When an ant or bee stings, our skin becomes irritated, painful, or swollen. At this time, many people quickly apply lime (slaked lime or white lime). This is a very common home remedy, which has been used as folk wisdom for a long time. There is some basic scientific explanation behind it.
Source
When a bee or ant stings, they inject a type of poison into the skin. This poison is usually acidic. Bee venom in particular contains formic acid or some other acidic ingredients, which irritate our skin and cause inflammation. Again, in the case of some bees, it contains histamine-like ingredients, which cause allergic reactions on the skin.
Now lime, which is basically calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)₂, is an alkaline substance (alkaline/base). When we apply this lime to the affected area, it participates in a chemical reaction with the acid of the ant or bee venom. As a result, a kind of neutralization (acid-base neutralization) occurs, that is, the acidity of the venom becomes somewhat inactive. This relieves some of the skin irritation and pain.
However, this is not a 100% safe and medically based method. Because lime itself can cause mild irritation, redness or allergic reactions when applied to the skin, especially on sensitive skin. Therefore, the main reason for applying lime to ant or bee bites is to reduce the pain or irritation by neutralizing the acidity of the venom with the alkaline nature of lime. However, this is a temporary and initial step.
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