Preventing Insect Bites & Stings

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Insect bites and stings are more than just annoying. In some cases, they can be downright dangerous. Here are some tips for preventing insect bites & stings:

Insect Bite and Sting Prevention Tips

1. Nothing feels better than walking across green grass in bare feet. But if you know a child to be allergic, you might want to have them avoid walking barefoot on grass, clover, or blooming groundcover. Honeybees tend to hover close to the ground and will land on the grass. A child who accidentally steps on one will be stung.

2. Try not to look or smell like a flower. Scented soaps or perfumes, hairspray, or fragranced lotions can attract insects, as can brightly colored prints on clothing.

3. If a bee or wasp flies into your vehicle, pull over and open all windows to help it escape. Don’t swat at it or continue driving. Many deadly accidents have been caused by people reacting to a bee or other insect inside the car.

4. Know the places where insects gather. Hornets like to build paper-like nests in trees or on shrubs and strong stalks of grass. Wasps plaster their mound or clay nests on rocks and cliffs. Old cabins, barns, outbuildings and closed up vacant houses are other favorite spots for stinging insects. Wasps and yellow jackets prefer spots under eaves and window sills, as well as within walls and in masonry cracks. Never mess with nests. Wasps may attack with 100 or more insects when they feel threatened.

5. Always have children wear shoes when outdoors or in the forest. Going barefoot can lead to stings because many stinging insects hover near the grass and will sting if stepped on.

6. If you see a line of bees coming out from under a shed or a hole in the wall, that is often a bad sign. It may mean that they have been agitated, and a swarm is coming. Take shelter immediately.

Avoiding insect bites during picnics

1. When picking a picnic table, before you sit down, check the edges and undersides of the picnic table as well as any benches or patio furniture. These are favorite spots for wasp nests.

2. The smells of outdoor cooking attract insects, so keep things covered until you’re ready to eat. Watermelon, soda, popsicles, ice cream and candy are especially likely to lure pests.

3. Remind kids to always look first before drinking, and don’t let them leave soda cans or other beverages unattended. It is common for children to be stung because they open a soda can, leave it on the table to go off and play, and then are stung when they come back for a drink in one of the most dangerous places to be stung. Choosing plastic soda bottles with screw-on caps rather than soda cans can limit this danger.

4. Clean up any leftovers and spills promptly, and put scraps and other trash into tightly closed garbage bags. Dispose of them away from your picnic area or campsite.

5. This tip comes from years of experience taking groups of kids on field trips: Park trash cans and garbage bins can become a haven for bees and wasps. Thus throwing away your trash can require navigating a gauntlet of buzzing insects – tip-toeing close enough to toss something in, then turning and running like heck. Our kids would sometimes go to throw their lunch away and then come running back in tears, because the minute they got close, they were buzzed by a swarm of wasps. Luckily, it was more frightening than anything else, and in all our trips we only ever had one child stung. But let this be a lesson: you should always check the trash area before telling kids to go throw something away. Wasps may even defend these areas, since they are a food source to them. Although most kids would be OK, if you know a child to be allergic, it might be a good idea to have them avoid the outdoor trash bins entirely.

Keeping mosquitoes & other insects away

Bite and sting prevention around the water

1. When swimming, watch out for bees or wasps that are struggling on the surface of the water. They are trapped, agitated, and might sting if you touch them.

2. During hot summer days, be alert around the swimming pool, water spigots, a horse trough, shower, or other bodies of water. The heat can make insects irritable and more protective of their water sources.

Insect bite and sting prevention while hiking or camping

1. Wear insect repellant, but keep in mind that this only discourages hungry insects from foraging on you – it will not deter an attack.

2. Wearing long-sleeve shirt and pants can also reduce the risk if you think you’re likely to encounter problems.

3. Keep motor home and tent doors/windows closed as much as possible to avoid trapping insects inside. Be sure to check your RV before each use to ensure the areas where insects could get in are sealed up tight.

4. Have kids use caution when gathering firewood, and instruct them to always look a piece of wood over before they grab it and then check the back side after they pick it up.

Bite and sting prevention rules for kids

1. Teach children that when hiking, they should approach things like hollow logs, stumps, piles of limbs and fallen trees with caution. Bees and other stinging insects often make their homes in such places.

2. Teach children what a fire-ants nest looks like, and have them stay away. Fire ants’ usually build nests that are 10-18 inches high, consisting of mounds of fluffy soil, and often are built near fence posts, tree bases, or sometimes empty meadows. Avoid stepping on or touching these nests. Fire ants are known to swarm, attacking in droves. One misplaced hand on their mound could result in hundreds of stings up the trespasser’s arm within seconds.

3. If an insect lands on you or is buzzing around, don’t swat it! Remain calm while standing still or retreating slowly. If it doesn’t fly away, try gently removing it with a piece of paper. But if you anger or injure it, its instinct will be to sting!

4. Teach kids that if they are attacked, cover your head, but avoid the urge to run. Flailing arms or a frantic retreat tend to arouse insects further, drawing others to attack. And contrary to popular belief, jumping into water will not necessarily save you from swarming bees. They’ll often hover just about the surface and sting you when you come up for air.

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