Summer is a time for barbeques, camping, and outdoor fun. With all that time spent in the great outdoors, you and your family will come into contact with bees, yellow jackets, and wasps. If you ever get too close to a nest, you will know right away.
Admiral Pest Control would like to share a few home remedies to practice when stingers meet your skin. Here are a few tips that will help you quickly get the stinger out and cause you to heal faster. Keep in mind, if it is difficult for you to breathe or speak once stung, you are allergic to bee venom! Ignore all of these steps and call an ambulance immediately.
- Remove the stinger. If a honey bee is the culprit, you need to remove the stinger. Do it quickly, because on top of that barb is a venom pump, the faster you remove the stinger, the less venom you will get. Credit cards work great. You can slide the credit card along your skin and pull out the stinger. A butter knife will also do the trick. If you use tweezers, do not grab the pump at the top of stinger or you will be squeezing in bee venom.
- A little soap goes a long way. It is always a good idea to clean a wound. Soap is also great at removing oils. Your skin produces a lot of oil, that oil will repel some of the treatments. Make certain you wash up, for more than one reason.
- Chamomile. If you have some chamomile tea in your pantry, you can make a tincture with a little boiling water and a bit of vodka. Mix it all together and you have a good treatment. Let the solution cool before you put it on your skin, or you will have more than just a sting to worry about.
- Baking soda. Grab some baking soda from your pantry and mix it with water to form a paste. Apply it to the area where you got stung. The sodium bicarbonate in the baking soda will help neutralize the venom.
- Vinegar. If you don’t have chamomile or baking soda, go back to your pantry and grab the bottle of vinegar. White or apple cider vinegar will work. Next, get a clean bandage and wet it down with vinegar. Slap the vinegar-soaked bandage on your arm and let the acetic acid go to work and break down the venom.
- Ice. After any of the above treatments, a small bag of ice will help keep the swelling down. Wrap the baggy in a thin towel to keep the freezing temperature from irritating your skin.
- Call Admiral Pest Control. If you live in Bellflower, Long Beach, Los Angeles, or Orange County, and you have a bee or wasp problem, it is time for the ultimate home remedy. Pick up your phone and call Admiral Pest Control. One of our certified pest elimination specialists will arrive at your home and eradicate the insect responsible for your stings. We are serious about bee and wasp control. When you want to turn your backyard back into a safe haven, give us a call.
