son attacked by swarm of bees...be careful when weeding

[3_ring_circus_]

SO this morning I woke up with a plan the weather was cool we had a little rain last night, it was the perfect time to grab the kids and get some weed pulling and garden clean up done for the fall.

the boys and i were tackling the weeds and the plants that had died out for the summer, my daughter was dancing around the yard it was peaceful then all of a sudden my 8 y/o son AJ screams and i mean the blood curling scream that makes every mom's adrenaline kick into high gear, i look up to see bees (yellow jackets) all over him but mostly on his head and i yell "get out of there" my 11 y/o son Trent and i run over and start trying to get the bees off of AJ the bees starting attacking us so i yell for Trent to run (he is allergic to all kinds of bugs and bees make him swell) AJ is still screaming and we are well away from where it started but they keep coming back. This is absolutely one of my worst fears after seeing one too many movies where a child gets attacked by bees and dies. they kept attacking his head and would not stop my daughter ran into the house thank god, my neighbors must have thought we were crazy everyone screaming and running around i had to chase aj just to get the bees off him and i was smacking the bees so it looked like i was smacking poor AJ. finally i get them all off him. i rip his shirt off him to make sure they are not inside the shirt i then get him inside grab the phone as i run for the benadryl call a friend to come over  (at this point i think i am going to have to go to the ER) Once the benadryl is in him i start with baking soda and finish pulling out stingers he was stung at least a dozen times in his head. ears, neck , hands, and on his tongue. Not to mention the bites also. I put ice packs on then my friends got here and we added ice gave him Motrin kept an eye on the swelling.

As of now the swelling has stopped i gave him more benedryl, my friend sent her husband for popcisle's since i ran out yesterday and he was also able to eat. 2 hours of crying and screaming later and now he is on the couch under his blanket staring at the TV. I had to send an email to tell my husband what happened (he has a job where i cant just call him and talk to him) I wasnt even sure he would get the email since he was working away from the computer today luckily he went on his lunch break right after i sent the email and he called us to check on everything. I had the situation under control so DH will be home in 2 hours and i can relax a little bit.

After all was said and done i noticed AJ had a spot of peanut butter near his mouth from the toast he had eaten just before we went outside which is what we think attracted them to his mouth, he was in a part of the flower bed with very few weeds, they were not thick at all so I never thought something like this would happen in that area, I have denser areas in my yard where i would have been more leery of letting him work. He has now said he refuses to help me with yard work ever again, I cant say I blame him poor kid I feel horrid. I am still amazed i escaped without any stings.

I learned that for now on I am really going to check any areas we plan to work in before we get started just so I know if there is anything dangerous in there. I never want to go through this again it was scary I am just so thankful he didn't have a bad reaction and he is starting to feel better.

[Dani32]

Sep. 6, 2009 at 5:24 PM

I hope he feels better soon.  I was attacked last summer while mowing the grass.  I am not allergic to anything but by the time I made it into the house I was having issues breathing.  It was horrible especially since after the first bite, they let out a chemical to inform the others where food is located.  The more you run the worst it gets.  I know I cried forever.  I can't imagine how it felt for an 8 yr old.  To this day, I won't mow the grass again.

[daye62]

Sep. 6, 2009 at 10:03 PM

Even though I am a beekeeper,( and let's be clear:yellow jackets are not bees) ,and I use all precautions including a veil and my smoker I am still stung once in a while.So thank God your little one did not have a true allergic response,which always includes difficulty breathing.

I know you didn't ask me but I'd like to share some simple,easy steps for safety and explain what your mistakes were.NEVER EVER run away from a hive on the attack.Walk as slowly and calmly as you can.Running whips them into a frenzy and will guarantee you'll get stung.Don't swat at them as when you do you're causing them to inject more venom.The reason they went for your son's face is pure instinct on their part,as their natural enemies in the wild are bears and it was actually his eyes they wanted.Never try to pick out the stinger but gently dislodge it with the edge of a credit card or something similar.Immediately take an antihistamine,like benadryl,and apply ice for 20 minutes every couplr of hours.Tylenol for fever if youneed it.

I send good wishes for your little one and hope that these tips help in the future.

[3_ring_circus_]

Sep. 7, 2009 at 1:52 AM

Daye62 you know its funny normally I tell my kids to just walk away, but for some reason this was a time when we all freaked out and completely lost our common sense. I knew he wasnt allergic but with this many i was worried, luckily benadryl is kept in my car, purse, kids sports bags , kitchen, bathroom (basically any easy place to grab it) my other son has many allergies so i had plenty around.

Dani32 I had no idea they let out a chemical, that makes complete sense.

Luckily all the swelling went down and between the benedryl motrin and ice we gave him and applied right away he seems to be doing really well. He refuses to go back outside. At 8 o'clock tonight I went out and ripped everything out of my garden and DH sprayed the nest but he is pretty sure they have made a nice home in the railroad tie border we have, so we have more work to do.

(Original Poster)

[logansmomma2007]

Sep. 8, 2009 at 10:03 AM

Oh wow!  How scary!  He is probably traumatized from all that.  One sting is bad enough, but 12!  That is crazy.

I was gardening over the weekend myself and found that we have an infestation of wasps near our front porch in our bushes.  I removed 4 nests!!  Luckily I was the only one outside to find it, but still.  I got bit once and was a baby about it.  I can only imagine how your son feels :-(