No Pain, No Gain.

[Gavin]

I could never do that without an epipen handy.......an EMT buddy of mine gave me a tip though...a poltice of ciggy tobacco and water over the sting takes the swelling down quick....1-2 hours...by his account. Have not tried it yet.

[jdmidwest]

Gavin, that works on wasp stings pretty good, but I have not seen much effect on bees. I use the little pouches and I shoved one in my ear that I had in my mouth. Did not seem to help. Ice seemed to work.

[Gavin]

You would know...thanks for the feedback.

[jdmidwest]

I don't know if you ever build up an immunity. I think with experience, you learn what not to do with them. And you get used to the pain, And you learn the trick of how to get the stinger out without mashing the poison sac to get a good dose. You learn to move slower and give them a chance to get out of the way.

But I had been swatting mosquitoes and gnats so my first instinct was to swat, that turned it madder.

It was close to dark the other night and I did not have protective gear on. They get more defensive as light goes dim. But I thought it would not be a problem, most on the feeders are hive bees that have not converted to field flyer bees. They tend just to crawl around and I just brushed 3 off the feeder lid. This one knew how to use its wings, and stinger.