Bee stings can be deadly if a person is allergic to the venom. If you or a family member is allergic to bee stings and gets stung, remove the stinger and seek emergency medical attention right away. Do not rely on a natural bee sting treatment alone. Use an EpiPen (epinephrine auto-injector) if you have one.
Any person who is stung by a bee, needs to be monitored for signs of anaphylaxis (life-threatening reaction). About 3 percent of people stung by bees quickly develop this condition. Signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis include:
Itching/redness
Hives/welts
Shortness of breath
Feelings of faintness or dizziness
If there is any concern that a person is developing anaphylaxis, call 911 right away. You can also take over-the-counter Benadryl, but this will not stop the anaphylaxis; it will only slow it. You must seek emergency medical attention immediately for bee allergy.
Non-Allergic Bee Sting Treatment Options
For a quick recovery from non-allergic bee stings, you have three things to do to begin the healing process:
1. Extract the stinger.
2. Clean the wound.
3. Get pain relief.
The first and most important treatment for a bee sting is to remove the stinger as quickly as possible and by any means. The bee's hind end contains a sac that holds venom, and it may continue pumping more venom into the skin if not extracted. So, don’t be slow about – get the stinger out. You can use your fingernails, a pair of tweezers, or even a credit card to scrape out the stinger. But, be careful not to break the stinger and leave it buried in the skin.
Second, before using a home remedy for bee sting treatment, clean the wound with soap and cool water. This will help remove any bacteria that can cause infection.
8 Natural Bee Sting Remedies
After the stinger has been removed and the wound cleaned, you can use one of these 8 bee sting remedies:
1. Ice. Apply ice for 20 minutes. Ice will numb the pain and slow blood flow to the area, which reduces swelling.
2. Honey. A degree of irony resides in this bee sting remedy since honey comes from bees, but honey is excellent for healing wounds. Apply a small dab of honey to the wound and cover with gauze or a small rag for 30 minutes to one hour. (If a person is allergic to bees or honey, do not use this remedy.)
3. Lavender essential oil. Add one or two drops of lavender essential oil to the wound. Lavender oil will help neutralize the venom immediately.
4. Crushed garlic. Crush one or two garlic cloves to release the juices and press it against the wound. Cover with a moist rag or towel and let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes.
5. Plantain. This is not the fruit! Plantain (Plantago major, broad leaf and Plantago lanceolata, long leaf) is a common weed you’ll find around your home. It typically grows in places where the soil has been disturbed. It can also be found growing in the cracks of your sidewalks. Bee stings are never planned, so it may be a good idea to purchase the Plantago major plant from a local garden and keep it at your home. Although it is a weed, it has lovely purple foliage and leaves that look like small green roses. To use plantain as a bee sting treatment, you need to release the juices from the leaves. This can be done by using a food processor or putting the leaves in a plastic bag and crushing them with a spoon. You can even chew it slightly to release the juices. Once you obtain the juice, press the juicy leaves against the sting and cover with a moist rag or towel for 30 minutes.
6. Baking soda and vinegar. Make a paste using baking soda, a dab of vinegar and water and apply it to the wound for 30 minutes. Baking soda and vinegar helps neutralize the acid found in bee stings.
7. Toothpaste. Like baking soda, toothpaste is a base that will help neutralize the acidic bee sting, thereby reducing pain and swelling. Apply the toothpaste to the wound for 20 to 30 minutes.
8. Meat tenderizer. Make a paste using meat tenderizer and water and apply it to the wound for 20 minutes.
After achieving pain relief with one of these home remedies for bee stings, cleanse the skin by using a wet paper towel or rag and apply a small amount of an over-the-counter antibiotic cream or a natural first aid remedy to help prevent infection.
Now tell us what bee sting remedies have worked best for you.
We’ve outlined 8 ways to get quick relief from the intense pain of a bee or insect stings. Have any of these worked for you? Are there other ones you recommend? Insert your ideas in the Comments section below to help other readers!
Photos by Dreamstime
Jami Cooley, RN, CNWC is a registered nurse and nutritionist in the Dallas area where she conducts natural health research and writes for Natural Health Advisory Institute. She has also written a free e-Book, Natural Health 101: Living a Healthy Lifestyle. Contact Jami by commenting on one of her blogs.
All MOTHER EARTH NEWS community bloggers are responsible for the accuracy of their posts. To learn more about the author of this post, click on the byline link at the top of the page.
Originally Published: 10/15/2013 9:13:00 AM
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I am so allergic to bee and ants. I grow the plantain and grab it immediately!! break the leaves up and place on the sting and wrap it up. Within an hour, all that poison is sitting on top of my skin and my pain is totally gone. It is amazing!! I also dry the plantain and my comfrey. I place a packed mason jar of the herbs and pour of light oil. Allow it to soak at least 2 weeks up to a month in a dark place. Drain and save the oil. I mix with shea butter, coconut oil, my infused oil and lavender essential oil. Those are melted tog and placed in a glass container. Great to carry along with you and use when stung or bit.
I'm not a smoker, but I've found that tobacco is effective on a bee sting. I keep a cigarette in my first aid kit for this purpose. Take a small amount of the tobacco leaves, moisten slightly and squeeze/mash together and apply to the bee sting. I put a bandaid over it to hold it on. It tends to draw out the venom. Also, I've found bacon draws out the stinger if you can't get ahold of it. Put a bit of raw bacon on the sting and secure it with a bandaid. A little while later when you remove, the stinger will be on the bacon instead of in you.
i've always just applied a fresh slice of onion over a bee sting until the stinging subsides.
the oldest thing for stings snake bites and ants is chewing tobacka it draws out the posion it alsos is real good for a bad tooth ack
My mom always used three tree leaves. One of them needs to be an oak leaf, I think because of the tannin. We used it on a little bit that had forgott his eppi pen and it worked. My Dad had honey bees and he would take a bunch of the leaves and blend them up in the blender with alcohol put it in a bottle in the refrigerator for when he needed it for bee stings.
I was always told that vinegar was for wasp stings and baking soda for bees. Mixing acid and alkali doesn't make much sense. Use baking soda for bees!
I've been stung once, while playing behind my great-grandparents' house on my grandparents' farm in Michigan. Mom tried everything in Gramma's medicine cabinet, which resulted only in louder screams. Gramma calmly intervened, took me out to the rain barrel, and slapped on some mud, telling me that was how bears treated their bee stings. It worked like a charm!
My mom always put mud on it when the mud dried the sting site was all good. Used same method on my kids. Even worked for the kids who had mild bee allergies, they didn't have the swelling or redness.
Cut a fresh onion in half and put it directly on the sting. This works quickly and reduced pain, swelling and itching immediately. I got relief for both bee and wasp stings. A nurse I spoke to told me she always carries an onion when she travels.
The BEST treatment for any sting or venom is electric shock. REALLY!! Get out your TENS unit and run it as high as you can tolerate and the effect of the venom will disappear within minutes. For many years snake bites in Latin America were treated by connecting a wire from a spark plug on an auto to the bite area. IT WORKED! http://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/05/science/the-doctor-s-world-new-shock-therapy-for-snakebites.html?pagewanted=all
One of the best treatments for bee stings and other venoms is o get your "Tens Unit" out and set it as high as you can tolerate. In under a minute you will be feeling fine as can be. This is the truth although the AMA works very hard to keep this unknown and to discredit it at every opportunity. The "antivenom" industry would dry up and blow away.
Several years ago I had a very bad reaction to one wasp sting on my face. I was disfigured for 6 weeks. A few years after that I was swarmed and bitten 70+ times around the face, neck area, by then I knew hot water helped for me and I ran into the house and jumped into the shower. The very hot water felt so good on the stings. I almost emptied the tank but when I came out, I was completely free of any swelliing or discomfort, which never came back. It was as if I had never been bitten. I learned bee and wasp stings are thermolabile which means their venom is destroyed or deactivated by heat but the hot water has to be used very quickly within minutes if possible otherwise the venom spreads. For me, very hot water is also the best remedy for itches of all kinds. My doctor told me the heat activates the histamine in our glands which is quickly released and then you are itch free for severa hours until the gland fills up again, this depends on the itch;. This works for insect bites, such as mosquitoes, fleas, bees, wasps, bed bugs etc. and on poison I’ve, poison oak, but NOT on SPIDERS, SCORPIONS or SNAKES. The hot water first increases the itch but as you increase the level of heat, the slight burn soothes the itch. I generally end with a cool rince off. PLEASE make sure you don't burn yourself if you try this.
Several years ago I had a very bad reaction to one wasp sting on my face. I was disfigured for 6 weeks. A few years after that I was swarmed and bitten 70+ times around the face, neck area, by then I knew hot water helped for me and I ran into the house and jumped into the shower. The very hot water felt so good on the stings. I almost emptied the tank but when I came out, I was completely free of any swelliing or discomfort, which never came back. It was as if I had never been bitten. I learned bee and wasp stings are thermolabile which means their venom is destroyed or deactivated by heat but the hot water has to be used very quickly within minutes if possible otherwise the venom spreads. For me, very hot water is also the best remedy for itches of all kinds. My doctor told me the heat activates the histamine in our glands which is quickly released and then you are itch free for severa hours until the gland fills up again, this depends on the itch;. This works for insect bites, such as mosquitoes, fleas, bees, wasps, bed bugs etc. and on poison I’ve, poison oak, but NOT on SPIDERS, SCORPIONS or SNAKES. The hot water first increases the itch but as you increase the level of heat, the slight burn soothes the itch. I generally end with a cool rince off. PLEASE make sure you don't burn yourself if you try this.
Several years ago I had a very bad reaction to one wasp sting on my face. I was disfigured for 6 weeks. A few years after that I was swarmed and bitten 70+ times around the face, neck area, by then I knew hot water helped for me and I ran into the house and jumpd into the shower. The very hot water felt so good on the stings. I almost emptied the tank but when I came out, I was completely free of any swelliing or discomfort. It was as if I had never been bitten. I learned bee and wasp stings are thermolabile which means they are destroyed or deactivated by heat but the hot water has to be used very quickly within minutes if possible otherwise the venom spreads. For me, very hot water is also the best for itches of all kinds. Several years ago I had a very bad reaction to one wasp sting on my face. I was disfigured for 6 weeks. A few years after that I was swarmed and bitten 70+ times around the face, neck area, by then I knew hot water helped for me and I ran into the house and jumped into the shower. The very hot water felt so good on the stings. I almost emptied the tank but when I came out, I was completely free of any swelliing or discomfort, which never came back. It was as if I had never been bitten. I learned bee and wasp stings are thermolabile which means their venom is destroyed or deactivated by heat but the hot water has to be used very quickly within minutes if possible otherwise the venom spreads. For me, very hot water is also the best remedy for itches of all kinds. My doctor told me the heat activates the histamine in our glands which is quickly released and then you are itch free for severa hours until the gland fills up again, this depends on the itch;. This works for insect bites, such as mosquitoes, fleas, bees, wasps, bed bugs etc. and on poison I’ve, poison oak, but NOT on SPIDERS, SCORPIONS or SNAKES. The hot water first increases the itch but as you increase the level of heat, the slight burn soothes the itch. I generally end with a cool rince off. PLEASE make sure you don't burn yourself if you try this.
How about relief for the intense itching that follows the short period of pain (for several days)?
Propolis tincture is most effective. It immediately relieves the pain.
I have discovered something that works much better than all these combined. It is tried and true. Dissolve some ascorbic acid in water and drink it, eat some sulfur containing foods such as cabbage family (preferably uncooked) for the glutathione it forms, consume some tartaric acid or wild grapes chew and swallow the seeds for the tartar and phenolics in them, drink and soak in diluted vinegar. Sounds loony, right? These things are synergistic and work to clear the offending venom, among other things. Here's why: Most vinegar is made from fruit, herb or grain and is comprised mostly of acetic acid (named after the acetobacter found on the tiny leetle feet of fruit flies) and other acids. These acids go hand-in-hand with phenolic compounds found in the various fruit/grain/herbs, and have become famous for the why in drinking wine every day. When we consume vinegar in diluted form whether gastrointestinally or via skin, because it is very porous, we are flooding ourselves with an elixir of antioxidant anti-inflammatories which will help our immune systems tackle the onslaught of venom from these little beeasties. Really, we should eat/drink and soak in ascorbic acid, wild grapes, rose hip and green teas and vinegar when we have bee stings... actually all the time. Just bee sure to dilute that vinegar, so you don't erode your esophagus, and use 3-4 cups in a long (hour or more) bath. Here's some stuff to quantify this distillation: (; wink-wink;) You'll have to copy/paste into your browsers address bar. * http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1750-3841.12434/pdf Note tables 1-4 and what follows them. * http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20043255 Note: apoptosis is the programmed life expectancy and death of a cell, something that gets switched off during carcinogenesis, making the cell reproduce adinfinitum, thus forming a tumor. There's more! You can take some biology classes at your local college or google scholarly articles on the subject. .... so, Here's to your next Vinegar Water and wild grape! =]
Ammonia works best for me. I would think that mixing vinegar and baking soda wouldn't do anything. You need an akaline substance, not an acid like vinegar. Plus mixing vinegar with baking soda would only neutralize it anyway.
I was told by the poison control center to apply antiperspirant to the sting.
I just hold a penny on the sting. Works right away.
Have been using bleach on a cotton ball for many years now. Works for honey bees and wasps, never had a hornet sting me yet but willing to bet it will work on it also.
If you are in need of other organic tips or advice visit me here; http://www.allaboutrosegardening.com
I use the "Bee Balm" flower. Simply break off a leave, chew it for a sec, and place directly on the sting. The pain is gone instantly. This summer my husband got stung while helping me trim some bushes. I ran to the Bee Balm, broke off a leaf, chewed it up and put it on his arm. He gave me a look like I was nuts, but wen i asked him if it was still stinging he said 'No, what was that?" Late in the summer when he got stung again, he said"where's that flower?"
I use Watkins Petro Carbo Salve not only for bee stings but also for insect bites and cuts. It works really great for relieving the itch and pain. You can find out more information about it at http://vanillaisus.com/?page_id=2366 .
Having worked is the HVAC industry my whole life, a pharmacist customer told us to use household ammonia to neutralize the bee venom. It works. I keep some in my garage at home. Ammonia is the root base of most bee sting remedies.
Now I did not know about the lavender oil or the honey applications. Good ones. We always used baking soda and vinegar then covered the base with the inside skin of an eggshell which seemed to draw out the venom. Don't know that it did draw, but always worked in combination.
Spit + tobacco -- mix in your palm, just enough to get it all wet, then apply as a compress to the bee sting site, and leave it alone awhile. Water will not be the same - only spit.
The Acadian French remedy for bee stings is mud. Just mix earth with water, you want it thick.... Apply a thick glob over sting and allow to dry out. As the mud dries, it draws out the stinger. This is very practical as it can be used on the spot.