Bee Sting

[Arthur]

As winter is almost through we prepaired the bees this weekend for the spring.  Its already 28deg C plus and no more frosts.

My 12 year old boy was all dressed up and learning howto with a local bee wise and I was clearing the weeds.  I ended up with 5 hits with no worries as I have been hit many times before.

3 hrs latter im in hospital with my arm swallen from my fingers to my chest being pumped full of drugs

now I find i have become alergic

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Wow, after messing with them for a long time   Thats not good.

[Tom]

I'm told that's how it goes though.  Allergies to bee venom just show up.  I hope I don't develop an allergy to them.  I like them.

It's when that reaction takes place in your throat that it becomes really dangerous.

[Don P]

Check with the doc to see if you need to carry an Epi Pen. Michelle just got her new one...they are only good for a year and are kinda pricey, but sure better than the alternative  . Her reactions just started a few years ago, but her older brother has been carrying a pen for years. You can also get just the bottle and a syringe cheaper, but I liked the idea of one quick jab and no loose parts or measuring. Wasps and bees have different venom and so different reactions, she got stung recently by a wasp and I had her stay low and checked on her often, no reaction.
How is your honeybee population down there? Ours have been decimated .

[Weekend_Sawyer]

There was an interesting show on PBS the other day about bee sting therapy. A bee sting therapist would hold what looked like a honey bee against an arthritic finger and let it sting the area, showed the stinger and sac pulled out of the bee and pumping venom (i guess it is venom) into the joint.

The people being stung said it really helps.

I guess getting stung in the hand takes your mind of of your foot!

Jon

[Arthur]

thanks for the advice.

im back to normal (if I ever was) now and await the docs apointment.

problem with me are the other medications im on so they cant just pump the normal remedies into me.  If I have a problem with them I will need to wear a braclet to let the medics do the right thing.

Its a combination of diabetics, kidney and heart problems and drugs but thats life!!!

I enjoy the bees its normally most relaxing and gratifying with the wax for wood polishing and the bush honey we get is one of the best in the area.

I like wining prices at the local ag shows.

arthur

[Captain]

I'm sure your doctor will know better, but watch the use of Epinepherine with heart conditions...glad the reaction is over.

Captain

[UNCLEBUCK]

Youre lucky to bee alive Arthur . I know of 2 locals that died from honey bee stings .  Hey if anyone is interested on rfd tv on late friday or saturday nights is a great show on bee keeping .  Glad you recovered Arthur

[Corley5]

A local honey producer has hives in a corner of the last field of hay we're working on and they're mean.  When I mowed it the other night I could see them swarm out of the hives as I approached with the tractor but by the fourth round I was far anough away that they didn't care anymore.  I didn't get stung but they did bounce off me a couple times.  Last night baling was a different story   The old square baler decided to throw a fit too close to the bees and we were still 100' away.  They didn't bother us until we were off the machines and working on them.  I got stung twice and my help each got stung a couple times before we could get loaded up and get farther away.  These are a much larger bee than our wild ones and much more agressive.  They also have a brighter color.  More yellow than orange like the wild ones.  No allergic reactions but now that I've read the post about arthritis treatments I'm realizing that after the sting on the back of my neck last night it isn't stiff like it's been for the past week or so

[Weekend_Sawyer]

 I helped a buddy harvest honey once.
He only had bees for a couple of years and figured it was too painful.
I did not get stung but had a couple of them attack. They would fly in
my face and bounce off my forehead. I beleive they were trying to tell me
to get out of their house!

[Tom]

Bees aren't too smart when it comes to taking detours.  If you stand in  front of their hive they will lose it and start stacking up behind you.  I've done it for fun.   Just stand in their line of flight and they don't know to go around you.  In a few seconds you will have a million bees milling around in the flight path behind you saying to each other "What the Hey!".

[DanG]

Hence the term "beeline" eh, Tom?

Glad you got the reaction cleared up, Arthur.  Sting reactions can be really serious.  They can even make yer toes turn up and sprout tags, and nasty stuff like that.  You gotta be careful now, and keep your kit with you.

Glad you qualified that "back to normal" statement, too.

[Buzz-sawyer]

"Glad you qualified that "back to normal" statement, too"
Now I talked with you quite a while in Ohio ay Sawlex..........And am sure you (as many of us) dont qualify
Glad your back in fighting form

[Murf]

Glad feeling you're better too Arthur, but I'll leave the 'normal' comments to others who know you better. 

I nearly had a similar episode over the weekend, I was helping a widow lady up the road a piece by bsuh-hogging her back 40 and hit a nest of hornets. Like Tom said, they stacked up behind me too, but I do believe they were tryin' ta say more than "What the Hey!" .... 

I think some them musta had a heck of a headache tryin' ta git to me through the cab. 

I'll certainly go along with the 'not too bright' sentiment. They don't give up very easy either.

It was actually pretty funny, a real exersize in futility all round, they was landin' on the outside tryin' ta sting the window, and Deputy Dog was on the inside tryin' ta bite them through da window. 

[whitepe]

I have seen on some TV shows that beesting therapy also works wonders on people who
struggle with Multiple Sclerosis.   People who are wheel chair bound have been able to function somewhat normally again for a few weeks after receiving the therapy.  Problem is, the effects wear
off after a while and it has to be done again.  Admitted, it is still in the experimental stage and I am certain that more research work needs to be done.
PEW

[Arthur]

  ???Is it the bee sting or the poison which is the therapy

if its the sting then why have the possible reaction with the poison.

if its the poison why have the pain of the sting.  Id prefer to take my poison in liquid with liquid.

arthur

[Brucer]

As a kid I was stung dozens of times by just about everything in these parts that can sting you. Never an allergic reaction.

In 1981 I stepped in a nest of ground wasps and got three stings on my neck. It was a pain ( ), but I wasn't worried about it. Barb wanted me to go to the hospital because her father has a life-threatening allergy to bee-stings. I compromised and said we'd head for home and wait until she was sure I wasn't going to flop over and die.

I was sitting there, feeling bored and a little silly, when she asked me how many stings I got. "Three", I said. "Well I see 5", she replied. Then, "Wait, there's another one -- and another one's coming up." And then my lips started to go numb.

When I got out of the emergency room the ER nurse told me I'd had a precipitous drop in my blood pressure. Potentially as deadly as a constricted throat. So after a night in the hospital I started carrying an epiniphrine kit. My doctor told me there was no way to know what would happen if I got another sting -- it could be a lot worse, or there could be no reaction at all.

After carrying that kit for 12 years (replacing the syringe every year) I finally got stung by a ground wasp again. I took an antihistamine and had the kit out and Barb ready to inject me. I waited to see what would happen, and ... nothing. I've been stung several times since, and never a reaction. I don't take stings lightly anymore, though.

There was an interesting show on PBS the other day about bee sting therapy. A bee sting therapist would hold what looked like a honey bee against an arthritic finger and let it sting the area, showed the stinger and sac pulled out of the bee and pumping venom (i guess it is venom) into the joint.
Jon

Barb's has arthritis in her knees and her Naturopath told her about this therapy. He didn't promote it -- just informed her about it and said that it wasn't always effective. She eventually tried it. Weekly sessions with the venom injected at various points around the knee. One very weak dose the first time, to check for allergic reactions, and then a gradual increase in strength and number -- peaking at a dozen injections per knee.

I worked! Unfortunately the effects only lasted for about a year after the injections stopped. It's a very painful process --the discomfort lasts for 3 or 4 days. Clothing in contact with the injection sites really aggravates the pain.
Barb decided the pain of the treatement outweighed the benefits so she's gone to alternative treatments.

???Is it the bee sting or the poison which is the therapy

if its the sting then why have the possible reaction with the poison.

if its the poison why have the pain of the sting.  Id prefer to take my poison in liquid with liquid.

arthur

It's the venom that's the treatment, but the venom is what causes the pain and the possible reaction. you can't win.

[Jodi]

No you sure can't,  It's just one big vicious cycle. 

[breederman]

My wife reacts to bee stings,we have had some fast rides to town.Her blood pressure was dangerously low once.She has the Epi-pen.Apparently she are not allergic to all kinds of bees as some times shw will not have much reaction and other times it is very bad.She went to see a diff doc last week,after a sting and her pen was out dated and he said that she can go to an allergist and get tested to find out what venum she is allergic to and get desentisized.That is the first we had heard about that,Doc said it was time consuming but works.Anybody been through that?

[Ianab]

get tested to find out what venum she is allergic to and get desentisized.That is the first we had heard about that,Doc said it was time consuming but works.Anybody been through that?

Not allergic myself, but my cousin had very bad reactions to beestings when she was younger. But over the years and a few emergency room visits she seemed to develop a resistance to them and now she only has a normal reaction. Maybe if they know the toxin they can simulate this with controlled doses?

Worth investigating if it's something you can build a resistance to with a few shots ?

Ian