The Anatomy of the Enemy

Since arriving home, I’ve tried to put some sense to the gardens, as well as, very gradually, set things right in the house.  It’s a slow process!  When I arrived home from running errands yesterday, I stooped over to clear out some weeds around a bush.  I wasn’t wearing garden gloves.  It was near the completion of the job that I felt a sting and saw, beneath some compost, a bee struggling to free itself.  At first it didn’t register that I had received my very first bee sting, but within moments, as the pain intensified, I put two and two together!  OUCH!

I ditched the garden and headed for the house, took a swig of liquid benylin in the kitchen and reached for the phone to call my daughter.  I could see the stinger, but given that it was on my right hand on my ring-finger, I couldn’t sort out a way to get it out.  And man, did it hurt!  My son-in-law kept me relax-breathing (lol) while my daughter headed over with her tweezers.  The sweat broke out on my forehead as I feared a reaction.  My finger was swelling as the minutes ticked by. I smile as I type this drama now, but it was all about the ‘new’ and the ‘unknown’ at the time.

Two doors down, my neighbour grabbed her tweezers and pulled the small-but-painful stinger out and I experienced immediate relief.  These neighbours have come to my aid more than once!  In fact, her husband once patiently talked me through the change of an oven element, so that I would always know how to make that repair myself.  Good friends, definitely!

When my daughter arrived, we sat and chatted about my first bee sting.  I expressed my gratitude to her and my son-in-law for their quick support and love.  I’d really enjoy reading your first bee sting story!  Please, do share!  I will never again shrug off someone’s account of their ‘clash’ with the insect world!