Paper Wasps

There was a nice little wasp nest tucked under the back deck railing. I didn't see it as I rested my hand on the ledge. And before I knew what was going on, they got me several times. All I remember was pain shooting up my arm and things buzzing around my head. There might have been some wild hand flapping and jumping around, but not too much screaming.

Immediately coming inside to sit down for awhile helped, as did applying full strength lavender oil drops on the potential places along with an ice pack on my hand.

The stings were mostly on my left hand, thankfully, since I'm right handed. There was a least one on my right arm. After a few days, my left hand puffed up and was swollen for a few days making it difficult to hold or squeeze things, or even wear my work glove. I took my rings off when I felt the swelling. A few days later the itching started. It was after that, when I'd been scratching for a few days that I could see all the stings. I counted at least seven on my left hand. (see last photo where I circled areas that were stings rather than age spots)

We decided later that the culprits were Paper Wasps, not yellow jackets that I had first thought because they had yellow stripes. The two do look similar, the main difference being the type of hive or nest they build. Yellow jackets build their nests in trees and bushes and tend to be large round smooth structures. Paper Wasps build smaller, delicate paper thin hexagonal structures resembling a beehive and that are attached by one thin strand, usually in corners and under ledges where you can't see them.