I got swelling from a bee sting 24 hours after being stung, is this normal?

As long as all symptoms are at or very near to the place you were stung, then this is within the normal range of reactions to a bee sting. If you are experiencing symptoms away from the place you were stung, you are probably having an allergic reaction and might want to seek medical attention before you start experiencing trouble breathing (which won’t necessarily happen, but I’m not in a position to say that it won’t).

Have you removed the stinger (or checked to see if it has already fallen out) and thoroughly washed the area with soap and water? If not, you should. If so, then you might want to try ice, or baking soda paste, or cortisone cream, or an antihistamine. That’s the order that I would try them in, but it’s really up to you. If none of those work, you’ll need help from someone who knows more than I do about bee stings.

I am taking antihistamine and steroid cream! I’m assuming any major reaction would have happened now as it’s 24 hours later and the swelling is only in the area of the sting so that’s good, just weird it’s 24 hours later!

Take a ball pointe pen and draw around the edge of the red area so you can tell if it’s growing. If it grows or becomes painful, it might be infected. That type of infection, cellulitis, tends to grow very fast, about a centimeter every 12 hours. That requires a doctor’s attention. You would need an antibiotic, and it’s not something to play with. It’s usually quite painful, you would know something is very wrong.

Also, if there are red streaks on your skin traveling up from the sting sight then that’s an emergency. Not to be confused with scratch marks if you’ve been scratching it.

If it’s just red and a little itchy, and doesn’t grow it’s likely just a reaction like a mosquito bite and will go away on its own. You can put some cortisone cream on it.

I wouldn’t be worried at all about a sudden extreme allergic reaction. That’s not likely to happen.