Soothe the Sting - DIY Bee & Wasp Sting Relief

I have always been a bit afraid of being stung by bees or wasps. I love honey bees and do what I can to not hurt them. Wasps, on the other hand, terrify me to no end. Incidentally, I got my first wasp sting ever, at the same time that Syfy also received his. Spring had just begun this year, and we were out hiking in the Oak Point Nature Preserve. I must have poked a fallen nest with my walking stick because out of nowhere there were a couple wasps angrily chasing us around in circles until we both got stung, him in the head and me just under my eye where my sunglasses don't reach.

Realizing the angry wasps were guarding our way back out of the woods, I remembered my homemade Bugs-B-Gone spray was in my backpack and pulled it out. Please don't laugh too hard, but yes, I totally sprayed the air above and in front of us with that spray, effectively getting us out of the woods without being stung again. Out of breath and frankly, a little traumatized by what had just happened, we decided to forgo our the rest of our hiking trip that day. We turned back toward home, to lick our wounds and our pride (If you had seen the way we ran around, you would have felt for our loss of pride lol!). Once we had safely made it home without any further issues, I assessed the damage and decided how best to handle the situation. I remembered reading somewhere that bee stings and wasp stings are very different and require the opposite care.

Bee stings are acidic while wasps stings are alkaline

Did you know that bee venom and wasp venom are complete opposites of each other? At least in pH, they are! Bee sting venom is acidic in pH, while wasp sting venom is alkaline.Knowing this difference can help you to soothe the sting faster if you know what to apply to which sting. To neutralize the venom, you want to use something that has the opposite pH as the venom. You don't need a fancy herbal medicine chest to be able to do this, all that it takes is either a little bit of raw apple cider vinegar or baking soda. While making remedies for these two different types of stings, you can utilize this chemistry and apply ingredients that will help to neutralize the sting!

Create a healing roll-on to soothe the sting

Once you know the pH of the ingredients you have on hand, you can easily make yourself a Soothe the Sting roll-on to soothe whichever type of sting you get. These are just some of the natural ingredients you might have on hand:

ACIDIC INGREDIENTS

• vinegar (apple cider, white) - pH 2-3.3
• lemon juice - pH 2
• honey - pH 3.9
• hydrosols - pH varies from hydrosol to hydrosol but most are between pH 3- 5
• aloe vera - pH 4.4-5.5
• coconut oil - most coconut oils are heated during processing, making them acidic with roughly a pH of 3.5-5.5
• witch hazel extract - pH 3.31
• citric acid - this can be mixed into a liquid to drop the pH and is used in cosmetic to naturally preserve in this way
• coffee from roasted beans - pH 4.5-5

ALKALINE INGREDIENTS

• water - roughly pH 7
• baking soda - pH 8.3
• milk of magnesia pH 10-10.5
• vegetable glycerin pH 7
• castile soap pH 9
• nettle tea - pH 7
• coconut oil - if the company does not heat their coconut oil during processing, it will have a pH of around 7.3

Soothe the Sting - Bee Sting Roll-On Relief

The essential oils in this recipe are minimal and therefore safe for both babies/children and dogs, but StS is still totally effective without the essential oils. If needed, just omit essential oils!

INGREDIENTS

• 1/8 tsp. baking soda (has a pH of 8.3)
• 5 drops milk of magnesia (has a pH of 10)
• 1/4 tsp. liquid castile soap (has a pH of 9, helps to emulsify the essential oils into water, optional if you do not use eo's)
• 2 drops lavender essential oil (optional)
• 1 drop German chamomile essential oil (optional)
• filtered water, to fill (has a pH of roughly 7)
• 1/3 oz roll-on bottle

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the essential oils into the castile soap to emulsify (I like to add them into the roll-on bottle and then stir with a chopstick) and then add the rest of the ingredients, and water to fill. Cover and shake to blend together well. Label and store in the fridge to keep longer!

TO USE: Remove the stinger completely from the wound before applying Soothe the Sting. Shake well before use. Apply up to 5x daily until wound swelling is completely gone. Follow with a calendula owie salve until the wound is completely healed.

Soothe the Sting - Wasp Sting Roll-On Relief

The essential oils in this recipe are minimal and therefore safe for both babies/children and dogs, but StS is still totally effective without the essential oils. If needed, just omit essential oils!

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 tsp. raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar (has a pH of 3)
• 1/4 tsp. aloe vera gel (has a pH of 4.5-5.5)
• 1/2 tsp. raw unfiltered honey (has a pH of 3.9, helps to moisturize and heal while also emulsifying essential oils into water)
• 2 drops lavender essential oil (optional)
• 1 drop German chamomile essential oil (optional)
• chamomile hydrosol, to fill (has a pH of 3.0-3.3, although not all hydrosols have the same pH, most of them are fairly acidic and more so than water, so you can substitute pretty much any other hydrosol you might have on hand, if you have no hydrosols on hand, substitute raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar, to fill instead)
• 1/3 oz roll-on bottle

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the essential oils into the honey to emulsify (I like to add them into the roll-on bottle and then stir with a chopstick) and then add the rest of the ingredients, and chamomile hydrosol to fill. Cover and shake to blend together well. Label and store in the fridge to keep longer!

TO USE: Remove the stinger completely from the wound before applying Soothe the Sting. Shake well before use. Apply up to 5x daily until wound swelling is completely gone. Follow with a calendula owie salve until the wound is completely healed.