Home Remedies for Hornet Stings

[Bill D 1,908]

Took a trip out to our local farm stand yesterday.  As we were leaving my wife got stung on her pinky finger by a hornet.  This was the first time she has been stung.  12 hours later her finger still hurts.  She has taken Benadryl, Tylenol and applied Lidocaine cream to it.  We iced it down immediately after she got stung.  

Anyone got any effective home remedies for stings? Thanks.  Bill

[midpack 862]

When we were kids, we were told to put mud on bee stings. I can't say if it actually does any good, but that's what our parents told us to do!

[DennisThornton 4,769]

BEST thing I've ever used for a very LONG time is ammonia IMMEDIATELY!  Works great for stinging nettle and mosquito and black fly bites too!  Time really matters!  Sooner the better but it still helps whenever.

 

[peter lena 8,583]

BILL D , you could try , lidocaine hcl  , for burns , quickly calms down , burn and sting areas , pete

[Pullstart 62,799]

For bee stings, I’VE BEEN TOLD and we have often practiced baking soda and water to make a paste.  Apply it topically next let it set.

 

Thinking out loud, what about one of those vacuum tube jars, to try to pull the sting out?  Think small mason jar upside down.  I imagine a warm jar plied with pressure would cool and create a suction.

[DennisThornton 4,769]

Both ammonia and baking soda are alkaline and I suspect both work the same way but ammonia is already mixed.

 

The honey bee may leave it's still pumping stinger attached to the victim and while I have no first hand experience I've read that it's helpful to remove it quickly but that simply grabbing it could just pump in more stinging fluid.  I'm not aware of any other stinging bee does that and honey bees are usually pretty docile and need a reason to sacrifice themselves (they die after stinging!), so I suspect that most "bee stings" are yellow jackets or some other "bee".

[Bill D 1,908]

Thanks for the advice.  I believe this was a hornet or mud dauber sting.  No stinger was left behind.  At this point I think time is our friend.  Bill

[shallowwatersailor 3,213]

About three years ago I moved a tarp that I had left laying around outside. Seems a nest for yellow-jackets had been made in one of the creases. They were very angry at me!!!  Realizing what I had done, I took off running. Ran like greased lightening! They followed me through the garage and actually a few got past the inside door following me into the house. Continued stinging until I could finish swatting to kill them. I ended up with about 13 stings on my neck and cheek.  And learned not to leave a tarp laying around.  

[DennisThornton 4,769]

Hornets are far worse than honey bees.  Maybe as bad as the US has.  AND they are easily upset!  I've had them build a little nest right in the entrance door opening!  Nest grows and sooner or later the door gets slammed and they look for something moving!  Always wait until near dark to spray the nest or you'll have returning upset workers just hovering around.

Edited October 22, 2020 by DennisThornton

[peter lena 8,583]

DENNIS,  have to agree with you on the hornet issue , years ago taking down a dead tree, just as it slowly touched the ground , part of the root , broke ground, they were on me in an instant , hot weather , wearing shorts , got stung many times. I often thought how a canister of,W F H used as anti  terrorist routing weapon , would clear them out of any hiding spot , making sniping easier, pete

[DennisThornton 4,769]

4 hours ago, peter lena said:

DENNIS,  have to agree with you on the hornet issue , years ago taking down a dead tree, just as it slowly touched the ground , part of the root , broke ground, they were on me in an instant , hot weather , wearing shorts , got stung many times. I often thought how a canister of,W F H used as anti  terrorist routing weapon , would clear them out of any hiding spot , making sniping easier, pete

Hornets build a paper nest somewhat the shape of an upside down teardrop.  Most I've seen were less than about a gallon but some approach the size of a 5 gallon bucket!  Yellow jackets will build nests underground but I've never seen hornets do so.  An interesting side note:

 

Decades ago I was sitting on a hillside in southern KY with a 12ga looking across a creek and up the other hillside for squirrels.  Before I saw a squirrel I was annoyed by a yellow jacket.  I paid no attention knowing that if you haven't done anything AND you don't do any such thing it will go away.  But it didn't, rather another joined it, then two more then I decided that there was something unusual, but what?  I wasn't getting stung, but I was getting somewhat swarmed.  Only thing I could come up with was that I must have been sitting on their entrance!  I was!  I moved to the other hillside!

[ohiofarmer 3,265]

 Meat tenderizer, hands down.   I think it was a day care worker who told us that they keep some around and it works wonders. So my wife always carried some to the  ball field. Wasps love to build nests in the dugouts... Anyway, our catcher was allergic to bee stings , so we made a paste with the stuff and had her hold it on there on her way to the emergency room. the hospital was about 15 minutes away, and she improved so much that she turned around and came back because it worked so well.

 Fun fact was Katie hit four home runs in one game  that season with 14 RBI's. She could run so fast that they always threw behind her and she turned four singles into four home runs. Those are the fun years before the helicopter parents complain about who sits on he bench because the rules say all of the kids get to play every game.

[DennisThornton 4,769]

I assume you mean a powder instead of:
 

 

I've read about using meat tenderizer for stings so I Googled:

 

 

And got:

About 627,000 results (0.76 seconds) 

Edited October 24, 2020 by DennisThornton