Darn bee's this year

[Brad]

It seems everyone is having trouble with the darn bee's this year, people getting swarmed setting stands etc. My dad agreed to skin my deer and quarter it for me this morning as I had to work, when he went to skin her about 20 bee's came out of the chest cavity and swarmed him, chased him around 20 yards. He sprayed it down with the hose and he had no more than stopped and they came back. We figured out it must have been the heat they were attracted to as it got cold last night. If anyone has a deer hanging be careful just in case, dad was lucky as he didn't get stung but 20 of them could do some damage in a hurry had he not gotten away. I have never heard of this before, usually early season threats are heat and coyotes.

[FRH]

Two weeks ago i got stung about 15 times, good thing im not allergic to them. I had a branch that fell across one of my paths so i took the tractor down to push it off to the side. First push wasn't good enough so i backed up and gave it one last heave with the bucket to get it well off the trail. Well little did i know i ran over a ground hive. Got stung on my arm, swatted it and before i knew it bee's were everywhere. Through the tractor in reverse but the bucket got caught on a stump. So i said screw it as i was getting stung so many times so i tried flicking the key off as i jumped down but didn't get it over far enough. Now im off the tractor with the tires spinning in reverse and a swarm of bee's all over. No choice but to jump back up before something lets loose. Got stung a few more times but got the tractor turned off. Walked the mile up to the house to get bee killer. 3 cans later i could finally get back on to get the tractor out. That put the kabosh on my plans for the day as i was now swollen up like a balloon.

[Brad]

I am not allergic to them as far as I know (been stung before by 3 or 4 at a time but just swelled up), but if a guy hadn't been stung lately this could be deadly if you were back in a ways away from immediate help. Is there anything besides an EPi Pen that one can carry just in case? I suppose even if your not allergic and took 15-20 stings that could cause major health issues. I have never worried about bees this year but they are thick for some reason.

[Badger]

I got jack up good by a nest of yellow jackets last year. That was a barrel of fun lol. I stepped on a log that was rotten and had a huge nest in it.

[Badger]

I'm not allergic to bee's, the stings don't even swell up but I carry benadryl just in case. That stuff can save your life. I had a reaction to something once and got thousands of bumps all over me and was having a hard time breathing. Benadryl took care of it within minutes. I still have no idea what the reaction was from but it wasn't pleasant

[Badger]

My Mom was an ER nurse for many years, That's what she told me to take.

[Brad]

I'm not allergic to bee's, the stings don't even swell up but I carry benadryl just in case. That stuff can save your life. I had a reaction to something once and got thousands of bumps all over me and was having a hard time breathing. Benadryl took care of it within minutes. I still have no idea what the reaction was from but it wasn't pleasant

That is good advice, idk whats in benadryl but it is potent, always seems to work. I should carry some, I always get the sniffles and a runny/plugged up nose whenever I get in the tree, must be the mold spores in the tree bark or something. Never considered it from a first aid standpoint but could be darn good to have in an emergency, and it doesn't take much space to carry.

[Badger]

I'm not allergic to bee's, the stings don't even swell up but I carry benadryl just in case. That stuff can save your life. I had a reaction to something once and got thousands of bumps all over me and was having a hard time breathing. Benadryl took care of it within minutes. I still have no idea what the reaction was from but it wasn't pleasant

That is good advice, idk whats in benadryl but it is potent, always seems to work. I should carry some, I always get the sniffles and a runny/plugged up nose whenever I get in the tree, must be the mold spores in the tree bark or something. Never considered it from a first aid standpoint but could be darn good to have in an emergency, and it doesn't take much space to carry.

I would have never considered either until that happened. I've never had anything like that happen it really freaked me out so I figure better safe than sorry.

[NCmedic]

As a paramedic, Benadryl is the second thing I give (after epinephrine aka epi-pen) for a moderate to severe reaction from bee stings.

Wouldn't hurt to carry some with you if you know you may have a good chance of being exposed to bees! It can help but if you know you're allergic I wouldn't risk my life going into deep territory... a severe allergic reaction to bee stings could kill you pretty quickly... epi pens and Benadryl just delay the response... you'd need to get to an ER and get some more medications. I'd stay where you could get in and out and help could reach you quickly.

[NCmedic]

I'm not allergic to bee's, the stings don't even swell up but I carry benadryl just in case. That stuff can save your life. I had a reaction to something once and got thousands of bumps all over me and was having a hard time breathing. Benadryl took care of it within minutes. I still have no idea what the reaction was from but it wasn't pleasant

That is good advice, idk whats in benadryl but it is potent, always seems to work. I should carry some, I always get the sniffles and a runny/plugged up nose whenever I get in the tree, must be the mold spores in the tree bark or something. Never considered it from a first aid standpoint but could be darn good to have in an emergency, and it doesn't take much space to carry.

Benadryl aka diphendydramine is an antihistamine it basically prevents the chemical process that your body goes through during an allergic reaction or a sting.. (the swelling, hives, itchiness, flushed skin, difficulty breathing, etc.) It may cause you to get pretty drowsy/dizzy so I'd be careful taking it and continuing on with a hunt or something else where you need to stay alert. The side effects depend on how much you take as well...

Also, if you do have a moderate to severe reaction be aware that the medication may wear off and the symptoms can come back... so keep this in mind as well!

[SouthernHunter]

They seem to bad this summer down here as well. I think it might be all the rain we've had. Two of my Dad's clients have had honey bees nest in their porches/houses this summer.

The yellow jackets are another story. Its amazing how much you can get away with sometimes and what you can't get away with other times as far as getting lit up. A few weeks back my dad was trimming all around this little tree and I came in and made a pass on the zero turn mower and just before making a second pass I seen them swarming just outside of their hole beside the tree. I can't believe we didn't get stung. Sometimes it doesn't take much at all to set them off. I guess they have good and bad days like us.

[Badger]

I'm not allergic to bee's, the stings don't even swell up but I carry benadryl just in case. That stuff can save your life. I had a reaction to something once and got thousands of bumps all over me and was having a hard time breathing. Benadryl took care of it within minutes. I still have no idea what the reaction was from but it wasn't pleasant

That is good advice, idk whats in benadryl but it is potent, always seems to work. I should carry some, I always get the sniffles and a runny/plugged up nose whenever I get in the tree, must be the mold spores in the tree bark or something. Never considered it from a first aid standpoint but could be darn good to have in an emergency, and it doesn't take much space to carry.

Benadryl aka diphendydramine is an antihistamine it basically prevents the chemical process that your body goes through during an allergic reaction or a sting.. (the swelling, hives, itchiness, flushed skin, difficulty breathing, etc.) It may cause you to get pretty drowsy/dizzy so I'd be careful taking it and continuing on with a hunt or something else where you need to stay alert. The side effects depend on how much you take as well...

Also, if you do have a moderate to severe reaction be aware that the medication may wear off and the symptoms can come back... so keep this in mind as well!

Thanks for explaining that. Is there a better option for us to use? If I where to take it I would be on my way out. No way I would mess around with tree stands on that stuff.

[Stanley]

I never paid any attention to bees this year until you mentioned it. I was out doing some glassing a couple weeks ago and the stinking hornets wouldn't leave me alone. I had my clothes sprayed with Permethrin. I opened my car door to leave an area and a couple flew into the car. I scooped them out with my ball cap. Got down the road about a mile and another hornet come out from behind my visor. Had to pull over and stop, pronto. Got him scooped out also.

[NCmedic]

Nothing else that I know of that's fast-acting like Benadryl. There are skin ointments (hydrocortisone cream or calamine lotion) that you apply directly for pain/itching/swelling relief that you could carry if you were stung once or twice. I'd only take the Benadryl if I were beginning to have more symptoms: moderate to severe swelling/itching, hives (red bumps), nausea, vomiting, etc.
First aid would be remove the stinger, wash the area with soap, apply ointment/ ice pack for swelling and pain relief.

The thing about allergic reactions is that you can develop them so you may not be allergic now but after getting stung you could be allergic the next time you're stung. Anytime you have symptoms like swelling of the face, throat, tongue, trouble breathing, hives (red bumps) all over, severe itchiness, wheezing (high pitched noise when you breathe), take the Benadryl and call 911 because those are symptoms of a severe allergic reaction and things could get a lot worse. That's when people who have epi-pens need to use it.

[Schultzy]

The bees were terrible this year in northern Minnesota too where we were bear hunting. We ended up making bee traps at camp. It was nearly impossible to sit outside of our tents at times. My 6 year old daughter got stung for her 1st time. I was nervous to begin with as I didn't know how her body would react to a bee sting. She must not be allergic as she was just fine. Wow did she let out a scream when she got stung. Man I felt bad! As for me I got stung I bet 30 times In the 6 days I bear hunted.