Musings by Arlan

Recently I had been thinking how fortunate I have been in that I haven’t been bothered with insects here in Paradise. Seldom do I see even an ant while I am raking and digging trying to keep our town somewhat clean. I know for a fact that there are more of the biting and stinging insects there in Limestone County than there are here. It probably has to do with the humidity since our humidity here is always in the low twenties even when the temperature is in

the 100’s.

But recently we have had some wet weather. This morning as I was cleaning up the leaves around the fire station, I uncovered a nest of what is locally called meat

bees. Actually they are a tiny wasp, not much larger than a common house fly. That’s why I didn’t see the little buggers. Before I realized it, several of them got me, four on the back of my neck and four on my ankles. They are smart little buggers and always get one from behind to keep one from seeing them.

Anyway, the guys at the fire station know me very well, so I asked them if there was something in their medical kit for the treatment of bee stings. One of the crew examined my neck to see if there were any stingers left in my skin. Well, these critters are really not bees, but tiny wasps. So there were no stingers. However, there was a lot of pain and the neck stings gave me a headache. They did not have any treatment but advised me to contact my pharmacist for advice.

I have in my medicine cabinet some ointment for the treatment of skin itch. I applied this to the area in hopes of some relief. Also, I took some aspirin for the headache. I know from past experience that after the pain goes away that there will be a period of itching as an aftermath.

Therefore, all is not paradise in Paradise. But if this incident is all that befalls me, I will call myself lucky. So far, all that really bugs me is my bad back.

Arlan Hudson