Question on stings

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I remember when I was helping out Chris Broad at Saltway apiaries in Bromsgrove, I drew the short straw and had to inspect his hive from hell, by the time I got the lid off I had had a dozen stings to each index finger plus a few in the others.
 
I remember when I was helping out Chris Broad at Saltway apiaries in Bromsgrove, I drew the short straw and had to inspect his hive from hell, by the time I got the lid off I had had a dozen stings to each index finger plus a few in the others.
Because I use nitriles or no gloves at all I often get stung if I trap a bee. Some days nothing, others a dozen and even occasionally 50 if a nasty hive kicks off. I see it as risk I take in my hobby just as a horse rider does about falling off.
I went to a lecture given by an immunologist who runs desensitisation courses at our local hospital. He said we are all just one sting away from anaphylaxis whether you had had a reaction before or not.
Another fact he gave was from data from a French survey which indicated the riskiest time for beekeepers to have a reaction was after they had kept bees for 15 years! Well that's the French for you! :giggle:
 
Looks like I'm fine then cos I have more than 200 stings per year! 😂
Growing up, our local beekeeper, after finishing up on the hives, wiped all the stings from his left forearm with his right hand, and left hand down the right forearm. Job done:D
 
Growing up, our local beekeeper, after finishing up on the hives, wiped all the stings from his left forearm with his right hand, and left hand down the right forearm. Job done:D
Oh dear, that action takes me back to childhood days when bucket closets were emptied by the local council into the "soup tanker". One of the operatives dragged out the bucket and hoisted it onto his shoulder where the corroded bottom gave way and the contents cascaded over him to the huge entertainment of his workmates. His response "its only sh*t" while scraping the material off with the edge of his hand.
He then sat in the cab of the lorry to eat his sandwiches at lunchtime while the others stayed outside.🥺
 
Oh dear, that action takes me back to childhood days when bucket closets were emptied by the local council into the "soup tanker". One of the operatives dragged out the bucket and hoisted it onto his shoulder where the corroded bottom gave way and the contents cascaded over him to the huge entertainment of his workmates. His response "its only sh*t" while scraping the material off with the edge of his hand.
He then sat in the cab of the lorry to eat his sandwiches at lunchtime while the others stayed outside.🥺
My grandfather tells the story of the local Sh!t cart man who was caught one day with a big piece of wood stirring the contents of his 'chariot' when asked what he was doing he explained he'd put his coat on the bench and it had slipped into the tub when told that the coat was beyond redemption even before the incident he just said 'I know - but my sandwiches were in the pocket'
Another time a neighbour couldn't understand why his cabbages which were growing next to the 'Tŷ Bach (little house) were looking rather tatty and getting worse every week when he took his morning constitution, so he hid in the garden to see what was happening to see the sh!t cart man make his way to collect the bucket and ripping a leaf off a cabbage as he went in, when challenged he said "you improve your aim and leave me with a clean handle - and I'll leave your cabbages alone!"
 
In my first year of beekeeping which is now 50 years ago I had one mishap while moving some hives that resulted in over a hundred stings on both my ankles and legs. It hurt and it itched but not much more than that. So I thought I was fairly immune to reactions and regularly got a few stings which never bothered me. Then about 15 years ago I took about a dozen stings to my head (on a windy day through my veil) and next my head turned red, then purple, I started wheezing,my heart thumping,feeling boiling hot ,sweating profusely, feeling faint and breathless and got itchy red blotches all over my body and huge swelling. Since then I would react very strongly to even one or two stings, so I started to be very careful, full ozzie suit and thick gloves and an epi pen just in case. After five or six years of being very careful I now find that I can cope with the occasional sting without such strong reactions but I have adapted my technique to minimise the risk of getting stung and always wear full protection.
 

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