Stings in one hit

[stoneleighhouse]

How many stings in one hit before they become a problem?
Camilla and Victoria Beckham are having bee venom face masks !
I should be really pretty when I wake up tomorrer!

 

[REDWOOD]

Bees are like kids really, if the weathers bad they are indoors playing havoc and If it's sunny they are out side playing like little angels

 

[Queens59]

6 for me last year - my fault, I dropped the QE covered in bees - and my foot was the nearest target. They stung through the sock, and got stuck under the tongue of the boot and stuck me there to! 7 weeks of antibiotics later I could finally put a shoe on...Where did they get you??

 

[Luminos]

The question has to be asked...
...how...

 

[stoneleighhouse]

Dont usually wear gloves 6 on the hands forgotmy wellies 8 on the ankles,didnt realise I could still dance like that!!

 

[johnmcc]

Ahem - 15 through the suit and gloves when moving the hives three weeks ago. Most around the right wrist, resulting in forearm like a hot cylinder from elbow to palm. I let 'em out too soon after moving. Won't be doing that again!

 

[Luminos]

Dont usually wear gloves 6 on the hands forgotmy wellies 8 on the ankles,didnt realise I could still dance like that!!

Well you're still typing, so can't be that bad lol

 

[REDWOOD]

Well you're still typing, so can't be that bad lol

Must be typing with his nose, sorry not funny

 

[chipper]

About a week before going to Oslo to run the Marathon, I went to my Out Apiary to move a hive a few feet....Forgot my Wellies but carried on with my socks tucked into my trousers .... the floor promptly feel off showering my ankles with bees....I was halfway to the new stand so carried on....Think I had about 50 hits.... per foot....!
I went to the Airport some days later in my socks as my feet were still too swollen to get shoes on...Swelling took a week to go down and I ran ....

 

[Jeff Buzz]

47 in one go again dropped a hive one morning a couple of years ago.

Temporarily hived swarm using 2 supers with stn frames picked it up lifting the bottom super with one hand and top super with the other hive split in two and the bees were spilled all over my feet ...again no wellies ...I do learn mostly the hard way.

 

[oliver90owner]

Could be one, could be lots. One can never tell. One can be fatal. Different people, different thresholds. So best to at least take sensible precautions.

 

[Drew]

how many stings in one hit before they become a problem?
camilla and victoria beckham are having bee venom face masks !
I should be a real munter when i wake up tomorrer!

ftfy

 

[SixFooter]

I guess the LD50 is the best figure to use which is 8.6 stings per pound of body weight. Makes a change for us fat people to be less at risk than those skinny melinks. I have a 50% chance of surviving 2287 stings.

Most at one time I've had is 8 although I had a nasty colony that I knew was going to be difficult and I put heavy gloves on . I counted 34 stings in the gloves afterwards. All in about 2 seconds.

 

[tonybloke]

4 in the left hand, 2 in the right hand and about 400 - 500 stings in the bee suit. ( I knew this was a 'lively' colony, so I was wearing several layers under the bee suit)

my mate was smoking the bees from my veil so I could see through it, there were that many bees all over me he said he couldn't hardly see the white suit for bees!

 

[nessieb]

Some of you do seem to swell up when stung then, I have started to get local reactions to stings and now wear those stingproof blue gloves that Maisemoor do because I was worried I was getting more sensitive.
My husband got stung 5 times on the hand and he had to have time off work due to swelling (self employed) so I've got some sting proof gloves for him too.
Is swelling up a concern for any of you? Has anyone suddenly turned allergic?
A friend of mine hardly notices when they get stung and has no reaction whatsoever, whereas for me it BURNS for about 1-2 hours, swells a bit then itches on/off for a few days.
My fiesty colony gave me 17 in the gloves one day last year.

 

[tonybloke]

if you take anti-histamines before inspecting your colonies, any stings will be a lot less painful / long-lasting

 

[chrisjs]

70odd stings but undetered

Moving hives in my van when overtired one hive came apart (I was in the middle of cambridge at the time and couldn't stop1) Wearing only shorts, tea shirt and an (old) bee suit I received 70 or 80 stings through the suit and on my head. Results was that I was a bit 'fluey' for a couple of weeks and wobbly at the thought of beekeeping but soon got over it and am still at it now 15years later! The colony melted down by overheating by the time I was able to unload them (they had a screen on top) so I lost those bees. The moral is - dont push yourself or mistakes happen.

 

[newportbuzz]

most in one go is about 40-50 got that hammering while cutting out a hive from a chimney. my suit got covered in honey and stuck to my arms and they bees were able to sting through that.

i swole up a fair bit and i felt very knackered that evening. altho it was a long day this was a bit more tired than normal so i filled myself up with coffee and didnt go to bed incase.

took antihistamine that time so that could have explained the knackered.


Now i regularly take about 20-50 stings a week(no antihistamine) or so helping out club members with angry hives etc. a lot of those are self inflicted as i try to work with out gloves except on the angry ones. so i usualy take 4 stings before i put on the gloves. .

I dont swell anymore well unless they get me on the face and even then its gone in a few hours.


i reckon my threshold these days would be around the 200 mark but i dont fancy finding out.

 

[CliffDale]

Good question! I often wondered myself.

4 stings on my index finger left my hand in the shape of a club. I was a bit surprised how the back of my hand swelled up.

Anyway, I deserved it! I poked out some sponge that blocked the entrance after transporting the hive. I didn't have gloves and boy, they had me quicker than a snake can strike!

Cliff

 

[thurrock bees]

one of my hives fell over( stand gave way) and it took out the hive next door. i got suited up and went to restackthem, got 14 stings on my arm for my troubles