The poisonous liquor which the stinging Bee infuses into the wound causes a fermentation, attended with a swelling, which continues sometimes several days; but that may be prevented by immediately pulling out the sting, and enlarging the puncture, to let the venomous matter have room to escape.
Many nostrums have been recommended as cures—infallible cures, of course—for the sting of a Bee, a few of which I will just mention; premising, however, that I myself never make use of any of them; for, if by chance a Bee happens to sting me, which is very rarely indeed the case, though I never so much as cover my face, nor even put on a pair of gloves, when operating among thousands and tens of thousands of Bees, I extract the sting instanter, and never afterwards experience the least pain, nor suffer the slightest inconvenience. But, if the sting be suffered to remain in the flesh, during a few seconds only, it is not very easy to stop the inflammation and to allay the pain. An onion cut horizontally into thin slices, and pressed closely to the wounded part, and renewed at short intervals, has been accounted a good application. If the part stung be first well-rubbed with one of those slices, that would perhaps have a soothing effect. The juice of the plantain is also said to be a specific; olive oil is another; so is common salt; so is laudanum; so is spirits of hartshorn; so is a solution of sal ammoniac; and so is chalk or whitening.
The Doctor (and who so likely to prescribe properly for the case as the Doctor?) says[F] "common whitening proves an effectual remedy against the effects of the sting of a Bee or wasp. The whitening is to be moistened with cold water, and immediately applied. It may be washed off in a few minutes, when neither pain nor swelling will ensue."
[F] See "The Doctor," page 15.
In "The Apiarian's Guide, by J. H. Payne," published since the first edition of this work, I find the following novel mode of treatment recommended as "almost a perfect cure," and which is said to be "as immediate as it is effectual." "The method I (J. H. Payne, Esq.) have of late adopted, by which the pain is instantly removed, and both the swelling and inflammation prevented, is to pull out the sting as soon as possible, and take a piece of iron and heat it in the fire, or for want of that, take a live coal, (if of wood the better, because it lasts longer) and hold it as near to the place as I can possibly endure it, for five minutes; if from this application a sensation of heart (quere heat) should be occasioned, a little oil of turpentine or goulard cerate must be applied.
"I have found the quicker the application, the more effectual the cure."[G]
[G] See the Apiarian's Guide, pp. 58, 59.
Pressure with the hollowed end of a small key, or with a pencil-case, is practised by some unfortunates, and is said to check the circulation of the poison.
This last mode of treatment—i. e. pressure with a small key, or pencil-case—the smaller the better—is the simplest, and, if immediately adopted, is I believe the very best: but its efficacy depends upon the instant application of the key or pencil-case to the part stung, by which the poisonous matter is not only prevented from being absorbed into the system, but the puncture is laid open, and the virus thereby expressed and entirely got rid of more readily than by any other means.