Uptown Office: 450 West End Avenue • New York, NY 10024 • 212-769-3070 • Fax: 877-451-0227

Downtown Office: 2 Fifth Avenue • New York, NY 10011 • 212-353-0072 • Fax: 877-451-0227

Uptown Office: 450 West End Avenue • New York, NY 10024 • 212-769-3070 • Fax: 877-451-0227

Downtown Office: 2 Fifth Avenue • New York, NY 10011 • 212-353-0072 • Fax: 877-451-0227

Bee or Yellow Jacket Sting

Symptom Definition

  • The child was stung by a honeybee, bumblebee, hornet, paper wasp. or yellow jacket
  • Over 95 percent of stings are from honey bees or yellow jackets
  • The sting involves injecting venom into the human from the bee's stinger
  • The main symptoms are pain, swelling and redness at the sting site
  • A severe allergic reaction is called anaphylaxis

See More Appropriate Topic

  • If not a bee, wasp or yellow jacket sting, see INSECT BITES

Call 911 Now (your child may need an ambulance) If

  • Wheezing or difficulty breathing
  • Hoarseness, cough or tightness in the throat or chest
  • Difficulty swallowing or slurred speech
  • Thinking or speech is confused
  • Passed out (loss of consciousness)
  • Previous severe allergic reaction to bees, yellow jackets, etc. (not just hives or swelling)
  • (Note: anaphylaxis usually starts within 20 minutes, and always by 2 hours following a sting.)

First Aid Advice for Anaphylaxis

  • Give epinephrine injection if you have an anaphylactic kit or epipen
  • Inject it into the muscle of the upper outer thigh

Call Your Doctor Now (night or day) If

  • Your child looks or acts very sick
  • Hives or swelling elsewhere on the body
  • More than 10 stings
  • Sting inside the mouth

Call Your Doctor within 24 Hours (between 9 and 4) If

  • You think your child needs to be seen
  • Sting looks infected (red streaking from the sting area, yellow drainage)
  • (NOTE: infection and cellulitis don't start until at least 24-48 hours after the sting. Any redness in the first 24 hours is due to venom)
  • Swelling is huge (e.g. spreads beyond wrist or ankle)

Call Your Doctor during Weekday Office Hours If

  • You have other questions or concerns

Parent Care at Home

  • Normal bee sting and you don't think your child needs to be seen

Home Care Advice for Bee Sting

  1. Try to Remove the Stinger (if present): Use a fingernail, credit card edge or knife edge to scrape it off. Don't pull it off. (Reason: squeezes out more venom). If the stinger is below the skin surface, leave it alone. It will be shed with normal skin healing.
  2. Meat Tenderizer: Apply a meat tenderizer-water solution on a cotton ball for 20 minutes (EXCEPTION: near the eye). This neutralizes the venom and decreases pain and swelling. If not available, apply aluminum-based deodorant or a baking soda solution for 20 minutes. For persistent pain, massage with an ice cube for 10 minutes.
  3. Pain Medicine: Give acetaminophen or ibuprofen immediately for relief of pain and burning.
  4. Antihistamine: If the sting becomes itchy, give a dose of Benadryl.
  5. Expected Course: Severe pain or burning at the site lasts 1 to 2 hours. Normal swelling from venom can increase for 24 hours following the sting. The swelling disappears after 3 to 5 days.
  6. Call Your Doctor If
  • Develops difficulty breathing or swallowing CALL 911! (mainly during the 2 hours after the sting)
  • Swelling become huge or spreads beyond the wrist or ankle
  • Sting begins to look infected
  • Your child becomes worse or develops any of the "Call Your Doctor" symptoms