An Experience of Anaphylaxis

[Roy S]

Sorry but I completely disagree with your comments. Bees at the bottom of the garden are fine (we don't always have acres of land to situate our hives) and Roy didn't even suggest the hives were in an urban garden surrounded by neighbours on all sides. His post was warning us all that, even after years of practical beekeeping, you can still get caught out. It wasn't the novice in this case that got stung. We all have to learn somehow, and it ain't gonna be from our fathers and father's fathers.

Welcome all new beekeepers, to a fascinating world. I encourage anyone passionate enough to want to do something towards saving this dwindling species.

Hate to say it, but this colony was a case in point, this beekeeper had not been a member of ANY BKA when she got her bees and only joined ours this spring, her garden is a small urban garden, numerous complaints had already been lodged with the council. I went to stop any more swarms emerging from what was essentially a feral colony (not been inspected since august last year!)

The brood and supers were a collection of mismatched and absent combs (hence the brace comb and propolis everywhere.)

This colony has the potential to be a disaster if it went wrong. hopefully now the one good thing about me collapsing in her garden, is that she saw what could potentially happen to some child playing on the other side of a fence adjoining her property out of her sight.

The bees in themselves were perfectly behaved, quiet bees, but if they werent....when the virgin queen of unknown genetic backround made her colonies temprement known for example, with at least half a dozen gardens surrounding her things could be VERY different.

As was stated earlier.....box of fireworks.

stay safe everyone

regards

Roy

 

[Poly Hive]

Sorry to hear of all of this Roy and glad you are ok.

I rest my garden case.

Please remember s**s law. If it possibly can go wrong it will.

PH

 

[Roy S]

Thanks PH, As an update, I've just returned from my doctors, and we BOTH believe I had a reaction due to the possible use of Ibuprofen and the amount of venom recieved. I'm also going for tests in the next few weeks to check my sensitivity to bee venom as a precaution. The problem with true anaphylaxis is that it is still relatively rare...even among beekeepers, and with bad reactions, they seem to be getting bundled in with this with no further tests. As my doctor noted there were a lot of discrepancies between true anaphylactic shock and what happened to me.

Either way it is still not something to take lightly, and if nothing else this has made other poeple aware of the side effects of taking a readily available painkiller.

I'd also like to say, I welcome new beekeepers with open arms. We have all had to start somewhere. But I do believe that journey should start with a good dose of reality and not wooly minded thinking.

As PH says "IF it can go wrong it will"...I would just like to add a little to that in saying that when it does go wrong its generally at the worst possible time too.

For all urban beekeepers please try to understand that not everyone is enlightened and fascinated by the creatures we have in our charge. Try to look at situations from their point of view, and ask yourself "What would happen WHEN not IF I loose control of a colony"

If it would impact your neighboours if things went horribly wrong then do yourself and your neighbours a big favour and find a more isolated apiary.

regards

Roy

 

[SER]

I have the luxury of having my hives in a fairly sucluded spot and litterally many hundreds of acres to play with if needs be. But my mum is keen for me to have a hive in her garden, I wasn't sure this was a great idea and after my swarm this week I am now sure it not.

It was the first time I had seen a swarm first hand I thought it was a fantastic sight but it could also be very intimidating to many people. I know that we can minimise the risk with good inspections and appropriate action but we can never be 100% sure we won't loose one and I for one would not want to inflict that on anyone unwilling, let alone the risk of a hive turning aggressive or just having a bad day.

Like I said I realise I am in a fortunate position but I will not have hives in a small garden close to neighbours.

Cheers Si.

 

[Nopants]

Thanks again for the kind words people, and yes Gavin my doctor is making enquires into what happened and I'm not ruling out desensitisation. I've visited my doctor this morning to keep him in the loop, and he is as baffled as I am. Normally anaphalaxis is swift in its onset, mine took over half an hour from the first sting.

He has advised caution, but agreed providing I carry the epipen, do not go through my bees alone and protect myself he doesnt foresee an end to my beekeeping.

In answer to the question "is this my first sting this year?".....No, I had my last stings on my hand last wednesday when going through my bees with no adverse reaction whatsoever, and had had a good few previous to that this year already.

I'm not one to promote bravado in this craft, and to be honest I cringe when I hear people encouraging beginners to "feel the bees" by not in my eyes wearing proper protection in the form of gloves...especially as in many cases new beek's don't know how they will react to stings!

Even though I was stung a few times through my suit on saturday, the only evidence I have this morning of any stings, is in the area around my ankle where the bad ones where, I'm pretty certain that it was the fact I didnt realise how many stings I recieved, or the severity of them that got me into the situation. I should have moved away and checked them before carrying on. Definately a lesson learnt.

I posted here mainly to illustrate how quickly a normal manipulation CAN go wrong, and what can happen when it does. rest assured I won't be taking any unneccessary risks until I get to the bottom of what happened.

I have been advised by both my doctor and emergency staff at the hospital at length regarding future treatments and posible consequences, but I felt my post had babbled on far to much as it was without adding another half page to it. It does make me think though, How many stings does the average beekeeper need before they suffer like I did? having also discussed it with other beeks in our branch it seems once we reach our "envenomation threshhold" if you want to call it that, we are all in danger of similar things happening to us.

thanks again everyone

stay safe

Roy

I have an old 1890 diary on Bee keeping. In It a man was stung on the neck through his jugular vein. May be you were stung in to your blood stream? I had a similar experience last month getting stung on the ancle 5 times, lucky for me no reaction apart from badly swollen foot. Just have to be really careful from now on as it takes time to build up a reaction like that sometimes years.

 

[nealeholl]

I'm a bit of a wuss about stings, so when I'm inspecting my hives I tend to get fully clobbered up. However I don't think twice about going up close and personal just to look at my hive and watch the activity around the entrance, or even lifting off the lid to inspect them through the glass quilt. I do this in teeshirt and shorts. Am I an accident waiting to happen, or are most people happy to do this sort of "non-invasive" looking without the full body armour?

 

[VEG]

By taking the lid off you are increasing the risk of getting stung, watch from a safe distance by all means. It can take just one sting sometimes to start more stinging.

 

[Poly Hive]

YOU are at risk yes.

You are not doing your bees any favours with a glass quilt as it is NOT in any sense a quilt meaning a source of warmth but rather a chiller.

PH

 

[taff..]

I have an old 1890 diary on Bee keeping. In It a man was stung on the neck through his jugular vein. May be you were stung in to your blood stream? I had a similar experience last month getting stung on the ancle 5 times, lucky for me no reaction apart from badly swollen foot. Just have to be really careful from now on as it takes time to build up a reaction like that sometimes years.

I heard last week of a beek that was stung into his blood stream (as in direct hit on the surface veins/whatever) last year. he became very poorly and spent some time in hospital, this was the first time in xx years of beekeeping that he had reacted to a sting.

 

[m100]

You are not doing your bees any favours with a glass quilt as it is NOT in any sense a quilt meaning a source of warmth but rather a chiller.

Possibly with glass, but glass should be nowhere near an apiary except toughened or laminated stuff in the window of an observation hive.
If it's plastic it makes next to no practical difference except in the most extreme weather. A sheet of insulation in the roof recess will give very similar thermal performance to a wooden crownboard with insulation. Condensation, the criticism usually associated with no top ventilation and a cold crownboard, isn't really an issue. A clear crownboard is also a very useful indicator of cluster mobility and size prior to the first inspection.

This last winter my best over wintered colony by a very, very long way was the one with a perspex crownboard. So I now use either ply or clear crownboards with no ventilation and reserve the ones with bee escapes for use as clearer boards. Insulation in the roof helps in the summer just as much as in the winter.

(But I will try a big poly hive as soon as I get a chance!)

 

[susbees]

Why is it called a glass quilt anyhow...http://www.bees-online.co.uk/view.asp?ID=953. Is it not just an observation crownboard?

 

[Poly Hive]

I took it to be glass as stated.

I had a hive I bought with one and it was a condensation trap. Couldn't wait to change it over for a proper CB.

Further they invite looking and hence disturbance to the colony. Personally I don't think peeping at a super really tells you a lot. But that's just me.

PH

 

[REDWOOD]

Hi, shock shock horror horror what an experience, today I have been to Arco safety wear and picked up a pair of white wellies for £10, cheap compaired to your life. I am so glad you are still with us to tell the tail and continuing to do the good work
regards

 

[victor meldrew]

Terminology is a hang up from earlier times when literally, a quilt was used directly ontop of the frames .
Glass/plastic . perhaps transparent crown board would suffice except as PH says a distinction needs to be made between glass and plastic owing to differing thermal properties ?

John Wilkinson

 

[goodbobby]

Got a couple of very nasty stings on right index finger from a friend's very grumpy bees on this Thursday pm. They "let me have it" even though I wasn't that near the particular hive. I normally have an unpleasant but manageable reaction to stings but generally a couple of days and they just are an itchy area. This time I was stupid enough to be wearing a signet ring on that finger which I managed to get off (but only just in time before the swelling prevented such action). Also I had only noticed and removed one sting and the other remained pumping for a further 30 seconds or so before I spotted and removed it, so I probably maxed the venom dose.

After about 18 hours I spoke to my doctor on the phone and he wanted to know whether I had compromised the blood supply(goes white) in the now badly swollen finger,whether the swelling in the back of the hand was travelling down the arm and whether I was breathless etc?. I felt that my reaction, although not pleasant, was within the safety boundaries he gave me, took some more antihistamine, ice pack etc. and retired to bed.

At 7am this morning I checked into the local A&E, quickly had confirmed that my now 50% white finger was still a viable digit, and was then given an IV antibiotic dose and strong antibiotics for a week. I am on the mend but pondering the whole set of circumstances, I have added the following rules to my beekeeping procedures;

1.Never wear rings when handling bees. If I had not got the signet ring in question off very quickly, I think I would have been in real trouble.

2.Go back to thicker gloves. The long cuff nitrile gloves I normally use were fine with my own docile bees but an angry bunch can penetrate them at will. I will probably go to the other extreme now and wear Marigolds over the top!

3. Wash my suit more often (sting pheromone). I hadn't washed it for two plus weeks and the other beeks with me remarked that I was the almost exclusive, number one attack target.

4. Don't take diclofenac in the hours prior to an inspection or to try and reduce subsequent sting inflammation with this anti-inflammatory drug. I did both and suspect this aggravated the reaction....see previous posts on this subject

5. Take antihistamine before the inspection, which I normally do and had forgotten on this occasion!

6. Make a list of these do's and dont's, laminate it and pin it up in my bee-shed!

 

[susbees]

3. Wash my suit more often (sting pheromone). I hadn't washed it for two plus weeks and the other beeks with me remarked that I was the almost exclusive, number one attack target.

4. Don't take diclofenac in the hours prior to an inspection or to try and reduce subsequent sting inflammation with this anti-inflammatory drug. I did both and suspect this aggravated the reaction....see previous posts on this subject

5. Take antihistamine before the inspection, which I normally do and had forgotten on this occasion!

As a rusty pharmacologist I hope to look into this potential link between NSAIDs and bee sting after-effects as it's a worrying thought...especially as ibuprofen is often taken instead of paracetamol without real need as well. Also, not sure that preventative in case i might be stung antihistamine is a great idea. Somewhere there was a post on placing a liquid/powder capsule antihistamine under the tongue (not slow release) for nasty reactions. Makes more sense but obviously worth running past an interested GP. Safer than using an epipen without definite previous need.

 

[Roy S]

not sure that preventative in case i might be stung antihistamine is a great idea. Somewhere there was a post on placing a liquid/powder capsule antihistamine under the tongue (not slow release) for nasty reactions. Makes more sense but obviously worth running past an interested GP

My doctor has told me it maybe a good idea to do this, he did give the explanation in detail, but the upshot of which was that its in your system already, rather than trying to play catch up after an envenomation in a possibly time limited situation.

After what happened to me, I'll try to keep things in my favour as many ways as possible.

A downside is that some antihistamines can make you drowsy!!!

 

[susbees]

Quite...

I ought to add that this approach is definitely not designed to lengthen the wait and see element. If you need emergency help you need emergency help. And the point on drowsiness is worth considering...especially from the confines of a stuffy beesuit after lunch on a hot day...Don't operate machinery or hive inspections ...

 

[BKF Admin]

I am not sure about taking a prophylactic dose of antihistamine for an inspection.

In fact I have read a while back that taking chlorphenamine ect after a sting could cause a possible over reaction over time.
All in my humble opinion.

 

[Queens59]

Roy - Thank-you, I am a new bee-keeper and until now used walking boots and lons socks...but I will be investing in a pair of wellies in double-quick time...and maybe go back to leather gloves instead of the marigolds...?!