Bee Stings:

Honey bees leave stingers, but wasps, hornets and yellow jackets don’t.  If you don’t see a stinger, skip straight to the next paragraph: they aren’t subtle if they’re there.  If you DO see the stinger, the current recommendation is just to get it out ASAP.  The little venom sac will be releasing venom as long as the stinger is in, so to reduce the reaction it’s better to be fast than finicky.  Sure, you could scrape or use tweezers, but fingers work fine and are close at hand, so to speak.

Systemic reactions (wheezing, lip swelling, vomiting, hives) are beyond this tip guide: give 0.5mg/pound of benadryl and call or go to the doctor.  Even non-allergic kids, however, get a reaction about 4-10x the what they would get from a mosquito:  red, swelling, pain then after an hour or so itching.

Use ibuprofen and ice for pain relief.  While the acute pain is going on, ice directly on the site may be too intense.  Buzzy with either ice, vibration, or both upstream “between the brain and the pain” may be more helpful then.  Once the sting starts itching, scratching will spread and worsen the reaction.  Buzzy will relieve the itch without spreading the reaction.

To get them past those first painful few minutes, having an I spy book or distraction cards can help.  “Hold on this ice pack, and when you find five things I’ll go get you a popsicle!”

OK, because everyone always asks: what if a child is afraid of a bee?  Won't they hate Buzzy?  The best answer is the Barney analogy: a REAL T-rex would be terrifying, but a chubby purple one is a trusted friend.  Children are quite sophisticated when it comes to cartoon characterizations.  One child life professional told me of a little girl in therapy for her bee-phobia after a BAD bee event; she still liked and used Buzzy!