Viral Grape Vine

Its that time of the year again when Bee’s come out to pollinate the world and sting people.  Even though Bees may be dying off and the future existence of mankind may be at risk, there is still time to pay attention to this viral email about curing bee stings by taping a penny to the sting.

*No bees, flowers, pennies, or zync plugs were harmed in the making of this viral email article.  A great deal of ozone depleting scotch tape was utilized however.  Not on the arm of our model, but instead as the entire camera crew gathered around to tape their noses to their foreheads and their ears to their cheeks.  Scotch Tape is not something to play with when you are on a budget or when the Ozone layer is threatened.

This information may be something to remember, as this season will soon be here again…
It might be wise to carry a penny in your pocket while working in the yard……… BEE STINGS !
A couple of weeks ago, I was stung by both a bee and hornet while working in the garden. My arm swelled up, so I went to the doctor. The clinic gave me cream and an antihistamine. The next day the swelling was getting progressively worse, so I went to my regular doctor. The arm was Infected and needed an antibiotic.  The doctor told me - ‘The next time you get stung, put a penny on the bite for 15 minutes’.
That night, my niece was stung by two bees. I looked at the bite and it had already started to swell. So, I taped a penny to her arm for 15 minutes. The next morning, there was no sign of a bite.  We decided that she just wasn’t allergic to the sting.
Soon, I was gardening outside. I got stung again, twice by a hornet on my left hand. I thought, here I go again to the doctor for another antibiotic.   I promptly got my money out and taped two pennies to my bites, then sat and sulked for 15 minutes. The penny took the string out of the bite immediately.
In the meantime the hornets were attacking, and my friend was stung on the thumb. Again the penny. The next morning I could only see the spot where the hornet had stung me. No redness, no swelling. My friend’s sting was the same; couldn’t even tell where she had been stung.
Wanted to share this marvelous information in case you experience the same problem. We need to keep a stock of pennies on hand .
The doctor said that the copper in the penny counteracts the bite.  It definitely works! Please remember and pass this information on to your friends, children, grandchildren, etc

Well if that doesn’t work, you can always try a potato  . . . .  ;) 

I actually looked up my Grandma Garrison’s potato slice remedy for healing warts in a 100 year old medical book.  Its in there.  Potato slices using a similar type of magic as described with the penny, can supposedly heal about anything from warts to syphilis to pimples and cancer. 

But it doesn’t work any better than putting a zync penny coated with copper on your skin and waiting for the poison attempt to do something unique to water, osmosis.  The copper atoms have no way of magically calling to the bee sting poison and telling it to flow against the tide of your blood and cells and teleport through your skin and then engage in a chemically neutralizing reaction with the surface of a penny. 

Here’s the urban legend investigation on it  http://www.snopes.com/medical/homecure/beesting.asp 

Pennies in the US actually are not made of copper.  Their made of zync and coated with copper.  Plus the sting venom is actually under the skin and the 2% copper coating the zync penny.  The solid surface of the penny has no way of penetrating the layers of skin to actually have a reaction with the venom, unless you slice into the skin with a razor blade or something (not recommended) and even then you are going to dilute the venom with blood preventing any chance of a good chemical reaction. 

Regardless a penny is a cheap treatment.  But lets face it, its not a real treatment.  It may seem cheap, but if your kid really needs some attention then get them some real medical help otherwise.  Its that or invest in some child insurance (and possibly some legal insurance for your self).