Attacked by bees

Once you are inside

A few bees will follow you in. That is far better than several hundred outside. Go to a room you can shut, and deal with them later.

1. Count the stings, roughly. It decides everything that follows.
2. Scrape the stingers out sideways — a credit card, a fingernail, the back of a knife. Do not pinch and pull: the venom sac is still attached and squeezing it injects the rest.
3. Wash with soap and water, then a cold pack, twenty minutes on and twenty off.
4. Paracetamol or ibuprofen for pain. An antihistamine helps the swelling.
5. Write down the time.

When it is an emergency

Call 911 for any of these:

• More than about ten to fifteen stings in an adult — fewer in a child.
• Difficulty breathing, a tight throat, or a hoarse voice.
• Swelling of the face, lips or tongue.
• Hives spreading away from the sting sites.
• Dizziness, fainting, vomiting, or confusion.
• Any sting inside the mouth or throat.

Yuma specifics

Most mass-sting incidents here start the same way: someone begins work near a colony they did not know was there. A hedge trimmer next to a block wall, a mower by an irrigation box, a ladder against a tile roof. The noise and vibration set it off.

Heat makes it worse. Running in 45 degrees while being stung is its own medical problem, and Yuma summers punish anyone who has to do it.

If pets are outside, they cannot run far or get indoors. Dogs tied or penned near a colony are the most common fatal case in Arizona.

After the emergency

An attack means an established colony nearby — usually within a few dozen yards, often closer. It will not leave on its own and it grows weekly.

Do not go looking for it while bees are still agitated; they stay defensive for hours. Where to look once things settle, and what removal involves.

General information, not medical advice. When in doubt, call 911 — mass stings are exactly what they are for.