So I was walking on campus today toward the building I work in, and a bee stung the bottom of my toe! This is the second time this has happened this season. It's hard, if not impossible, to see them resting in the grass, too! I'm so glad I'm not allergic (or my allergy medicine for seasonal allergies keeps any allergy symptoms at bay). It just burns, but it's inconvenient to have to stop and take the stinger out and put some ointment on it to help alleviate the burn. Have any of you been stung by a bee on your toes? Other than wearing shoes, how can I keep the bees from stinging me (especially on the toes)?
This reminds me of a post I made this time last year: http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showpost.php?p=3607675&postcount=8
I've heard that bee populations are in decline (colony collapse disorder) with potentially disastrous consequences, so just wait awhile, and the problem will go away!
wow lol what a great advice bfj! "relax sit back and wait for the bees to disappear along with this god damned greedy shod world!" jeez,.thanku 4 the positive vibe bro :cheers2:
Yeah... that's a neat approach to it. And with the global warming going on, we don't need to worry about cold feet in winter in no time... it's gonna be a pro-barefoot world soon.... YAY! To get to the topic: I haven't had any bee sting the bottom of my toe as yet... the only bee sting to a bare foot happened, when I was 'footing around an apple and pear orchard in early September once. There was a lot of fallen down apples and pears lying in the grass, and since it was a really mild September, bees were buzzing around the sweet and rich fruit on the ground. At one point, I did not pay atention and entrapped a bee beneath the arch of my right foot. It did what bees do instinctively in such a situation: it aimed true and the sting went into the soft skin of my arch. Since our outdoor kitchen was right next to where it happened (I was at a regional Rainbow then), I asked for a bit of onion and rubbed it on the spot after removing the remains of the poor bee's rear end. It' s one of those household recipes that works for those who are not overly allergic to bees' poison. It just has to be applied right after the sting, and possible pain will subside almost instantly. And, the happy ending is: no swelling, no inflammation of any sort. barefootedly yours, ~*Ganesha*~
I stepped on a bee once as a teenager, in my own back yard, long before I started to go barefoot in public. Wasn't a big deal either, well not for me, half an hour later I couldn't find where exactly it had happened. The poor bee of course died :-( I don't know why it happens to some people more often, I walk a lot on grass and the like but maybe there are more bees on the ground in some areas? I see plenty flying around flowers in bloom, I get stung sometimes in other places (when bees or wasps get caught in clothing or such, and with wasps sometimes when people start swatting at them and make them mad) but I rarely see bees sitting on the ground or in the grass, and indeed that one time more than twenty years ago was the only time I stepped on one. Maybe there are certain places where they're on the ground/in the grass more, like immediately around a certain type of flower? Or is there lots of blooming clover/other blooming weeds in the grass? Take a good look at your surroundings and see if it is a localized problem you can go around!
Myranya, you're right about it being the weeds. There are these weeds with white flowery-type things that grow in the grass I walk on. Since that second sting, I've tried to watch myself more carefully around those. It's hard to avoid them, since they're so numerous in the grass - so I just watch them. Or I could just quit being lazy and take the paved sidewalk most of the way to and from the parking lot...the little grass that I'd *have* to walk on (due to poor design of the sidewalk) doesn't have any of the flowery weeds, and there's even a strip of bare dirt on it. It's sad that the bee populations are in decline, since we need them to pollinate. If it's not the chemicals we use or global warming, perhaps they're stinging too many humans?! Too bad they haven't evolved to have the knowledge that stinging mammal = stinger violently ripped from abdomen = (probably painful) death within minutes. The most ironic part about being stung on campus, I think, is that I have a bunch of hollyhocks in the front yard of my townhouse. They're practically bee hives (I'm surprised there isn't one out there in the garden). I *never* get stung there! Not that I want to be stung there...but that's where I encounter the most bees in my daily journey that is life.
I believe that's wishful thinking, my friend. If global warming is something we are causing, it's not going to really manifest itself until we are all dead... Barefoot in our coffins. Hopefully. Shod afterlife = fail
Yes, I've been stung by a bee while walking around barefoot, but that happened when I was about 4-5 years old. Of course, at that age, it hurt so I cried. I think my mom got the stinger out of my foot by using a sterilized needle.
If global warming was man made, it wouldn't affect the other planets, yet according to NASA, Mars has also warmed up, by 0.8 degrees C, so it must be at least partly caused by the Sun. Don't sell the SUV just yet!
Though I work outside as a gardener, among other related outdoor activities, I rarely get stung. Worst enemy is wasps/underground yellowjackets, etc, which usually punish my arms (I wear a tank top when I need to wear a shirt) One got me in one of my arm pits last month, which was no fun, but I got over it. But that's wasps and yellowjackets. Not bees. The bees in the flowers I must tend are very little threat. More of a threat to my hands than to my feet, in the event I inadvertently close my hand around one. (Rare) People freak when they see me in my public garden in just shorts and tank, (barefoot, of course) with bees all around me and NO problems. If I went shirtless in this place, the risk would still be the same: low. Bees are grazing creatures and are minimally threatening. Now, up near their hive, I don't know. Might be different. I once stepped on a bald-faced hornet (or wasp) in my back yard, and that quickly brought me down to my knees in a whimper. Fast. That was horrible. Only once in all these decades of barefooting. Just bad luck. Try to get to know which stinging insect you must deal with. Most of them have painful stings, but not all of them are "evil." The bald-faced thing, probably evil. Honey bees and related bees, probably not.
I've been stung on the toe by yellow jackets, man I almost peed my pants it hurt so bad and came on so suddenly. yellow jackets are as ill-tempered a critter as you'll ever come across. honey bee's on the other hand will leave you alone unless you really mess with them, I've gently pushed out of the way with the back of my hand without problems
