Immunity to bee stings

[ROACHMAN]

Over the past few years I have built up an immunity to beestings - it doesnt bother me if I get stung. I tend to get stung where the elastic of my gloves holds be beesuit against my skin.

I was talking to a pest controller yesterday who claimes that he used to be immune to stings like me but due to the massive amount to stings he has received over the years, he has started to react and has now become allergic.

Can this be the case, if it can be then I think Ill be more careful and try and avoid stings in future.

 

[VEG]

Yes it can happen

 

[Queens59]

Yes - I used to react really badly 3 1/2 yrs ago, then I had about 18 months with no reaction - and now I have started to react badly again.

 

[Bee-Key-Pur]

Yes it can. Some of my out aperies have my most miserable bees, but I keep them because they produce the most honey.
One visit last week it was a bit raining and dull, so my bee suit became wet through and the bee stings came right through the suit and I received 30 + stings, but by the time It took me to drive home, I couldn't feel the stings anymore...

 

[whoosling]

Definately yes my brother became so bad he had to have a epi pen and gave up beekeeping

 

[Polyanwood]

I was told there are 2 reactions to stings, A and B and usually A follows B. With reaction A, at first you react with swelling and itching, but with more stings you react less and less over time, until you reach a certain total critical mass of stings. At this point, reaction B occurs and you get a dramatic whole body reaction. This explains why some people have to give up beekeeping after decades. The dramatic anaphylactic reaction is also more common in the families of beekeepers. (Even if they have never been stung) This is because they been exposed to the toxins in venom on the beekeeper's clothes which dries and travels well in the air if someone brushes against the suit.
Best to avoid getting stung and to wash your suit regularly then.

 

[Arfermo]

Double layers of all clothing and thick washing up gloves with parcel tape round the wrist to overlap the suit and rarely any stings now. Immune now but don't like the initial effect of stings anyway.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

I was told there are 2 reactions to stings,

Sorry, but by whom?

How reliable is this?

On a subject as important as this, the beekeeping community should be working with reliable data, not hearsay.

If it's come from a peer reviewed study, it could be irresponsible to keep hives near ones home. If this is an old wives' tale, I'll note it and hope someone out there might pick it up and do some work on the stats for us.


Dusty.

 

[summo]

Sorry, but by whom?
How reliable is this?
Dusty.

There are numerous possibilities;

There is probably only one type of sting, but the human immune system reaction will vary over time and the individuals age or general health. If you consider that many of those flu viruses kill people because of an immune system over reaction, not because it was that individually lethal a virus in the first place. Human body is a complex organism and I suspect the problems lie there and not with the bees sting varying from A or B.

The venom probably does change ever so slightly in evolutionary terms, but not that quick given queen turn over and the mixed genetics of different drones with the same queen. So genetically a hive of workers could vary considerably at any one time.

I'm sure there has been research done by somebody on this kind of thing somewhere?

 

[Little John]

Double layers of all clothing and thick washing up gloves with parcel tape round the wrist to overlap the suit and rarely any stings now. Immune now but don't like the initial effect of stings anyway.

Parcel tape sounds 'tricky' to use ? I've found that a couple of rubber bands made from inner tubes (wheelbarrow size is good for me) works a treat.


Re: immunity changing over time ...
Although I'm well into my 60's, for the first time in my life I'm starting to become a little 'sniffly' when the pollen count is high. Otherwise a life-time of no problems at all in that area. As the yanks say, "go figure".

LJ

 

[Little John]

Sorry, but by whom?

How reliable is this?

On a subject as important as this, the beekeeping community should be working with reliable data, not hearsay.

If it's come from a peer reviewed study, it could be irresponsible to keep hives near ones home. If this is an old wives' tale, I'll note it and hope someone out there might pick it up and do some work on the stats for us.

Oxymoron.

"The conclusions drawn from any study is directly dependent on the source of funding for that study." LJ's law.

LJ

 

[Gyp]

Sorry, but by whom?

How reliable is this?

On a subject as important as this, the beekeeping community should be working with reliable data, not hearsay.

If it's come from a peer reviewed study, it could be irresponsible to keep hives near ones home. If this is an old wives' tale, I'll note it and hope someone out there might pick it up and do some work on the stats for us.


Dusty.

You mean to say every you read on the Internet is not always correct!

And I thought that Russian girl really loves me, and the African man is sending me $100000000. That bit is true, isn't it?

 

[MonseigneurBienvenu]

Morning,

Reliability and proper research aside (these things are rare of forums, even those called something like "physics-research-r-us"), I can only say what I've experienced so far. I have some questions though.

What is immunity to bee stings? Is this it (see below)? where is the line?

The first sting on the wrist elicited a small reaction - small bump immediately surrounding the sting, about an inch of light redness and half-inch of very light swelling (just noticeable). No itching, symptoms gone completely in a few hours (first bump, then redness, then swelling). The second sting in the same area after two weeks - small bump immediately around the sting, clearing up in around 15 minutes, light redness for about half an hour, swelling for about one hour. No itching.

Both times the stinger was allowed to pump only for a short time (guessing - 10 seconds first time, 30 the second time)

--

Reaction the second time can send someone into schock where the first sting was fine. So let's say the second sting gives "true natural reaction" - this can vary wildly. I recon it would be helpful is we could roughly divide the issue thus (setting medical niceties aside for a minute): distinguishing "allergic" reaction (i.e. anything other than the local swelling, itching, etc) and "normal" reaction (i.e. local swelling, itching, local redness, etc in varying degrees of annoyance depending on person, stinger-in time and area of body). Then we can say that "immunity" refers to the former, whilst "desensitisation" refers to the latter.

This is still blurry, inevitably, but could be useful to put everyone on the same sort of terms when they evaluate their experiences/what they have heard.

Really interesting topic and a very ancient one I'm sure.

 

[pargyle]

Parcel tape sounds 'tricky' to use ? I've found that a couple of rubber bands made from inner tubes (wheelbarrow size is good for me) works a treat.


Re: immunity changing over time ...
Although I'm well into my 60's, for the first time in my life I'm starting to become a little 'sniffly' when the pollen count is high. Otherwise a life-time of no problems at all in that area. As the yanks say, "go figure".

LJ

There's a lot we don't know about allergies - I've had Hay Fever since I was about 12 years old. But it's changed over the years ... in the early years it used to start mainly with grass pollens and continued strongly through the summer. About ten years ago (I'm nearly 63 now) I stopped getting allergies from grass pollen but really suffer with tree pollen - worst is horse chestnuts and it has stopped when the last of the tree pollen has gone. This last couple of years I've taken Loratadine from the first signs of hay fever and this keeps it more or less totally under control.

I wonder if there is a relationship between exposure to, regular exposure to and overdose of the thing causing the sensitisation.

There are a lot of people who absolutely swear by homeopathic/natural remedies for hay fever - one of which is local honey ! I know so many people who say thay a spoonful of local honey every morning kills their hay fever symptoms ... as you say - Go figure ! I really don't know ....

 

[WingCommander]

I started last year. When I was 18 (19 years ago) I had a bee sting that resulted in anaphalactic shock. For years I carried and Epi-pen. My dad is also allergic but went through desensitisation after nearly dieing from a sting. I got checked out last year to stings and was no longer allergic - I was told I had simply grown out of it.

Over the past 15 months I have probably been stung half a dozen times. All but the last 2 were fine - minor pain then gone within 10 mins and no further reaction. The last two were very different - one on the forearm after bees 'followed' me back to my car when out of bee suit - swollen forearm for days, very hot and red and then one yesterday through my glove (new gloves ordered) that is the same - hot, red & swollen hand, despite getting stinger out within 5 seconds. Not sure why it is such a big difference in reaction but annoying as loving the beek-ing and don't want to be forced to stop!

 

[user 6228]

We bee keep with bare hands, but I'm never going to go up a ladder after bees without gloves again.
Up a ladder carrying things like cutters and a box for the bees, you cant immediately remove the stings. You may have to wait until you descend.
Let me say leaving a number of them in for half a minute or so is not pleasant

 

[Finman]

.
I am very immune to bee stings. 5 sting can be in face are and it does not swell.

I stand tens of sting every day. But that is not the purpose.

.

 

[Finman]

We bee keep with bare hands, but I'm never going to go up a ladder after bees without gloves again.
Up a ladder carrying things like cutters and a box for the bees, you cant immediately remove the stings. You may have to wait until you descend.
Let me say leaving a number of them in for half a minute or so is not pleasant

Same opinion. It depends how fast you get the sting off with gnife edge.