to 3 days..... Later in the season (after a few more stings) there is virtually no reaction at all....


Same here


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## Wolfer (Jul 15, 2012)

I have a theory. Actually I have lots of them and most have been proved wrong. Early spring bees that swell me the worst are several months old. Midsummer bees are a few weeks old. 
Could it be that bees carry more venom as they get older?
Just a thought. Woody


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## julysun (Apr 25, 2012)

I don't swell like that, but, my son-in-law does. So, that single bee that is always buzzing around always goes around me and hits the kid. He swells up like a toad and cries about it endlessly. 

I do always worry about slapping myself in the face with a hive tool. Reflexes! :lookout:


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## cblakely (Sep 6, 2013)

Its only my first year, but I haven't been stung by one of my girls yet. But I wear a full suit, because I am a coward about such things. 

It seems like every year I get tagged by a yellow jacket however. A couple of years ago, I was just walking along, didn't even see it coming and was hit on my hand. It looked like a softball with five sausages sticking out from it. I am a software developer, so it made it a little hard to work, so I ended up going to the urgent care center. The doctor prescribed some ointment and it was back to normal in a couple of days.

I got tagged again this summer by a yellow jacket in the middle of my forehead, I came right in and used the ointment. Other then the initial pain and a little itch it was hardly noticeable. 


Clay


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## LaurelAZ (Apr 8, 2014)

I'm really late seeing this thread, but found it when I came here searching for some advice on the exact same question. In fact, the photo of your two hands, Ski's Bees, looks exactly like one I had my husband take of my hands just yesterday! And my right hand is still just as swollen. This is probably my 6th sting from my one hive. The stings are almost always on that right thumb, and typically my thumb will swell a bit and then itch like heck for a week or so. This time the whole hand down my wrist is swollen and it's itchy but I think that's mostly because the skin is so distended. Itchy and achy! 

Glad to know I'm not alone. I always wear a veil with a jacket or suit and lately have taken to wearing nitrile gloves which, until this time, the bees typically didn't sting. I have to admit my reaction this time has me a little worried for my next visit, but seeing as it's spring, I can't avoid the visits. IAny good suggestions for how to reduce the swelling? I've tried benadryl, hydrocortisone cream, even took a few Pamprin today LOL! Nothing has helped. 

Laurie


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## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

Looks like a very normal reaction to me. You will swell less as you get stung more. One other thing to try and help reduce the swelling in phenylephrine. Both down the throat and a topical cream. prepH is the easiest cream to find, and it is in lots of allergy pills. That along with benedryl, should really help the itching.


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## Bob J (Feb 25, 2013)

Got my first sting of the season this past weekend as I was installing a nuc.... She climbed up my leg and got me on the thigh.... Found it interesting that I had a limited reaction similar to where I left off last year (23+ stings in 2013!) so it looks like my system doesn't reset over the winter..... Some immediate reaction with limited swelling but nothing beyond the day.....


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## Ddawg (Feb 17, 2012)

I've had the same results with hand bee stings


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## iivydriff (Apr 20, 2011)

Swelling is normal some stings swell more than others and some people swell more than others. I dont mind getting stung too much except in the face. If i get hit in the face I swell up. But I dont seem to swell too bad every where else. Ive never had my hands swell up big. I wear a full suit and gloves all the time I dont like getting stung because I dont like going to town with my eyes swelled shut. Or my lip swelled up the size of a baseball. If a person is truly allergic to a bee sting it will be obvious is just a few minutes.


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## pioneerbees (Jan 15, 2014)

I am also in the "large local reaction" camp. It's annoying, but not an allergic reaction. I just walk around with cartoon appendages for a few days


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## Calbears94 (Jan 24, 2014)

It's wierd I have been beekeeping for 4 years now and have been hit about 20 -30 times and no major reactions and usually looks like a mosquito bite and itches like mad. In February I got lazy and 3 bees went down my glove and hit me in the forearm 3 times and I swelled pretty good for the first time. Maybe the increase of 3 did it not sure?


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## drlonzo (Apr 15, 2014)

I'm in the camp as well. For me i got nailed while putting my packages in. They weren't in a very good mood that day. Four times on the left arm and wrist (didn't like my watch as it turned out) and twice in the same spot on my right hand. The left arm barely swelled up at all, the right one though looked like a blown up surgical glove. Itched like crazy and took 4 days to go down again. Got popped last fall though in november on the lip and barely swelled up at all. Needless to say, bee jacket, veil, and gloves for me. lol


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## WildcatBeek (Apr 11, 2014)

I keep benadryl (generic sleep aid is the cheapest I know of, $3 for the equivalent of 100 benadryl capsules) and an epi pen on hand just to play it safe. I haven't been stung by a honey bee in a couple years (live in KY, we don't wear shoes and step on the occasional occupied dandelion), first year keeping bees and only been in the hive 3 times now though including the install. I put a little baby powder on my hands and rub it in before touching any frames or brushing bees with my hand, read it in a book and it actually does seem like the bees find the scent pleasant. My mother swells like that off bee stings, even the small "sweat" bees as well call them in this area. As long as the reactions are around the sting and consistent from the sting (some people's entire arms or legs swell from a sting on them), I'd take it as normal. Face swelling when you haven't been stung in the face, hives or rashes away from the sting, irregular pulse (keep in mind anxiety from worrying can alter that), or difficulty breathing would be signs of a serious allergic reaction.


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## Calbears94 (Jan 24, 2014)

drlonzo said:


> I'm in the camp as well. For me i got nailed while putting my packages in. They weren't in a very good mood that day. Four times on the left arm and wrist (didn't like my watch as it turned out) and twice in the same spot on my right hand. The left arm barely swelled up at all, the right one though looked like a blown up surgical glove. Itched like crazy and took 4 days to go down again. Got popped last fall though in november on the lip and barely swelled up at all. Needless to say, bee jacket, veil, and gloves for me. lol


Exactly the same... I got one in the forehead and nothing... Just the once with multiplesbstingsnand lasted about 3-4 days...


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