Hornet stings are no fun! One weekend, my husband and I were working on our property, wearing long pants, long-sleeved shirts, and sturdy shoes. We were loading dead branches and carting them from one end of our property to the other for a dead hedge. Our land is covered in oak and pine trees so there are lots of dead branches on the ground. My husband pulled the cart and I was behind it, making sure they didn’t fall out.
The Hornet Stings Me
Without any warning, I got a sharp pain in my left butt just below the hip! I cried out and forced my husband to stop while I checked out what had happened.
My first thought was that an insect crawling in my pants had bitten me. My husband checked my backside to see if he could spot what might have done this. There was nothing there!
The pain was still severe, and a completely new experience for me. After unloading the cart, I asked him to check out the painful area again. That’s when he spotted a welt as big as a half-dollar!
Definitely Not a Bee!
Next, he checked for a stinger. We didn’t find one of those either. So, it wasn’t a bee that got me. I finally realized that a hornet had stung me right through my jeans.
Hornets and Wasps
Hornets and wasps have stingers without barbs. They don’t die after stinging something because the stinger does not come out. Hornets have a more toxic venom compared to wasps, so their stings are more dangerous. Most people won’t die from a hornet sting, but a hornet can sting more than once, injecting poison each time.
There are some large Asian hornets that have killed humans in Japan and China. Luckily, we don’t have those where I live!
The most common hornet in North America is the European hornet. It is also the largest wasp-like insect on the North American continent and can grow to over an inch long. It is colored dark brown and black with yellow on the abdomen.
Female Hornets Have Stingers
Females are larger than males and the only ones with stingers. Female hornets usually sting if their nest or food source is in danger. I couldn’t tell which one I got close to, but it’s possible that I accidentally stepped on the hornet or its nest which resulted in being stung.
Spider Webs and Hornets
We have lot of trees on our property, so we also have rotting wood and spiders in abundance. This is where hornets like to make their nests; they also steal food from spiders’ webs when they can.
Anytime we walk around our property, we are always pushing webs out of the way. Given these two factors, I should not have been surprised that I was attacked.
I certainly wouldn’t recommend messing with a hornet nest. The entire nest can come after an attacker to sting him. If you decide to do this, be prepared!
Not All Bad
Hornets can be helpful in eating insects, including ones that can damage plants in gardens. They are also known to attack honey bee hives and can destroy them.
My Sting Aftermath
I was glad to find out I am not allergic to hornet stings. Unfortunately for people who are, their sting can result in headaches, a rise in blood pressure and difficulty breathing. If my experience with the hornet sting had given me those symptoms, I would have gone to an emergency room for treatment.
What I did have were burning and itching sensations where I was stung. Some different herbal and essential oils were tried, but the best treatment for me was arnica gel. The burning and itching went away, and the welt disappeared with repeated application over several days.
I don’t look forward to another hornet sting, but I know how to handle it if it does happen.
Another learning experience. I guess we’ll have to look into what precautions we can take to avoid such stings in the future. If we get bee’s we wont want the hornet’s around so maybe another solution will need to be found.
I think there is enough room on the property for both, but the hornet sting definitely surprised me!