Got stung in my car today! OUCH!

[chief38]

I was minding my own business driving along at about 55 mph with the windows and sunroof wide opened. The weather here has been absolutely stellar recently, high 70's - low 80's and the humidity in the low 30's. All of a sudden my neck started burning and I knew immediately something had flown into my SUV and stung me! I pulled over and when I exited the vehicle I saw a dead wasp on the rocker panel. I never saw it fly in so it was a sneak attack - lol.

I applied some Witch Hazel that I had just bought and was in the rear seat and that seemed helped a bit. For an hour it hurt like hell and was swollen and red but after that it started to subside. I am not allergic to Bees, Wasps, etc so all I had to deal with was the pain for an hour, but I know some people (like my wife) need Benadryl right away.

That was the first time I had been stung in many years. Also very weird that the damned thing flew in at 55mph! Must have just been a fluke. Anyway, kinda ruined my afternoon. Now it no longer hurts but just itches a little.

UPDATE 03/14/25

Woke up this morning and the area around my lower neck was swollen like a golfball and glowing red with pain. Last night I thought the worst was over - but now I know better! I am sitting here typing this one handed holding a bag of ice on my neck because the Benadryl and Hydrocortisone did nothing!

That said, it did not keep me from going to the range today.
I hope this subsides by morning s I have much to do for our kids arrival on Monday!

 

[StrawHat]

I found out I have a venom allergy several decades ago. Got stung by 8-10 honeybees when I got too close to the hive box with the mower. My arm swelled up like a balloon. Nothing helped so off to the GP. I had been stung previously with no reaction. Turns out, bee venom is cumulative. So, we now have one of those epi-pen things and whenever I go out near an active hive, my wife yells at me. So, life is becoming even more interesting as I age!

Kevin

 

[jimmyj]

I was minding my own business driving along at about 55 mph with the windows and sunroof wide opened. The weather here has been absolutely stellar recently, high 70's - low 80's and the humidity in the low 30's. All of a sudden my neck started burning and I knew immediately something had flown into my SUV and stung me! I pulled over and when I exited the vehicle I saw a dead wasp on the rocker panel. I never saw it fly in so it was a sneak attack - lol.

I applied some Witch Hazel that I had just bought and was in the rear seat and that seemed helped a bit. For an hour it hurt like hell and was swollen and red but after that it started to subside. I am not allergic to Bees, Wasps, etc so all I had to deal with was the pain for an hour, but I know some people (like my wife) need Benadryl right away.

That was the first time I had been stung in many years. Also very weird that the damned thing flew in at 55mph! Must have just been a fluke. Anyway, kinda ruined my afternoon. Now it no longer hurts but just itches a little.

Consider using meat tenderizer on the sting site. It dissolved the stinger which causes the pain and swelling.

 

[JRB416]

Ouch!, glad it didn't cause you to have an accident while driving.

I've been stung on occasion. The absolute worst was when I was mowing a pasture field and just tapped a dead tree. A swarm of bees came out of the tree and attacked me primarily around the head and neck.

I don't recall how many stings I received that day, but everything was swollen and my head and neck felt like it was on fire. It made me very sick for some time.

I have a cousin who took a drink from his soda can that a yellow jacket crawled into. It stung him on the side of his tongue. The pain was so intense it made him throw up.

 

[GnarlsR2]

I'd rather get mauled by a mamma grizzly bear than get stung by a bee!

I've had bees fly into my vehicle while driving. I will do a panic stop and get out.

Hornets and yellowjackets can sting multiple times. A honey bee can sting once because the stinger is pulled out of their butt and they die. The venom sack is attached to the stinger, so you do not want to squeeze it as you attempt to remove the stinger. You should use some kind of sharp blade to get under the sack.

 

[Bald1]

It probably guy sucked in rather than fly in.

 

[soFlaNative]

It probably guy sucked in rather than fly in.

I've had them bounce off the outside mirror then land in my lap... or worse.
Only stunned for a moment they will quickly wake up very P.O.'d causing me to scrabble about for a bit.

 

[Rodan]

I've never stopped so fast as when a bee got inside my helmet on a motorcycle ride...

Have no idea how it got in.

Seeing a swarm that you're driving into in a convertible is a real clencher, too... especially when you can't do anything to avoid it!

 

[yeti]

Little flying demons!

Years back I was riding my motorcycle with sunglasses on and a wasp hit me, then got pushed behind one lens. That damn wasp proceeded to sting the bejesus outta my eye area while I tried to keep my composure and pull over.

 

[Bro. Dave]

...Had a wasp come around a fairing windshield, into the opening of my full face helmet. Miraculously, it didn't sting me, and when I got stopped and pulled off the helmet, it was laying in the helmet, stunned (as was I).
I dumped it out. I had raised the visor of the FF helmet to get some air (I live in TX) and I'll never know how that bug missed the windshield, helmet, visor, and sunglasses I was wearing!
I was accused by a riding buddy of "ministerially speaking" but I swear it's a true story.
I was riding a Suzuki water-cooled 750, affectionately known as a Water Buffalo, that was arguably the ugliest motorcycle ever made. Since it was water-cooled, they didn't bother to put cooling fins on the heads and it was UGLY, but ran like a scalded dog!

 

[NYlakesider]

...Had a wasp come around a fairing windshield, into the opening of my full face helmet. Miraculously, it didn't sting me, and when I got stopped and pulled off the helmet, it was laying in the helmet, stunned (as was I).
I dumped it out. I had raised the visor of the FF helmet to get some air (I live in TX) and I'll never know how that bug missed the windshield, helmet, visor, and sunglasses I was wearing!
I was accused by a riding buddy of "ministerially speaking" but I swear it's a true story.
I was riding a Suzuki water-cooled 750, affectionately known as a Water Buffalo, that was arguably the ugliest motorcycle ever made. Since it was water-cooled, they didn't bother to put cooling fins on the heads and it was UGLY, but ran like a scalded dog!

Long time ago ridding my Honda 550 with just a tee shirt no protective items (No faring) I collided with a large Bumble Bee. It hit me square in the chest and as my road speed was about 65MPH it realy got my attention. As bad as it felt somehow I did not get stung. I puled over and used a stick to get what was left of the bee out of my shirt.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Way back in college an old girlfriend wearing those 70's short shorts got stung by a wasp way up on her inner thigh while we were driving over to the coast. To to her scream you'd think she had her leg cut off. I offered to suck the poison out but alas my gallantry was rebuffed.

 

[lihpster]

I remember when I was young, my dad was eating lunch one day. he took a bite of his sandwich and felt a sharp pain in his cheek. He said he thought it was a toothpick or something. When he spit out the food, there was a yellowjacket that had landed on his food before he took a bite. Never had a problem with any type of beelike creature. Sat down to enjoy the rest of his lunch, but the pain began to spread down his neck and into his arm. His tongue and throat began to swell, making it hard to breathe. His co-workers rushed him to the hospital, and they were able to stop the allergic reaction. When he got home his face and neck were still swollen.
Doctor told him we sometimes develop allergies to things we had no problem with in the past. That was in the early seventies. Until he retired in the mid nineties, he carried an ana kit of preloaded syringes of epinephrine in every vehicle.
Never had to use it, thank god.

 

[LVSteve]

Just one of the many reasons I rarely drive with the windows or a sunroof open. With the wasps we have out West, you REALLY don't want to get stung. We have so many species of hunting wasps that most don't even have common names. Scarab Hunters and Cricket Hunters pack major weapons, but the worst by far is the infamous Tarantula Hawk.

 

[madmikeb]

My wife and I were hiking in Catalina State Park in Tucson before we moved here and we heard a loud noise headed our way and a swarm of bees flew right over our heads. The bees here are Africanized so they are mean critters. About a week later after we got home we saw a news story where the bees had killed someone in the park.

I have gone through swarms in my convertible and last summer while riding my bike I had something fly right into my jacket at 70mph and start stinging. I think I set a record for getting pulled over and my jacket off!

 

[ladder13]

Way back in college an old girlfriend wearing those 70's short shorts got stung by a wasp way up on her inner thigh while we were driving over to the coast. To to her scream you'd think she had her leg cut off. I offered to suck the poison out but alas my gallantry was rebuffed.

What a gentleman.

Now they wear yoga shorts.

 

[CalifEd]

I had a contractor putting up a block wall next to an open field and he informed me that he was hyper allergic to bee stings.

He told me this as a precaution about the severity of his reaction, he would be helpless and would go in shock almost immediately if he got stung.

All of his crew knew if he yelled "BEE" that they were to drop everything, grab him, hit him with the EpiPen and drive like mad to the nearest hospital for emergency treatment and care.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Where's Sipowicz when you need him?

 

[Kinman]

I was on a quick run to Evanston, Wy to pick up a keg of Coors beer, I was seventeen at the time and blasting down the highway at a good 70 in my hopped up '55 Chevy stepside, had my arm hangin out the window, a good tune on the radio, the prospect of a terrific evening in my head and all of sudden I felt a "Ziiip" at the sleeve of my short sleeve shirt and knew it wasn't good. Before I could react that ******** got me once, I was trying to haul it down to stop and the damned thing got me again near my underarm...by the time I got stopped and smashed the ******* he had stung me three times. I was riding my motorcycle without a helmet back in the 60's, just a pair of sunglasses on. A hundred yards away or so I see something coming my way, its flying this a way and that a way but always right in my vision, were are closing at a good clip, I figure I'm gonna lean one way or the other to avoid the collision but nope he catches me right between the horns and it felt like I got shot, I did the best I could to maintain an upright relationship with the road and got stopped, turned out to be a bee of some sort, they are hard headed little *******s.

 

[kamloops67]

I almost stabbed myself with a steak knife last night when I noticed a tiny spider on my arm -instant terror
I've deliberately put myself in front of an aggressive 100+ lb Rottweiler that had bitten me to show him I wasn't afraid and was ready to do battle
Harmless spiders or bees though ? No way lol