Bee sting protocol

[Barry Moore]

Does anyone have a protocol for club members that attended an apiary class and get stung?
We had a class at the weekend and one of the attendees got stung and about 15 mins later fainted.
Any help here would be appreciated.

 

[Wilco]

No official protocol but be careful as first aid tends not to include medication yet Piriton is useful. Could the faint be unrelated/due to psychological response to being stung?

I'd personally say:

• Remove the sting
• Provide advice
• Monitor them as far as practicable even if this is just talking and give them the option to stop/sit out for a bit
• Have incident forms

Advice would be along the lines of:

• People having a variety of reactions to stings from nothing all the way to anaphylaxis.
• Sometimes there can be lots of swelling, sometimes it can be itchy days later.
• If they are concerned they should seek medical advice, obviously 999 in an emergency such as struggling to breathe.
• Piriton (chlorphenamine) can be helpful if taken early on.
• In rare cases, infections at the site of the sting can occur too so they should monitor for this and seek medical advice if concerned.

Obviously this would be advice better given before they start the session anyway... Including having emergency contact details.

This is just off the top of my head, others who are involved in associations may be able to give a better answer. HSE would probably also be able to advise although this may be stirring the proverbial hornet's nest!

Also having a trained first aider around for each session is probably wise.

 

[Garry R]

From what I recall, if you have a meeting at an apiary there should be a Risk Assessment done beforehand and there should be a first aider. Likely why a lot of associations are put off holding them and an education and social gathering missed due to rules. I am happy to stand corrected on this though as it is just a recollection when I was on a committee discussing it.

 

[Paulypaul]

As suggested, the fainting may have been a psychological reaction. In which case raised legs should help revive.
You can put your ear close to the person's mouth to listen for any wheezing.

I get anaphylactic shock from ingesting tree nuts. Fainting is not a symptom until my blood pressure drops dangerously low. Which takes 20 mins or so. In that situation an EpiPen or two is required to get blood pressure back up, it's too late for an antihistamine, and an over-the-counter antihistamine won't do anything anyway.

Before the blood pressure drop, my airways are dramatically restricted by extreme inflammation, my skin erupts into extreme rashes and intense itchyness.

If the above entertainment didn't happen, the fainting was likely psychological.

My wife passes out at the slightest sight of any blood. Hits the floor, like a sack of spuds.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Also having a trained first aider around for each session is probably wise.

Totally over the top according to quite a few trumpets on here!

 

[Wilco]

Totally over the top according to quite a few trumpets on here!

Well it's potentially their funeral.

Better to over-engineer than have a failure. Mind you I think first aid should be a complete compulsory and repeated part of primary and secondary education.

 

[Barry Moore]

No official protocol but be careful as first aid tends not to include medication yet Piriton is useful. Could the faint be unrelated/due to psychological response to being stung?

I'd personally say:

• Remove the sting
• Provide advice
• Monitor them as far as practicable even if this is just talking and give them the option to stop/sit out for a bit
• Have incident forms

Advice would be along the lines of:

• People having a variety of reactions to stings from nothing all the way to anaphylaxis.
• Sometimes there can be lots of swelling, sometimes it can be itchy days later.
• If they are concerned they should seek medical advice, obviously 999 in an emergency such as struggling to breathe.
• Piriton (chlorphenamine) can be helpful if taken early on.
• In rare cases, infections at the site of the sting can occur too so they should monitor for this and seek medical advice if concerned.

Obviously this would be advice better given before they start the session anyway... Including having emergency contact details.

This is just off the top of my head, others who are involved in associations may be able to give a better answer. HSE would probably also be able to advise although this may be stirring the proverbial hornet's nest!

Also having a trained first aider around for each session is probably wise.

Thanks for your input. Good idea on the incident forms.

 

[Barry Moore]

As suggested, the fainting may have been a psychological reaction. In which case raised legs should help revive.
You can put your ear close to the person's mouth to listen for any wheezing.

I get anaphylactic shock from ingesting tree nuts. Fainting is not a symptom until my blood pressure drops dangerously low. Which takes 20 mins or so. In that situation an EpiPen or two is required to get blood pressure back up, it's too late for an antihistamine, and an over-the-counter antihistamine won't do anything anyway.

Before the blood pressure drop, my airways are dramatically restricted by extreme inflammation, my skin erupts into extreme rashes and intense itchyness.

If the above entertainment didn't happen, the fainting was likely psychological.

My wife passes out at the slightest sight of any blood. Hits the floor, like a sack of spuds.

Luckily we didn't have the anaphylactic reaction to deal with but it definitely made us think about future situations. They had been stung before so not sure about the phycology either. Raised legs worked well in bringing them around. Thanks.

 

[batheyedoc]

No official protocol but be careful as first aid tends not to include medication yet Piriton is useful. Could the faint be unrelated/due to psychological response to being stung?

I'd personally say:

• Remove the sting
• Provide advice
• Monitor them as far as practicable even if this is just talking and give them the option to stop/sit out for a bit
• Have incident forms

Advice would be along the lines of:

• People having a variety of reactions to stings from nothing all the way to anaphylaxis.
• Sometimes there can be lots of swelling, sometimes it can be itchy days later.
• If they are concerned they should seek medical advice, obviously 999 in an emergency such as struggling to breathe.
• Piriton (chlorphenamine) can be helpful if taken early on.
• In rare cases, infections at the site of the sting can occur too so they should monitor for this and seek medical advice if concerned.

Obviously this would be advice better given before they start the session anyway... Including having emergency contact details.

This is just off the top of my head, others who are involved in associations may be able to give a better answer. HSE would probably also be able to advise although this may be stirring the proverbial hornet's nest!

Also having a trained first aider around for each session is probably wise.

This is good advice. New members should be asked about any history of Anaphylaxis and obviously if they have, the risk needs to be assessed and they need to be counselled accordingly (try trainspotting instead!!). Chlorpheniramine and relatives take too long to work for Anaphylaxis, but are useful to minimise sting reaction. I agree this sounds like a vagal reaction to being stung (psychogenic fainting). Having an EpiPen on site is a debatable point; they are potentially life-saving, but you need training to use one and they have a shelf life.

 

[Wilco]

This is good advice. New members should be asked about any history of Anaphylaxis and obviously if they have, the risk needs to be assessed and they need to be counselled accordingly (try trainspotting instead!!). Chlorpheniramine and relatives take too long to work for Anaphylaxis, but are useful to minimise sting reaction. I agree this sounds like a vagal reaction to being stung (psychogenic fainting). Having an EpiPen on site is a debatable point; they are potentially life-saving, but you need training to use one and they have a shelf life.

Plus there's a proper and cheaper dose in a vial of the stuff!

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Does anyone have a protocol for club members that attended an apiary class and get stung?
We had a class at the weekend and one of the attendees got stung and about 15 mins later fainted.
Any help here would be appreciated.

This is a can of worms question. I hadn't been to the club apiary for some time but dropped in for a chat a bit ago. Someone (long term keeper) did get stung as a bee found a gap between zips at the nape of his bee suit neck. The apiary manager insisted on the victim going outside the apiary and sitting down for five minutes. Many of us present with extensive experience of being stung were quite surprised at this.
It's not something which home beekeepers (apart from known allergy sufferers) seem to have problems with and I wonder if others working alone would consider it reasonable to come away from the bees for some period and what they do regarding notifying someone where they are going and how long they are likely to be gone before a session? If they did faint after a sting would it be immediate or with preamble symptoms and would a non beekeeper enter the apiary with an open hive and possibly agitated bees to deal with the casualty?

 

[Gilberdyke John]

This is good advice. New members should be asked about any history of Anaphylaxis and obviously if they have, the risk needs to be assessed and they need to be counselled accordingly (try trainspotting instead!!). Chlorpheniramine and relatives take too long to work for Anaphylaxis, but are useful to minimise sting reaction. I agree this sounds like a vagal reaction to being stung (psychogenic fainting). Having an EpiPen on site is a debatable point; they are potentially life-saving, but you need training to use one and they have a shelf life.

Unless things have changed epipens are not available to the general public in the UK.

 

[Sutty]

If I took a 5 minute break after every sting some examinations could take a long time!

 

[pargyle]

I tend to keep a pack of antihistamines and a tube of Anthisan in my bee kit .. hand stings don't bother me too much but if I get a sting to my neck or face I tend to take a minute or two out to take the AH and apply the Anthisan - I find that quick treatment does reduce the amount and duration of any swelling/inflammation.

 

[Sutty]

My worst was a defensive hive which I dequeened then went back into a week later - about 35 stings per hand (no gloves), they were stinging faster than I could ever remove them so I didn't bother. I removed all the EQCs and closed up asap as neighbours had come into their garden!
Thankfully it was fine after! Though the forearms were a bit swollen

 

[madasafish]

My worst was a defensive hive which I dequeened then went back into a week later - about 35 stings per hand (no gloves), they were stinging faster than I could ever remove them so I didn't bother. I removed all the EQCs and closed up asap as neighbours had come into their garden!
Thankfully it was fine after! Though the forearms were a bit swollen

Although I usually go gloveless, I glove up for known defensive colonies..35 stings per hand is the kind of dosage which could trigger all sorts of things. (my worst is only 26 in one session and c 230 in a year. Yes I count them!)

 

[Sutty]

There was a paper that said 200+ stings a year is almost complete protection from systemic reactions!
I just had swollen painless forearms for a couple of days.
These days I often can't tell which finger got stung 5 minutes later.

 

[Antipodes]

I heard a (gloveless) commercial beekeeper recently saying he gets about 200 stings a day on occasions.

 

[pargyle]

I heard a (gloveless) commercial beekeeper recently saying he gets about 200 stings a day on occasions.

Why would you tolerate this ? I'm not gloveless but I rub a few drops of Olbas Oil on my nitrile disposable gloves and this discourages the bees from landing on or stinging my hands ...

 

[Sutty]

Why would you tolerate this ? I'm not gloveless but I rub a few drops of Olbas Oil on my nitrile disposable gloves and this discourages the bees from landing on or stinging my hands ...

I suspect because he barely noticed them by now.
It's strange how stings in different places react differently - stings on my hands are usually a few seconds of stinging and hardly any reaction, wrists a bit of swelling but again transient pain, head not much swelling but a bit more tender, face swells a bit.
Doesn't seem to be explained by conventional immunology or anatomy