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Original poster

That keeping still does not stop you being stung by wasps

82 replies

BQ91 · 30/04/2023 17:02

I always run away and the two people I know that have stayed still have both been stung! Obviously very small sample size but would be interesting to hear stories.

OP posts:
Babdoc · 30/04/2023 19:38

I found 200 wasps holding an angry dance party in my bedroom one evening - they’d nested in the void under the eaves and forced their way through the plaster.
I also danced about, and swatted 199 of them without getting stung.
Then I got into bed, lying perfectly still, and the 200th wasp - which had been hiding under the duvet - stung me on the boob. Bastard. I flicked it off and it stung my thumb as well.
So based on that experience, no, staying still is not recommended!
I got the pest controller out the next day and he climbed on the roof and gassed their nest. And the village handyman replastered the wall. All is now quiet on the Western Front…

FourTeaFallOut · 30/04/2023 19:38

Oh what, I was going to put it alongside my other MN medals of bravery, like the one for answering the door and wearing shoes around the house with no regard for the germs?

BashfulClam · 30/04/2023 19:39

I bc was just standing still at a bus stop minding my own business. Suddenly I had a sharp sting in the back of my neck. Little fucker had crawled into my hair, probably got stuck and panicked. When I shook my hair and it fell out I stamped on the wee bastard. I had to put vinegar on the back of my neck to stop the pain.

OldEgghead · 30/04/2023 19:41

I stayed still once and let a wasp crawl over my lips, much to the horror of my family.

I did not get stung, in fact I have never been stung, just stay still.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 30/04/2023 19:42

AnalLysis · 30/04/2023 19:16

When they sting you, they release a pheromone that marks you as a threat. I can contest to this when DS got stung and we ended up running over a mile home with them divebombing him all the way. I wonder if some people naturally give off that scent? I’ve never been stung but both my children have numerous times. Like how some people (me) are more prone to mosquito bites. My mum used to say I must smell nice.

An ex (also a flapper and shrieker) was like catnip for curious wasps. They'd mosey on up to check him out, he'd go batshit, swinging wildly at them and squealing, they thought 'OH! This thing is attacking me' or he'd catch them with his wild flailing and practically drive their sting into his hands.

I knew exactly what caused their interest in him. He was an alcoholic and would frequently be in ketosis once he'd run out of money. It was an easy way to see that he'd been on one when he was swearing blind he hadn't touched a drop for months, as the wasps could tell even when I couldn't as he'd been attempting to drown the stink in mints, red bull, toothpaste and body spray.

Daffodilmorning · 30/04/2023 19:45

I’ve never been stung (knock on wood!) and the suspense is awful… what does it feel like?

I have a pretty irrational fear that I’m going to find out I’m allergic the first time one gets me.

No idea if it’s helped me avoid getting stung, but I’m in the ‘move away extremely slowly and hope for the best’ camp. Shooing them out of the house is the hardest thing.

gelliprintcess · 30/04/2023 19:45

I run (and possibly shriek) out of fear, but I don't flap. The only time I've been stung, I didn't even realise it was there until I was stung, so I wasn't running, but wasn't standing absolutely still, either. Stupid wasps.

gelliprintcess · 30/04/2023 19:53

It's been over twenty years since I was stung, but I think it was just a very 'hot', sharp pain. I seem to remember that it throbbed for a while, then was sensitive/sore for a couple of days. It's no fun, but it's not the worst thing I've experienced. I do feel for people who are stung several times at once, though.

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 30/04/2023 19:54

The only wasps that have ever stung me are ones I hadn’t seen. I usually ignore, blow on or flick them which seems to work. DH was stung by one of the stripy fuckers while walking down a mountain in Austria. Absolutely no provocation - it just flew towards him and attacked.

I do wonder whether it could smell the strudel we’d eaten an hour or so earlier and was cross that DH wasn’t sharing.

Caramelsmadfuzzytail · 30/04/2023 19:56

I have been stung 3 times in my life. 1 was when I was young and fidgeting at the dinner table, sat on it. 2 was playing around on a friends rug and I rolled on it. 3 was walking down a driveway and something tickled between my fingers, bastard stung my finger. I still have a scar. The worst one was when I was sitting at a picnic table drinking a can of Dr pepper, the wasp landed on my lip. I had sunglasses on so the bloke I was with was unaware of how terrified I was until a tear ran down my face. Fortunately I wasn't stung. Any other time I stand still, shut my eyes and wait until the buzzing goes away. Wasps are only interested if you are wood or edible.
I am also allergic to them so my fight or flight instinct is fucked up.

Caramelsmadfuzzytail · 30/04/2023 20:01

Bees on the other hand, I've been stung while walking down the middle of a lane minding my own business nary a bee in sight, until I got stung 3 fucking times.

TolkiensFallow · 30/04/2023 20:06

Flap and run. It’s never let me down.

HappilyContentTheseDays · 30/04/2023 20:12

Depends whether you mean wasps or hornets.
Wasps? They'll sting anything and quite happily jab at you even if you're still.
Hornets? Much, much more dangerous but tend to get angry and chase anything that moves. And they'll outfly you however fast you run. Therefore best to stay absolutely still while they sniff around and normally they'll give up and follow something else....

SchoolShenanigans · 30/04/2023 20:12

I'm a runner, never stung!

BettyOBarley · 30/04/2023 20:34

I'm a flapper, I honestly can't help it even though I know I look like a fool. My mum is a flapper too so obviously got it from her!

It's not the actual sting that bothers me, I've been stung once (showing someone round work and the bastard just flew into the back of my arm and stung me). It did hurt a lot but it's more the irrational fear that I'll have some sort of reaction.
Especially as I heard it's not the first time you get stung that you react but the second. So now I'm a major flapper! 🤣

RatSlave · 30/04/2023 20:42

I got stung once while jogging sort of trapped the poor thing in the crook of my arm so it got me in return. I'm terrified of wasps and will calmly walk away at speed from them no flapping no running just speed walking in terror Grin Bee's on the other hand I'll happily pick up to move if they're on the pavement and I've never been stung by one. I love showing kids how you can stroke them and they're entirely unbothered by you.

isthismylifenow · 30/04/2023 20:51

countvoncount · 30/04/2023 17:54

I don't know about wasps....but I'm a beekeeper (garden hive)
When bees sting, they leave some kind of pheromones behind and you're more predisposed to be stung again, as you've been a previous "threat"
I've never been stung btw, they literally ignore me, I can mow the lawn around the hive in a T-shirt no problem
My other half, well he's a flapper, and gets stung regularly, goes down like he's been shot 🙄

😆. I saw something on tik tok (so it must be true) that showed ratings of pain. Bee and wasp stings were 14 or something, even a higher pain than slicing your hand open with glass. (or something similar). Don't think quite as high as being shot though 🤭

Wasps are simply bastards though. They put no thought into who and what they will sting. My ds was just walking past the patio this week and one just flew right into him and stung him on the back of his neck. Cowardly bastards at that as no notice and no sign of the impending attack.

But the pain level is something else though. A while ago I was outside in a bikini and a brushed past a bush, when I just got hit with this pain (might have thought I was being shot). The fucker got me 7 times across my stomach. I had an attack line. God it was so sore.

At least a bee will get you once after careful thought. These bastards are like a machine gun.

I don't think running or keeping still matters. They like the element of surprise so you just never know the best plan.

EnglishMuffins · 30/04/2023 20:55

I usually flap around and run but last time I tried to stay still and the determined little fucker stung me on my inner thigh. Hurt so much for hours so I’m going back to flapping/running. Works for me.

Gourmetfelix · 01/05/2023 09:32

To those who have never been stung, do not worry! It really does not hurt that much. I've been stung many a time it hurts a bit but not enough to worry about at all. Jelly fish a fair bit worse. And if you have ever given birth, you REALLY don't need to worry about how much a wasp sting hurts 😁

Needapadlockonmyfridge · 01/05/2023 10:05

Gourmetfelix · 01/05/2023 09:32

To those who have never been stung, do not worry! It really does not hurt that much. I've been stung many a time it hurts a bit but not enough to worry about at all. Jelly fish a fair bit worse. And if you have ever given birth, you REALLY don't need to worry about how much a wasp sting hurts 😁

I have given birth without pain relief.
I have been stung by wasps.

Wasp stings hurt like hell. I hate the stripey bastards.

Hopedun · 01/05/2023 10:10

I've been stung while asleep in a tent (presumably I was still).

A couple of years ago I was stung by a bee which was wrapped up in washing on the line which I was carrying inside. I then fainted. If I hadn't had some of that antihistamine cream I think I would have had to go to hospital! Maybe I'm allergic now.

SirVixofVixHall · 21/08/2023 15:10

Daffodilmorning · 30/04/2023 19:45

I’ve never been stung (knock on wood!) and the suspense is awful… what does it feel like?

I have a pretty irrational fear that I’m going to find out I’m allergic the first time one gets me.

No idea if it’s helped me avoid getting stung, but I’m in the ‘move away extremely slowly and hope for the best’ camp. Shooing them out of the house is the hardest thing.

It really bloody hurts ! A burning, throbbing intense pain that lasts for ages.
I am allergic and very scared of them, they ruin every Summer for me, limit my holiday choices, and give me nightmares.
If you do get stung, get indoors, as the pheromones released mean any other wasps around will try and sting you.
My friend had a Hornets nest last Summer…. Terrifyingly huge beasts.

LizzieW1969 · 21/08/2023 15:54

I confess that I’m totally terrified of wasps! The last time I was stung was 8 years ago, on my leg, and it was very swollen for around 3 weeks. It reminded me of a very bad jellyfish sting I had at the age of 15. (I was stung by wasps a few times as a child with no ill effects.)

I don’t stand still . Yes I flap around and run away. I probably look like an idiot, but I really don’t fancy being stung that badly again. (Or worse.)

I’m not afraid of bees curiously. But then, I haven’t ever been stung. And they don’t come at me the way wasps do.

LoobyDop · 21/08/2023 15:56

It doesn’t, but it’s incredibly irritating when everything has to stop while someone makes an enormous drama out of a wasp. Especially as it can happen several times while you’re eating/drinking/whatever.

bellsbuss · 21/08/2023 16:02

I act like the craziest person ever when there's a wasp but I tell my children to keep still Grin

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