Bee alergy - question

[VEG]

Wasp and bee sting are totally different as one is alkaline and one is acid cant remember which is which though.

 

[bee ginnner]

given time and a few stings you will find that you will hardly react at all.After 40 years
of keeping bees I hardly know that I've been stung at all


Great i,m really encouraged

 

[hedgerow pete]

yes bob you can, I am.

from what very very little is published about them, a wasp is an alkalide the bee vemon is acidic. or it coul dbe the other way round!!

never used to be allergic ( note not annie shock , just blooming reactive)
i used to spray out lofts for wood worm, and anyone doing that for a living knows where i am coming from.

i was in a small confine loft space that was long and narrow. i pulled the loft insulation out of the way to spray the timber and ripped open a massive and i do mean massive wasp nest. the first thing you do is to smash the light you are carrying to prevent them finding you quickly, the only choice i had was to go down wards, fast, as there was no time to do along crawl back to the opening .

i went through the ceiling head first and landed badly on the floor, discolating my shoulder ran out of the building site screaming like a big hairy little girl,

jumped into the works van, set of two fly spray cans in the cab to kill the followers, started to go into NORMAL SHOCK not annie, did 999 they came to me , i was lucky, i managed to get an address to them before i passed out, an over nighter in cheltenham hospital and home in time for kippers, total counted sting points 100 plus. but not ever hole has a big pile of venom so many were just emptied out but still stinging.

now when i get a wasp sting it looks as if i have a golf ball under my skin, the last time i got stung several years ago i had to ask the local gp's nurse to relive some of the presure it got so big. ( think cartoon sized syring with even bigger needle jabbed in and lump contents drained!

bee stings , not much that a blue bag cant cure or a simple ice cube, i use no over form of chemical to releave the sting unless it is specialy fermented scotish waters

have i an epi pen, NO.
do i want an epi pen NO,
have i been offered and epi pen NO.

my old doc bless him said the only time he gave them out was when there was a true dire out come of risk.

the quack that did the allergy tests with me after wards recons that 12 plus stings will start me going into shock ( not annie shock, just shut down shock)

thats enough for this coward to have shifted from the wasp nest

 

[Spadaman]

Hedgerow Pete is correct in that Bee stings are acidic and wasp stings are alkaline.

The way I remember it (from my Boy Scout days ) is from the remedies used to neutralise the sting - use the opposite i.e. alkaline for bee stings and acidic for wasp stings. Cheap & cheerful alkaline is Bicarbonate of Soda for Bee stings and Vinegar for Wasp stings. Well it nearly works as a aide memoir - just think of the W in wasp as a double V.

I've never been stung by a bee and never had any vinegar around when I have been stung by a wasp so I can't say if it works or not. In any case it probably would n't work for those who suffer from allergies or the horrendous situation that HP found himself in. Might help to reduce the pain/swelling though.

I'll let you know when/if I ever get any bees !!

 

[BobH1]

OK, thanks for everybodies' help. My own internet research lead me to http://www.insectstings.co.uk/beesting.shtml
This says:

"Neutralising a sting with either vinegar or bicarbonate of soda is unlikely to be effective or even practically possible because the venom from wasps and bees is injected under the skin and after a few minutes spreads deep into the tissues. Sloshing unknown strength vinegar or bicarbonate of soda onto the skin surface is unlikely to even get near the venom so no "neutralisation" is likely to take place anyway.
A wasp or bee sting is between 5 and 50 micrograms of fluid - this is a tiny amount of fluid - a little pinhead or the size of this full stop . - and it is hard to believe how pouring comparatively huge volumes of unknown strength vinegar or rubbing lumps of bicarbonate of soda near the venom of unknown ph is going to produce a perfectly neutral ph which neutralises the sting and stops it hurting.
So, I confidently state that vinegar and bicarbonate of soda (or at least their acidity or alkalinity) have no real physical effect on how much a sting hurts or continues hurting.
I would also add that
• rubbing a wound distracts the mind from the immediate pain and
• rubbing a wound with anything safe promotes the release of endorphins which may reduce the pain,
• if you believe something is going to work, then it often will because the mind can play curious tricks!"​

The site then goes on to say:

"For many years, formic acid erroneously was believed to be the major component of venom produced by the honey bee, and this belief is still held by many. The action of venom is much more complex than the simple concept of direct action on the tissue by formic acid."​

Then:

"The good news is that bees are generally not as aggressive as wasps and hornets.
The bad news is that bee venom appears to contain more proteins than wasp venom and therefore there is a greater likelihood of being allergic to bees than wasps!"​

Not much I can use here to persuade my land owner!

 

[hedgerow pete]

is there anyone how has a medical library to use that could at a lunch time source out some proper sting information, ie, what it contains how it works, body defence mech, etc etc

that would be a great sticky but a lot beyond hairy brummie brain cell

 

[drstitson]

"Bicarbonate of Soda for Bee stings and Vinegar for Wasp stings"

works fine if you substitute Vespa for wasp!!!!

doesn't work if you fully italianise it though:

Bicarbonato per Api e Aceto per Vespa

 

[drstitson]

as far as information that HRP requires at least some is handy in wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apitoxin

but for a more detailed description take a look here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/18673026/Characteristics-and-properties-of-apitoxin-

or

http://www.scribd.com/doc/18673026/Characteristics-and-properties-of-apitoxin-

 

[hedgerow pete]

thanks i will have a great read later

 

[drstitson]

sorry didn't notice that i'd duplicated links. this is what i meant to have at the end.

http://www.gimellifisto.net/index.php?codigo=6

 

[nosmoking]

Are you allergy prone? I am and at my very first contact with bees I got stung on purpose and had my epipen at the ready as I am allergic to wasp stings and numerous other things can send me into anaphylactic shock!.
Nothing happened!
So suggest you do this - however some long term beekeepers start to get a bit senstive to the sting - protection is best - two pairs of vitrile gloves and make absolutely sure everything is bee tight! Piriton is carried by a lot of people and taken before contact with bees
Louise

I have no idea whether I am allergy prone. No doubt I'll find out soon enough when I get my first nuc in May. As far as I can remember I haven't been stung by anything since I was a kid. I will certainly bee covering up with full bee suit and gloves though. This thread is actually very interesting so thanks again for your comments. Keep them coming.

 

[louiseww]

I swell up and can go anaphylactic with wasp stings, but have the 'normal' reaction wtih bees, so tell him to stop fussing because wasp and bee stings are completely different - but don't know the full chemical formulae or details.
Louise