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What's the Buzz? Bee Safety and Inexpensive Bee Sting Treatments for Your Dog

By Vicki McClure Davidson

Bees are essential to our lives for the many foods they pollinate throughout the world, so protect them as well as your pets. | Photo credit: Public Domain Photos

With warm weather comes insects of all varieties, including bees. And they're doing what they instinctively do when the weather is warm. Dogs love to romp and explore when the weather is warm. This is a recipe for potential disaster if there are bees in your neighborhood.

Like people, dogs have varying reactions to bee stings. This is influenced by how sensitive the dog is and how many bees have stung him or her. Regardless of possible allergic reaction, bee stings hurt and your dog will need your help to alleviate the pain and itching. However, a trip to the vet can be costly, and not always necessary.

A Summary of Bees

Bee trivia: Honeybees, signifying immortality and resurrection, were royal emblems of the Napoleonic Empire.

Honey bees are essential to our lives. They pollinate millions upon millions of acres of blossoms—apple, almond, peach, on and on—each year. Without them, one-third of our crops could become extinct, not to mention a loss of their manufacture of honey. But, while we need what bees contribute to our pantries and dining tables, the pain they can inflict on our beloved pets makes it a dilemma.

With the exception of the Africanized honeybees (the infamous "killer bees"), honey and bumble bees are relatively non-aggressive and sting only when threatened. Honeybees and bumblebees are much happier to go about their business of gathering pollen without bothering anyone. If they are provoked to attack, the stings they inflict are their last. Bees die soon after stinging their attacker because their barb stingers rip from their bodies and stay in their victims.

Africanized honeybees, on the other hand, have hair-trigger tempers. Although their venom is no more toxic or allergenic than that of the European honeybee's venom, they are more aggressive and will often sting ferociously without provocation. This has led to reported venom toxicity deaths. Killer bees are currently in Mexico, Central America, South Texas, Arizona, and California.

Treatments for Bee Stings

If your dog is stung by a bee, or by many bees, before rushing the poor creature to the vet, there are several things you can do to ease his or her pain and make the trip to the vet much easier. Or, not even necessary. You may be able to take care of it yourself and save yourself a huge vet bill.

If you should use the home treatments below, be sure to keep an eye on your dog to be sure he or she doesn't show signs of an allergic reaction.

First, douse the animal with a shower of soapy water, which will kill any bees clinging to it. A mixture of common dish detergent and water knocks bees down and drowns them.
Before treating a honeybee sting, make sure to remove the embedded stinger(s) as quickly as possible. It isn't recommended that you attempt pull out the stinger either with your fingers or tweezers. This will cause more venom to be squeezed from the stinger sac into the dog's flesh. Rather, try to knock out the stinger by scraping the surface of the skin at a 45-degree angle with a credit card. Speed at removal of the sting is extremely important. Venom continues to pump in even after the sting has detached from the bee.
Before running to the drugstore for an expensive over-the-counter bee sting treatment, there are a variety of recommended home treatments for bee stings, with varying levels of success. One of the best, and cheapest, treatments is ice. A 20-minute application of ice should relieve the dog's symptoms of the bee sting(s) almost immediately and keep them subdued for up to 12 hours. Ice reduces swelling by constricting blood vessels and slowing down the flow of venom-tainted blood. By numb force, it also cancels out pain and itching. Then again, ice is very easy to find and it's also super cheap. Reapply when needed.
Another recommended home treatment include applying a paste of vinegar, baking soda, and meat tenderizer. Mix equal portions of the three together. Because of the acid/base interaction of the vinegar and baking soda, the mixture will fizz up for a while, so don't be alarmed. Apply the paste to the sting. The symptoms of itching should subside within 20 minutes and within an hour, be barely noticeable. Meat tenderizer contains papain, an enzyme found in papaya. It is reported to break down the toxins in bee and other insect venom, like fire ants (but not wasps, since the chemical makeup is different). Reapply the paste every few hours, if needed.
Another bee sting treatment with a satisfactory amount of success is applying toothpaste to the sting. It is believed that the glycerin found in most toothpastes dries out the venom concentrated under the sting area. Symptoms should subside in about 15 minutes. Reapply every few hours, if needed.

Bee Precautions

Here are some suggestions to keep your dog, other pets, and your family as free as possible from bee stings:

Dogs are curious and prone to accidentally disturbing bees, so prevention is key to keeping your pet safe from being stung. | Photo credit: Kevin Miller, KM Photography

Don't ever disturb or tease bees, and don't try to remove bees yourself. If you have a large infestation, contact your city or county for information on professional bee-removal services.
Don't pen or tie up any animals near honeybee nests or hives. When bees defend their colonies, they target furry and dark-colored objects that resemble their natural enemies: bears and skunks. Therefore, your dog (or cat, or horse) is likely to be zeroed in on and stung when bees are disturbed.
Do not shoot at, throw rocks at, or pour gasoline on bee nests; this will only arouse and upset the bees.
Do not attempt to control the bees with aerosol pesticides. Bees should not be killed just because they cause a perceived minor inconvenience. Remember, we NEED bees. So, it is a much better plan to keep pets and children indoors when using weed trimmers, hedge clippers, chain saws, tractors, or power mowers.
Honeybees are particularly sensitive to new odors, such as freshly cut grass, and to loud vibrations. Attacks frequently occur when a person is mowing the lawn or pruning shrubs and trees, and inadvertently strikes a bee or wasp nest. Keep your dog in the house when you're doing yard work, just to be safe.

Common sense should prevail when it comes to bees. Prevention of attack is the best course of action, an imperative. Keeping your dog away from bees in the first place is your best defense in keeping both pooch and pollen-gatherer happy and safe.

Sources:
Brantley, William, "Sting Operation: What's the Best Remedy for a Bee Sting?," Slate Magazine, (www.slate.com/id/2088863/), September 29, 2003.
Every Day Health; Allergy Centers: Insect Allergies website; (www.everydayhealth.com/publicsite/).
Husbandhood website, "How to Relieve the Pain of a Bee Sting in Under 30 Seconds" (http://www.husbandhood.net/how-to-relieve-the-pain-of-a-bee-sting-in-under-30-seconds/).
Ruelas, Richard, "Common Sense Suggestions Can Help You to Bee Safe," Arizona Republic, November 10, 1995.
Urban Bee Gardens website, (http://nature.berkeley.edu/urbanbeegardens/general_star.html).
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia; "Honey Bee" {http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_bees}.

Frugal Café Philosophy

What's the Buzz? Bee Safety and Inexpensive Bee Sting Treatments for Your Dog

A Summary of Bees

Treatments for Bee Stings

Bee Precautions