You never know what might reside in you iris bed!
They got me but Mike showed them. He sprayed them with ether (starting fluid for our semis). It killed them but I thought it might be a bit of a redneck solution!

Ouch, Lori!!! I've never seen a nest that close to the ground before.

If you apply a little controlled electricity to the sting area, the pain and swelling will go down almost immediately, and you'll avoid the itching that follows. FWIW!!

BTW -- nothing wrong with a good redneck solution!!

How in the world does one apply controlled electricity?? Following the redneck theme, would leaning up against a hot wire fence for a bit do the trick?

I think so !, or ,you can lick the end of a 9-volt battery. I prefer the "onion juice" remedy, rub a freshly cut onion on the stung area,seems to work best if you then apply the onion to a freshly grilled hamburger!( the burger takes your mind off of the sting!)....Arlyn

Using a lantern battery (6 volts). Ordinary lamp cord spliced and stripped at both ends. Attach alligator clips (two) at one end of the cord, make or buy little pads (two) for the other end. Wet the pads and apply to the sting area. Attach alligator clips to the metal spirals on the top of the battery. Apply for five or six minutes. OK to do several times a day.

This is exactly what a chiropractor's Electro-Stim machine does -- which brings up that your chiropractor can treat stings too -- and resolve them quickly. I just prefer to do my own and save the $35.00 chiro fee.

I like the beer solution best, no, not for the sting, for the mouth. Drink enough of it and you don't know you've been stung! Now that's red neck!

Yah -- but some of us don't like beer, Tom? Then what??

And that also works better along with the onion/hamburger method...it really improves the effectiveness !..Arlyn

You guys are some kind of healers alright!

By the way, MaryAnn, Wine, brandy, or other such "spirits" will also provide some relief. But as to not liking beer, after the 6th can, you will forget that you don't like it. And speaking of bees, wasps, etc., I see the Cicada Killer wasps are starting to emerge again. I thought that I had eliminated them all last year, but I guess not! Saw 2 in the act of emerging from their "burrows" while weeding the daylilies.....Arlyn

When I was a kid, we used to slap some mud on it. Later my mother heard that sprikling it with meat tenderizer was supposed to help, but unless you are alergic to them, it only hurts for a little while. Some people swear that a bee sting helps their arthritis pain.

A bee sting would help my arthritis for sure! I would be in the hospital or 6 feet under, either way I bet I wouldn't be worried about what hurt.

My grandma used to soak my foot in ice water and epsom salt in a turkey roaster. That was supposed to cure me...It didn't. I always ended up at the hospital and as the years went on the reactions got worse. I am not sure why it didn't occur to anyone to have me wear shoes outside, would have been easier and cheaper than the trips to ER! I was always in the clover looking for one with four leaves and pretending I was gonna find a pot of gold there, what did they think was gonna happen.

Lori, My son is allergic to honey bee and bumble bee stings, but not wasps or hornets. He's carried an "eppie" pen for years. Now, just to show you that the son is no smarter than his dad, HE KEEPS BEES ! He's up to about 20 hives, the goof! he's been stung several times, and says he THINKS the reaction to the sting is getting less and less, so he getting "immune. I told him, I THINK you're GOOFY, and keep that darn pen handy !Can't figure it out, 'cause I was NEVER that goofy, when I was a kid ! ....Oh, sounds like you're getting some Gypsy Queen...good deal!....Arlyn

Yep, Gypsy Queen will be on it's way Monday. Thank you for making that happen, I would have never seen that post. Therefore, when it increases I will share with you since it was kinda your deal to begin with.

I agree with you, your son is just Goofy! Beekeeping? That's just nuts!

She's sending me one , also! But thank's for the offer! Most of the iris that I have LOTS of, are noids, but by next year, they'll be lots more ready to split -off, and share. I also have a lot of "test plants" coming this year, so hopefully, I can verify a bunch, and they'll be "noids-no-more"!....Arlyn

OK, turnabout is fair play! As I was picking peaches today, I happened to grab one that had a bee/wasp on it, Stung me right in the middle of the palm of my hand. I guess I forgot how much that can burn. Now you can laugh at me Lori!

I won't laugh I swear! I just hope you are not allergic...that is not fun at all.

I use the aloe vera they sell for sunburns. You can use the plant, but it stains my skin yellow. It stops the sting immediately and I have never experienced any swelling once I started using the av, even when I have been stung multiple times.

Smiles,

Lyn

Lyn -- are you referring to Aloe Vera gel?

Yes.... It works perfectly. I used to be really, really afraid of being stung. Now, I just don't like it.

The gel makes the sting go away as soon as it is applied.

Smiles,
Lyn