Avoid Stings From Insects
Tips To Avoid Getting Stung
Control Wasps, Bees & Hornets, and avoid being stung.
- Clothing That Repels Insects
- Scents & Smells You Should Avoid
- The Importance Of Personal Hygiene
- Cover-Up Exposed Skin
- Discourage Certain Insects
- Reduce Insects Proactively
- Remaining Calm
- Escaping From Wasps & Bees
- Stings & Road Accidents
- Sting Cures & Remedies
How To Avoid Wasp and Bee Stings
Clothing That Repels Insects
Wear light, understated or dark clothing, and avoid bright orange, red or yellow.
Stinging insects love bright colours, but flies love dark and white!
So, in theory, you are less likely to get stung but more likely to get bitten by a biting fly like the horse fly!
What Scents & Smells Should You Avoid
Avoid wearing strong smelling perfumes and deodorants.
Many of the scents we buy in the shops contain chemicals that can disturb or confuse the chemical signals most insects use to communicate.
People wearing excessive amounts of these products could find they suddenly attract a passing wasp or bee, rather than attracting a date!
Is Personal Hygiene Important?
Personal hygiene is essential as strong body odours are known to aggravate bees.
Many of the foods we eat contain compounds that alter how we smell, and garlic is one example.
The natural pheromones we produce also have the potential to aggravate or even attract insects.
Cover-Up Exposed Skin
Staying well covered with long skirts, trousers, long sleeve tops will reduce the area of your body that insects like bees can sting. The head is usually the most vulnerable part of the body, so hats of any kind are useful.
Discourage Garden Insects
Avoid flowering plants and shrubs from the laurel family. Trees like willow, Birch and Sycamore also produce substances that attract bees and wasps.
Reduce Insects Proactively
Check for new nests in lofts, outbuildings, and activity around tree roots and hedge boundaries between April and May.
Late spring is the perfect time to find new wasp and bee nests before they get big enough to be a threat to your safety.
House Keeping & Insects
Keep areas clean by applying proper housekeeping procedures to remove residues that might encourage wasps and hornets. Spilt beer, sugary foods and fermenting products will all attract stinging pests.
Avoid Stings By Remaining Calm
Insects foraging early in the year are seeking protein-rich foods. You can avoid getting stung just by staying still.
Later in the year, they are looking for sweet foods that are often harder to come by in mid-summer. Higher temperatures increase activity and worsen temperament, so you are far more likely to get stung.
Insect repellents may help you avoid stings and stay safer at this time of year. Alternative sources of sweet foods such as wasp traps are also useful.
How Do You Escape From Wasps & Bees?
If several stinging insects attack you at the same time, run to get away from them.
Insects have compound eyes capable of tracking movement, so if you run, make sure it is in a straight line. Running in a straight line reduces your movement signature and rapidly increases distance.
Running in a zig-zag makes you easier to spot and catch. Remember that wasps may pursue you for 150 yards.
Once stung, you are biologically marked with a pheromone that identifies you as a threat. move away fast, change clothing and wash sting sites with soap and water to remove traces of pheromone or venom.
Venom extractors can also be highly effective at reducing swelling immediately after a sting.
Insect Stings & Road Accidents
Stinging insects entering vehicles in the summer or getting into motorcycle helmets has been implicated in many unexplained accidents.
People with allergies or phobias are doubtful to react to this kind of unexpected threat logically and calmly.
As our fight or flight mechanism is activated, attention is drawn away from the road, placing our safety in danger.
Many products on the market deal with this, including air conditioning that removes the temptation to open windows or sunroofs.
Why Do People React To Stings Differently?
For thousands of years, humans and animals alike have developed ways to avoid and manage wasp and bee stings.
The truth is that every wasp or bee sting will be delivered in a different place at a different concentration, etc.
That means the way we react to each new sting may vary, and we should be mindful of this.
What Is The Best Sting Cure?
The best sting cure we found to manage bee stings, and wasp stings is a venom extractor. These must be used immediately after being stung.
Swelling often subsides within a few minutes, but the ache remains for far longer because pain receptors have been stimulated.
Other traditional remedies include devices to alleviate the symptoms following an insect sting. Bite and sting relief sprays and creams, together with devices that combat itching stings and bites, are useful.
Everyone reacts differently to stings and bites. People will also react differently to bite and sting cures – both natural and pharmaceutical.
For those who don’t like using pills and potions, we recommend Cooling Gels. These products rapidly cool aggravated, angry skin reactions. So long as the skin is not broken, these should be good to use.
Alternatively, use a portable ice pack. One customer improvised and used the side of a refrigerated drinks can! Keep it cool is always good advice.
The Best Natural Sting Cure Remedies
Nature has created oils like Lavender oil which is popular among beekeepers, for sting relief. Other natural remedies reported to help alleviate the discomfort include Clove oil, Hemp oil and Tiger Balm.
Another feature of bites and stings that people commonly overlook is the risk of infection. Tea Tree oil is excellent; we use it!
Overall we still feel that the venom extractors are the very best products we have tried. We carry these with us every day and use them on ourselves, our kids, customers and even a few strangers!
Creams, sprays and other products also work to a degree. We find natural remedies are best, used in conjunction with venom extractors; that’s our experience!
