If I be waspish

Not the one I saw.
The Carmel Shakespeare Festival

I went to a performance of Taming of the Shrew on Sunday. Quite an excellent, intelligent and witty performance from the American Shakespeare Center at the Blackfriars Playhouse right down the road from me in Staunton, Virginia. They had come touring to a sell-out crowd at my little Community College in the Blue Ridge.

In any case, Taming of the Shrew contains the memorable line,
“If I be waspish, best beware my sting”
and it gets a bit bawdy from there. I had been thinking about wasps, as it happens, because I have a wasp nest in the back of my yard right under the bird house.

This is one of those “Oh, how full of briers is this working-day world!” moments which is Rosalind’s line, not Kate’s, but it is also very properly my own line. After con

A wasp in amber. Not so terrible to look at

sidering several schemes I have decided not to deal with the wasps at all. I will wait till it freezes and then knock the stupid nest down. Then the ants can eat the wasps.
I feel entirely bloodthirsty and violent, but I intend to do this anyway.

This brought to mind the history of wasps and their relations with people and I decided to look into how my Regency folks would have dealt with wasp stings since I might be collecting some of my own.

Since I’m talking bugs I will just stop by for a brief nod at Charles Valentine Riley as I go by, that knowledgeable and far-sighted entomologist. He spearheaded the first US Grasshopper Commission, you know, and headed the U.S. Entomological Commission in 1876. Riley turned his back on the Big Chem of its day – pesticides based on arsenic, lead, and kerosene -- and said, he’d never “had much faith in the application to the plant or the insect of any chemical mixture.” It was the insects’ natural enemies, “that carry on their good work most effectually.”

So it is kinda like me following Riley and handing over the wasps to my allies the ants, assuming the ants come out and eat the wasps during a warm spell which is by no means assured.

But onward to the Regency.
How did they deal with wasp sting?

In The New Family Receipt-book, 1811, John Murray says, “rubbing of the part stung, with a slice of onion, will give immediate ease.” Or they can be treated by applying “oil of tartar or solution of potash, and it will give instant ease; as also well bruised mallows.”

Oil of tartar is what we call cream of tartar when we use it in cooking nowadays. It’s a byproduct of wine making apparently. Potash is literally pot ash, the ash from charred vegetables. It would have been used as a fertilizer in the Regency, being all full of potassium goodness.
Mallow is a plant family. Here’s one.
 
Murray adds, “Sweet oil, applied immediately, cures the sting of wasps or bees.” Sweet oil being olive oil in this case.

And “The immediate application of Eau du Luce to many persons who have been stung by wasps, has caused the pain to subside in a few seconds, and after a few minutes all inflammation ceased.”

I know you are going to ask about Eau de Luce so I have this ready for you.

Per The Domestic Encyclopedia of A. F. M. Willich, Eau De Luce is a ... "liquid volatile soap with a pungent smell." To make it, you dissolve white soap in alcohol, add oil of amber, (which is what you get when you heat amber till it melts,) and volatile spirit of sal ammoniac. (That seems to be ammonium hydroxide and ammonium chloride. Quicklime is involved in this somehow and I wouldn’t mess with it myself.)

You can perfume your Eau de Luce with lavender if that’s how you roll.

Willich goes on to say the use of Eau de Luce “as an external remedy is extensive; for it has been employed for curing the bites of vipers, wasps, bees, gnats, ants, and other insects, for burns and even the bite of a mad-dog, though not always with uniform success.”

Hmmm. I imagine not.

Mostly though, Eau de Luce was used as very upscale smelling salts. It came in a lovely gold-decorated bottle. Nothing like a gold bottle to rouse you from a stupor.

As one heroine put it:

“I was indeed ready to faint! I was never so ill. The men, who all condemned Lord Merton’s rashness, ran for drops, &c. &c. Bellville held one of my hands in his, and with the other, an eau de luce bottle to my nose. His tender solicitude, and repeated assurances that he was not much hurt, soon restored me.”

Moving from remedies that include melted amber to the more mundane sort:

“A good remedy for the sting of wasps and bees, is to apply to the part affected common culinary salt, moistened with a little water. Even in a case where the patient had incautiously swallowed a wasp in a draught of beer, and been stung by it in the windpipe, the alarming symptoms that ensued were almost instantly relieved by swallowing repeated doses of water, saturated with salt.” John Murray

If I find myself going head to head with wasps, I will keep a canister of salt handy.

One final word from the scienc-y folks of the Regency:

“Various kinds of oil, honey, ammonia, spirit of wine, and several other reputed specifics, appear to deserve no such character, since they are found, after unprejudiced trials, to have no power of neutralizing the venom, nor of appeasing the actual pain arising from the sting. ... [The best treatment is] The part is afterwards to be covered with snow, or bathed with ice-cold water, or some cooling sedative lotion. In short, the case is to be treated on common antiphlogistic principles, experience having fully proved that no specific has yet been discovered for the sting of the bee, and other venomous insects.”
The Cyclopedia: Or Universal Dictionary, Volume 38, 1819, Abraham Rees

 

So. What are your antiphlogistic principles?

How do you treat any wasp stings or bee stings that come into your life?

Comments

[Mary T]

I was stung once as a very young child. I think it was in the grass and I stepped on it with my bare foot. I don't remember too much about it, except that I was screaming bloody murder. My older brother was also rather severally stung when he disturbed a nest in an old piece of farm equipment in the barnyard of a relative.

So I was scared of bees as a child, but they don't bother me now. I don't bother them and they don't bother me. The flowers that surround my porch are ones that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. But they also attract bees of every shape and size - including the occasional wasp. While they do freak out the kids, they don't bother me at all. I figure they have a job to do and it will be a sorry day if they are ever not around to do it. But I'll keep the suggested remedies in mind in case I one day get stung by one someday (smile).

[Kathy K]

I did a quick study of webMD to see what they recommend for wasp stings. They think that the area should be washed with soap and warm water, an ice pack applied and tylenol taken for the pain. There are also various topical products that can be applied, but I don't have any evidence about their effectiveness. These products are "Sting Eze," "After Bite, and "Dynarex Sting and Bite Relief."

[Lillian Marek]

I was once stung by a wasp when I was in Italy. My hand promptly ballooned up so that I couldn't make a fist any more. Unfortunately, my Italian is pretty minimal. So there i was in a drug store, waving my hand at the clerk and saying "Vespa" (I knew that meant wasp from the motorbikes), "pungere" (I thought that meant something like puncture) and "antihistamine" (assuming there'd be an Italian word pretty close to that).

She handed me something that said "histamine", I took it, and the swelling began to subside. I now make sure I have benadryl or something like it on hand. Especially since wasps have taken to nesting in various places around the house.

They are very nasty creatures. Bad-tempered and vicious.

[Sue McCormick]

I am lucky that I have never been stung. (Chiggers used to love me, but that's a different story).

I would have washed the wound. And taken ibuprofen or Tylenol if the pain was bad. This was my thought before I read what Kathy K. said.

I wonder — if internal Tylenol works would Aspercreme work if spread on the area.

Lillian — that degree of swelling could be dangerous. It sounds like too severe a reaction to be ignores. Please check with the medics!

[Margaret]

Oh dear. This whole conversation makes me want to run and hide! We have lovely raspberry bushes in our back yard, but unfortunately we also have a plethora of wasps that seem to live in holes in the ground. So every year most of the raspberries get eaten by the birds as we're all too chicken to brave the wasps! I ws out there once with my dog and he got stung - his whole snout swelled up terribly, and it was off to the emergency vet (because of course it was on a Sunday), who for a ferocious fee told me to give him Benadryl next time. Please be careful, Jo, and best of luck!!

[Joanne Bourne]

I'm wholly in favor of bees. They do such good work and my sister keeps bees, which gives me a proprietorial interest.

I will have to plant some butterfly bushes and see if I can get more of them on site

[Joanne Bourne]

How very clever you were to scrape your words together like that. You were very creative.

I haven't been stung for many years. (crosses fingers) Histamine, huh? I will keep that in mind.

[Joanne Bourne]

Interesting that after two centuries they still recommend ice on the wound. I would never have thought of ice myself.

I have to admit I'm a bit skeptical of stuff you rub on the bite. I darkly suspect it's all cider vinegar or cologne or melted amber.

[Joanne Bourne]

If one gets swelling from wasps one might get serious swelling next time. Or swelling from something similar. Yes. Worth checking out.

Aspertame huh? I suppose there's no no reason why it shouldn't penetrate through the skin. I wonder if a topical anesthetic would work. I wonder if that's what cold on the sting does... numbs everything.

[Joanne Bourne]

Heck (jo says helpfully) if benadryl is an answer one can go around recommending it much cheaper than the emergency vet.

What have become of all the home remedies, I wonder. Do we get stung less? Are we less inventive with lemon juice or coconut oil?

[gamistress66]

interesting article, some so simple & some rather complex. I vote for the whole avoid it to start with method personally followed by having someone else handle it which also assists in the continued application/practice of step one ;) good luck with the nest, hope you nor the animals get stung.

[Joanne Bourne]

When a cure -- a folk lore cure certainly and maybe modern medical super cures too -- is complex and complicated and full of expensive ingredients, I always figure half the relief is keeping the poor stingee busy and distracted.

[Vicki L.]

Okay..here is my tried and true sting/bug bite relief. I've been stung by honey bees, wasps, yellow jackets, fire ants, saddle back caterpillars.....probably a few other things as well during my gardening days.

Baking soda made into a paste using water. My mom used to do that when I would step on a bee and I still continue to do that when I inadvertently get bit/stung.

It doesn't, however, do much of anything for chiggers since they are invariably in the wrong spot to apply baking soda paste.

I've also heard of cold tea for burns and a tobacco paste application for stings/bites. Personally, I'll stick to baking soda since I hate tobacco..

Benedryl works on most people since very few people are allergic to it. However, it can cause severe drowsiness in some people. Another side effect - hives and rashes in a few rare individuals (me being one who breaks out).

If you've had a huge reaction to a sting in the past, it is always wise to carry a dose of benedryl with you to be taken immediately.. We had to do that for one of my sisters as she would start swelling up immediately.

As for wasp nest eradication - my philosophy has always been if it isn't in a spot that is dangerous to me, leave it be until fall/winter and then destroy it when there is no one to get me.

If it is a small wasp nest in a bad spot or in a birdhouse that the birds are wanting to use: in the middle of the day knock it down with a long stick.

Being prepared to run of course as well as being dressed for the occasion: long sleeves, long pants and a hat just in case you aren't fast enough...

I could write more on wasps/hornets/bees stings and eradication but I think this has about covered it!

[Bonnie Loshbaugh]

I don't have any sting remedies, but your first image from Taming of the Shrew reminded me of this clip from a 1976 production: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdqOHvcD-VU
It's really quite an amazing version, and the young man playing Petrucchio is quite athletic, as you can see because he does not wear a shirt... ;)

[Kathy K]

Ice is very good to numb the area temporarily and also reduces swelling with occurs as a result of inflammation.

[Kathy K]

Insect stings are potentially fatal to someone who is highly allergic. This would be the person who needs to carry an injectable form of epinephrine, such as Epi-pen. Taking bendryl in that case doesn't work fast enough.

[LynS]

My husband is very allergic to wasps. We try to keep them away from the house.He put a tennis ball on the end of an arrow and soaked it with wasp spray then shot down the wasp nest on the eaves.

[Joanne Bourne]

THAT is bravery above and beyond the call of duty, y'know.

I hope he looks in to the need for an epipen if it's at all likely he might need one. Better to be over prepared than under ...

[Joanne Bourne]

Taming of the Shrew is a play that lends itself to broad comedy -- I wouldn't be at all surprised if that were the way it was originally played.

This looks like a lovely production and they are both prodigiously athletic.

[Joanne Bourne]

I'm going to agree that an epipen might be a good precaution if somebody's had a bad reaction in the past. One of those times to visit a doctor ... and I don't send folks in such direction often.

My mom was another of the baking soda people. In fact, she used a paste of baking soda for all kinds of bites. Sunburn too. I don't know if it did any good, but it was nice and cool and soothing.