Bees, All the Way

I can remember the last time, before this year, when I was stung. I don't remember exactly how old I was, but it was around seven or eight. I was at my grandparents house in CT, playing tag with my cousins. We were running around their yard, and I fell down in the front yard. I landed on the bee. With my knee. I remember my Aunt D, the nurse, scraping the stinger out and putting a paste of baking soda on it, and laying on the couch with my leg up. But I didn't blame the bee. After all, I landed on it, it didn't try to sting me on purpose.



Last month, I was sitting in my truck doing paperwork, and all of a sudden my bum started to really, really hurt. Enough that I thought I was sitting on something sharp, only I also started feeling naseous. Apparently, a bee had wandered in through my open windows, and I had unknowingly sat on it. Like any good biologist, I did not remove the stinger. And I was not near any ice, so it didn't get ice until at least 20 minutes later. However, besides the stomach issue, there weren't any problems. I was fine by the next day. But I put the dead bee on my dashboard as a warning to other bees.

So, this week. My daughter was out on the patio painting. I went out to see how she was doing. And a yellow jacket (there were a bunch flying around, I have no idea how she didn't get stung) comes out of the bottom corner and attacks my hand. I was a bit angry I guess, and thinking, as it is placing it's stinger in my hand "I don't want it stinging me again, I'd better take it out" I smack it, rendering it dead, and also stuck in my finger. At this point my daughter has noticed the yellow jackets and is a little, well a lot, hysterical. Meanwhile, I've got a bug stuck in and on my finger, and lots more flying around, and a 4-year-old to try to get inside, and lots of pain. After a few minutes of screaming (I would have picked her up, but I only had one hand and she's rather tall for a munchkin), I got her inside and went inside myself. Then I removed the stinger and put ice on, and went back outside for the painting supplies, which were the cause of the hysteria (you try explaining to a hysterical 4-year-old that the "bees" aren't going to hurt her paints).



So, my finger gets all swollen and red. And stays that way for the next 2 days. And itches and hurts. And my hand starts to also swell, and the next finger too. Also, I am still naseous. At this point I'm thinking that this is not an ordinary sting. After a Saturday trip to the doctor, all my worrying and whining about the pain is vindicated. I have an infection. Now, not only was I viciously attacked by that insect, it infected me, and after I did all the correct things. What's the deal? Give me the bees anytime. They are much nicer, and apparently less full of bacteria, at least in my limited (2-to-1) experience.