Living Well Nature Remedies for Insect Stings

Wild Bergamot

Bee Well Naturally

By Karen Ott Mayer Photography courtesy of Karen Ott Mayer

Discovering the natural way to treating pesky insect stings through home remedies and tried-and-true country science.

In the heat of the season when stinging insects like bees and wasps swarm about the yard, eventually deciding to sting, one burning question exists as well: Now what? Symptoms like pain, burning, redness, and swelling appear immediately. Depending on the individual, the histamine reaction varies from localized redness to life-threatening allergic reaction.

Medicine cabinets are generally filled with the usual solutions like Benadryl or over-the-counter topicals like cortisone. On the other hand, home remedies may offer an alternative therapy for those motivated to explore the idea of plants as medicine. “Home remedies are super popular right now,” says Phyllis D. Light, a fourth generation herbalist/healer and founder of the Appalachian Center for Natural Health in Arab, Ala. Light supposes this may be a result of the pandemic lockdown, but in her 30 years as a practicing herbalist, she has also seen cyclical interest in alternative styles of treatment. When asking folks about their home solution to a bee sting, the answers can be as varied as the people. A myriad of suggestions include tobacco or an egg white and salt mixture, a paste made from aspirin, or a blend of essential oils. The efficacy of any of these ideas perhaps lies in personal opinion rather than exact science. Certified herbalists rely on intensive study of plants, the body, and how to extract chemicals from the plants in order to make remedies. This is entirely different than casual assumptions. Lisa Bedner spent 30 years as a practicing registered nurse while also earning certification as a Professional Medicinal Herbalist by the American Herbalist Guild. Located in a remote area of central Tennessee, Bedner is also part of the Teihanama tribal band and has lived on her farm, Pipsissewa Herbs, since 1983. She explains that plant gathering is the oldest traditional Native American method for finding cures. Hence, the well-known tobacco remedy. Light has been in the deep woods since she was a child and echoes Bedner’s belief. “Tobacco was easy to get. You could wet a tobacco leaf and place it on the sting to draw the venom and reduce pain,” Bedner says. Using a leaf or part of a plant is the most basic

practice.

Bedner notes that even using a stem is possible for a

sting.

“Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot) has a hard almost square stem,” she says. “You can strip the leaves off of it and use it like a credit card to scrap off a stinger.” Because home remedies begin with a plant, basic knowledge is required to identify a plant and then create a product like a poultice, salve, or tincture to use as a remedy. And herein lies the challenge, given that today’s monocultural environment has not only taken over our residential landscape, but our larger wild lands. True plant varieties are becoming scarce.

“For example, the monarda, or bee balm, has been hybridized so the properties are different from those plants in the wild,” Bedner says, noting that the true monarda grows in partial shade near woodland edges. “It grows to six feet and has white or lavender flowers. This plant has much more soothing ingredients.” Bedner points out another unexpected remedy which many Southern gardeners will appreciate. “Use clay soil to make a paste. It helps with the capillary action and can be rubbed on the surface of the skin. Sometimes, the simpler things are better.” Light says pine needles work great in salves and help reduce histamines. Both Bedner and Light take a practical, integrated approach with their crafts, offering grounded advice to consumers through trainings, seminars, and published works. “Home remedies add useful and practical value to maintain health when used in the correct context,” Light