My grandfather was an apiarist; I grew up being around, and working with, bees.
They play an important role in the balance of nature around us.
Bee stings are part of a natural activity and, painful as they can be, they are rarely considered serious injuries.
One important point to keep in mind when dealing with bees.
If they sting you they will die.
It's true; they actually disembowel themselves upon stinging something.
So it's a matter of last resort for the bee, and they normally only do it to protect themselves.
It may be the hive, the honey, the queen or the bee itself, but the bee definitely perceives a threat when it stings.
If you do get stung, one of the first things to do is to remove the stinger.
If you look at the stinger that's just been lodged in your flesh, you will notice the sharp point of the stinger on one side and a whitish mass at the other end.
It is most likely still moving as well.
The whitish mass is the poison sac itself, and the movement is the stinger attempting to pump as much poison into the invader as possible.
Knowing this, you will want to scrape the stinger away! Don't grab hold of it to remove it, because you will probably squeeze the poison sac and push more venom into your injury.
Scrape it away with a fingernail, if that's the quickest item you have to scrape it.
You can also use a credit card or any other hard, flat object to remove the stinger.
Afterward apply ice or other cold compress to reduce swelling.
Beekeepers actually develop an immunity to bee stings after being stung a few times.
I know that's not something you want to do! My point is, it hurts but it's very rarely as bad as we tend to think at first.
Really, everybody's allergic to bee stings! We all have a reaction to it.
Some people are extremely allergic to bee stings, and could have a serious reaction to it.
But most people will experience severe pain and swelling, which disappears in a matter of hours.
One of the themes we promote here at the Holistic Health Hotline is to practice calmness in the face of unpleasant surprises.
Many times a large part of our reaction to stressful situations is caused by our attitudes and perspectives.
Take the time to notice how your body reacts to a given scenario.
There is an eastern philosophy which encourages us to be an observer as well as a participant.
The participant says "Oh! Oww! That hurts!" The observer notices the stinger is still wiggling, so that we can take proper action to minimize uncomfortable reactions.
This perspective is an important part of developing a holistic view of life and health.
Copyright 2009 by D.
Mark Scott.
This article may be reprinted, in whole or in part, so long as the author's name and blog address are included as well.
They play an important role in the balance of nature around us.
Bee stings are part of a natural activity and, painful as they can be, they are rarely considered serious injuries.
One important point to keep in mind when dealing with bees.
If they sting you they will die.
It's true; they actually disembowel themselves upon stinging something.
So it's a matter of last resort for the bee, and they normally only do it to protect themselves.
It may be the hive, the honey, the queen or the bee itself, but the bee definitely perceives a threat when it stings.
If you do get stung, one of the first things to do is to remove the stinger.
If you look at the stinger that's just been lodged in your flesh, you will notice the sharp point of the stinger on one side and a whitish mass at the other end.
It is most likely still moving as well.
The whitish mass is the poison sac itself, and the movement is the stinger attempting to pump as much poison into the invader as possible.
Knowing this, you will want to scrape the stinger away! Don't grab hold of it to remove it, because you will probably squeeze the poison sac and push more venom into your injury.
Scrape it away with a fingernail, if that's the quickest item you have to scrape it.
You can also use a credit card or any other hard, flat object to remove the stinger.
Afterward apply ice or other cold compress to reduce swelling.
Beekeepers actually develop an immunity to bee stings after being stung a few times.
I know that's not something you want to do! My point is, it hurts but it's very rarely as bad as we tend to think at first.
Really, everybody's allergic to bee stings! We all have a reaction to it.
Some people are extremely allergic to bee stings, and could have a serious reaction to it.
But most people will experience severe pain and swelling, which disappears in a matter of hours.
One of the themes we promote here at the Holistic Health Hotline is to practice calmness in the face of unpleasant surprises.
Many times a large part of our reaction to stressful situations is caused by our attitudes and perspectives.
Take the time to notice how your body reacts to a given scenario.
There is an eastern philosophy which encourages us to be an observer as well as a participant.
The participant says "Oh! Oww! That hurts!" The observer notices the stinger is still wiggling, so that we can take proper action to minimize uncomfortable reactions.
This perspective is an important part of developing a holistic view of life and health.
Copyright 2009 by D.
Mark Scott.
This article may be reprinted, in whole or in part, so long as the author's name and blog address are included as well.