Sunday, September 19, 2010

Sting, Stang, Stung

Last Thursday, while trying to shake powdered sugar all over my beehives, I received my first sting. It certainly wasn't the first bee sting in my life, not even the first in the last month; I was stung in the hand while Ellie and I were camping in Arroyo Seco in August. But this was the first time my bees thought I deserved some venom.

A bee got me in the ankle where I had pulled up my socks to cover the cuffs of my jeans. I tried to remove the stinger quickly to prevent additional venom from being injected, but it is possible that I missed it since I couldn't see where the stinger was and I was distracted by all the other bees that were thinking I needed a sting.

On Friday my foot began to swell and I developed a couple blisters around the sting site. I believe this is only a local immune reaction and so I'm not concerned about a systemic allergic response or anaphylaxis should I be stung again soon. However, it would be nice to be able to see the bones in my foot again.

2 comments:

  1. OUCH!! But, more importantly, did you get the bees all sugared?? Apparently a task easier said than done...??

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  2. I did get them coated, and yes, much easier said than done. It would be nice to have an assistant. Hopefully I'll get some pictures of it soon.

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