First Aid for Bee and Wasp Stings: How to Treat Insect Bites and Stings
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A wasp sting can turn a relaxed afternoon outdoors into a sharp, painful scramble. Most stings stay a minor problem that settles within a few days. Now and then one turns serious, and the first few minutes decide how it ends. Handle them well and a painful sting stays nothing worse than sore skin.
How to Tell a Bee Sting From a Wasp Sting
Bees and wasps both sting. A bee leaves its stinger and venom sac behind in your skin and dies soon after, so it can only sting you once. Unlike bees, a wasp can sting multiple times as it keeps its stinger attached. A stinger stuck in the skin points to a bee. No stinger, or more than one puncture, points to a wasp.
First Aid: What to Do in the First Minutes
The first move after a bee or wasp sting is to get clear of the insect before you do anything else, since staying close risks another sting. Once you are out of reach, deal with the wound.
If a stinger is in the skin, get it out quickly, then wash the sting site with soap and water. Hold a cold pack, or a cloth-wrapped bag of ice, over it for about fifteen minutes to ease swelling and pain, and reapply it if the ache comes back. A plain pain reliever such as paracetamol takes the edge off a sore sting site, and an antihistamine calms the itching and swelling that can follow.
How to Remove an Insect Stinger Without Releasing More Venom
This step applies to bee stings.The venom sac stays attached to the stinger and keeps emptying into the skin, so the sooner it is out, the less venom gets in. Scrape it out sideways by draging a fingernail, the edge of a credit card, or a car key across the skin to flick the stinger free.
Do not pinch it with your fingers or tweezers as this just squeezes more venom into the wound.
Normal Reaction, Allergy, Allergic Reaction, or Anaphylaxis?
For most people a wasp sting causes only a normal reaction. However, some people have a large local reaction, where the swelling and redness spread further and last longer. See a doctor if the swelling keeps growing, if an antihistamine doesn’t help, or if the wound turns hot, more painful, and oozes over the following days, which can mean the sting has become infected.
An allergic reaction is different, because the signs appear away from the sting site. Severe swelling of the lips, face, or eyes, hives or welts on the body, or a tingling mouth point to a mild to moderate allergic reaction. Stay with the person and give them an antihistamine, and if they carry an adrenaline autoinjector or Epipen, get it out and have it ready.
A severe allergic reaction, called anaphylaxis, can be life-threatening and needs medical attention within minutes. Any one of these signs after a wasp sting is enough to act on:
- noisy or difficult breathing
- swelling of the tongue, or tightness in the throat
- a wheeze or a cough that will not stop
- a hoarse voice or trouble talking
- dizziness, collapse, or a young child going pale and floppy
- stomach pain or vomiting, which signal anaphylaxis when an insect is the cause
If a person shows any of these, give them with their adrenaline autoinjector straight away if they have one. Then call triple zero (000) for an ambulance. Lay them flat, and let them sit up only if they are having trouble breathing. You can inject second dose after five minutes if they show no improvement.
Removing Nests and Cutting Your Risk of Stings
Fewer wasps around you means fewer stings. When outdoors, keep any food and drinks covered, put tight lids on bins and compost, clear fallen fruit, and bring pet bowls inside after feeding. Wasps also come for water in hot weather, so fix any leaking taps, empty pot saucers and bird baths and keep the pool covered when it is not in use.
Nests are the bigger danger. Leave any nest alone. Instead, call a professional pest controller, or your local council, to remove it.
Being Ready Before the Next Sting
What decides how a sting ends is rarely the insect and almost always the person who responds to it. The rare severe sting can still be turned around when someone acts without delay. A quick, sure response to a wasp sting comes from training. By enroling in a first aid course, the right steps become second nature long before an ambulance reaches your door.
FAQs
Can a Wasp Allergy Be Treated?
Yes. Venom immunotherapy, also called desensitisation, can lower or remove a wasp or bee venom allergy over a course that usually runs three to five years.
Will a Wasp Nest Go Away Over Time?
No. European wasps survive Australia’s mild winters and keep breeding instead of dying off as they would somewhere colder, so a nest can last more than a year and come to hold many thousands.
Can You Develop a Wasp Allergy Later in Life?
Yes. An allergy can appear after stings that caused no trouble before, and repeated stings can raise your sensitivity to the venom over time.
