420 REMEDIES FOR THE STING OF A BEE. 



flesh, injecting continually more and more of its poison 

 into the wound. Every Apiarian, (unless he wears a bee- 

 dress,) should have about his person, a small piece of 

 looking-glass, so that he may be able with the least possible 

 delay, to find and remove a sting. In most cases, if extracted 

 at once, it will produce no serious consequences ; whereas if 

 suffered to empty all its vials of wrath, it may cause great in- 

 flammation and severe suffering. After the sting is removed, 

 the utmost possible care should be taken, not to irritate the 

 wound by the very slightest rubbing. However intense the 

 smarting, and of course the disposition to apply friction to 

 the wound, it should never be done, as the poison will at 

 once be carried through the circulating system, and severe 

 swelling may ensue. As most of the popular remedies are 

 rubbed in, they are of course worse than nothing. The mo- 

 ment that the blood is put into a violent and unnatural cir- 

 culation, the poison is quickly diffused over a considerable 

 part of the system. On the same principle, the bite of a 

 mosquito, even after the lapse of several days, may, by 

 strong friction, be made to swell again. 



Mr. Wagner says, " The juice of the ripe berry of the 

 common coral honeysuckle {Lonicera CaprifoKum) is the 

 best remedy I have ever used for the sting of bees, wasps, 

 hornets, &c. The berries or expressed juice may be pre- 

 served in a bottle well closed, and will keep their efficacy 

 , more than a year." 



Common sticking plaster, moistened with spittle and ap- 

 plied with the least possible pressure, after the sting has 

 been removed, has been found with some an effectual 

 remedy. 



The milky juice of the white poppy, is also highly re- 

 commended. An old German writer states, that its applica- 

 tion will instantaneously allay the pain and prevent swelling. 



