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Old Beeks: Have you built up any immunity to stings?

12K views 74 replies 41 participants last post by  Unaweep 
#1 ·
#2 ·
I built up some.When I first started I had to carry some pills the doctor had given me.I cant remember what they were since its been well over 30 years ago.My first sting sent me to the emergency room and he gave me those pills then.Well the more I got stung the less I needed them till no more reactions.Now days they dont bother me much at all.
 
#3 · (Edited)
I swelled up when stung my first season, then stings just itched like crazy for a couple of days for about another season. Since my 3rd year keeping bees, I haven't had much of any reaction to stings (no itching or swelling.) I don't wear gloves, so I get stung regularly on the hands, probably about 30 stings per year. Now my son (12) has only been stung about 3 times in his lifetime (last year he installed 3 packages in a tank top, shorts, and a veil! with no stings) and has very little swelling or itch. His 3rd sting was on the lip (he was out without any protection taking photos in the beeyard.) It swelled very little, and by the next day you couldn't tell he'd been stung.

The point behind all this is it is a highly personalized kind of thing. Everyone reacts differently; a friend of mine that keeps bees has never had much of a reaction, but the other day he got stung on the hand and his entire arm swelled up.
 
#4 ·
So now you can get a sting, only feel the initial puncture pain/sensation, and have no swelling?

I work in IT and type constantly...I can't afford to have my hands swell up from stings so I glove up... but i'd still like to be a bit less inclined to look like a balloon when a random bee hits me.
 
#17 ·
I work in IT and type constantly...I can't afford to have my hands swell up from stings so I glove up... but i'd still like to be a bit less inclined to look like a balloon when a random bee hits me.
I've worried about this also, I work in surgery and use my hands extensively. I use nitrile gloves, I did get stung once in the end of the finger but I was careless and squished one of the girls.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I work in IT as well, and use the keyboard all day long. You're right; I feel the initial sting but that pain sub-sides in a minute or so and then I have no other significant effects. I took about 5-6 stings in the hands last weekend from my friskiest hive (one right on the side of my knuckle) and had just a little stiffness in it on Monday, but not enough to effect my typing ability. Actually, I used to have stiffness in my hands and the joints would pop before I started keeping bees. Now I have better mobility in my fingers, and the joints don't pop any more. I see it more as bee venom therapy than stings these days,
 
#6 ·
I've found that in many cases, a person's reaction to bee stings is more dependent on their individual physiology than on any built up tolerance, i.e., some folks react more intensely to stings than others. One of my mentors, a long time beek (20+ years), still swells up when stung, and itches terribly. From the time I started with bees, I've hardly been bothered - I react much more to a mosquito bite than a honeybee sting.
 
#7 ·
i got stung in the finger last week, no mark no swelling, not much pain after 5 minutes, nothing the next day. the same on the leg a few weeks ago. last night i got it in the face, one on the cheek it felt exactly like a novacaine shot at the dentist, numb teeth and gumbs, a LOT of pain, and for me big headche included. i went to town and got some benadril right away. today the my cheek is swollen over an inch, no pain at all still a headache but not as bad.... like everything with bees it is unpredictable. :s:s
 
#8 ·
I've found that hand stings swell some but for some reason finger stings don't. Something to do with how callused up the hands are I think. The softer the place the worse it is imo. I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to shun protection as I've been stung on the face several times and it's not that big a deal.
Getting the stinger out quick is what really matters. I can see myself going in shorts and a tank top in the next year or one more. Once you get past the fear of it the actual pain is not nearly as bad as the anxiety about it.
 
#18 ·
Glad to hear that. I've never had much reaction, and I generally ignore insects, but last year I got chased out of a bee yard by a particularly nasty hive. Had a "strong local reaction." Swelling and itching for several days. Haven't been stung this year yet, although I've been working bare handed, but I'm curious to see how it goes.
 
#12 ·
I was gun shy as well but instead of having anxiety about it the first chance I got I went out with a freind and checked his bees and casually let one sting my arthritis paw (righty). Oh, it swelled up because I thought I'd knocked the stinger off but no, got the full dose of venom. It's been down hill ever since so hey, dive in, the water's cold and stingy. :)
 
#13 ·
I believe that there are factors involved. Sometimes I get stung and no swelling, I am a IT guy as well. I don't use gloves and seldom anything else.
I found the quicker I scrape the stinger out the less effect I have. I also found that rubbing Ben Gay ointment on the sting and some Benadryl cream on it, that I have very very little reaction.
 
#14 ·
I have been keeping bees for a lttle over three years.

Before I kept bees I believed myself to be one of those people with an anaphylactic reaction to honey bee stings. Since I am also a professional horticulturist and fruit and veg farmer, protecting myself from stings has been a life long pre-occupation and I always carried Epi-pens, though for decades never used one. I'm in my 60s, so that's a lot of wasted drugs!

Early on in my struggles to keep my cut-out bees in their hive rather than back in the barn walls they came from, I had one evening when we under a tornado watch with an approaching severe thunderstorm when I was determined that I couldn't leave the bees exposed to the wind, so I tried to scoop them out again.

Since it was nearly dark, with a heavy storm approaching and I was workinig on an extension ladder, you can imagine how mad that made the bees and they just lost it - I took dozens of stings, and hundreds and hundreds more stingers were embedded in my clothing and heavy gloves during this foolish task. (Now, I would know the bees would be less harmed by the storm than by my silly effort to "protect" them. I was so clueless!)

My fresh Epi-pen was in my pocket and I was trying to monitor myself for any reaction while still keeping doggedly to my task. When I'd finally moved as many bees as I could, I climbed back down the ladder and realized I was having no reaction at all beyond the pain from the stings themselves.

Since then, I have probably a couple of stings per week during the warm months and maybe one a month during the winter, so pretty much year 'round exposure. During the first year, or so, I got some slight swelling, and bit of itchiness.

Once, in my second summer, I got stung on my wedding ring finger and had such fast swelling I was lucky to get the ring off w/o cutting it off. (The old EMT trick of string and oil saved the day.) Other than that, beyond the sometimes fierce initial discomfort, I rarely get any reaction anymore except sometimes a slight soreness in nearby joints, a sort of arthritis-type reaction during the next 24 hours. (And that's weird because I know some people deliberately try stings as a means of relieving arthritic pain.)

But I generally get no swelling, or itching, or anything, anymore. My dignity is always impaired, though, because I hop around wailing like a baby and cursing like a sailor when I get stung. Just a drama queen, I guess.

Enj.
 
#15 ·
I only get a slight reaction to the first sting of the season, from then on - no problems

Thinking back to when I first started, swelling wasn't the issue for me - it was the itching. Used to drive me crazy. Tried calamine lotion, Witch Hazel, cold compresses and so on ... but only got relief for a very short time.

Then, somebody told me the secret ...
Providing you're not actually allergic to bee stings (and that's really quite important - for obvious reasons) - the trick is to apply a hot compress to the area: hot water poured onto a flannel or towel, as hot as you can stand it without scalding yourself, and firmly held against the area for as long as possible. If needs be, repeat this a couple of times. I found that I could then actually get to sleep for a few hours, rather than stay awake scratching all night. In the morning maybe a repeat performance, and usually that was it.

I can't remember when the itching reaction itself stopped - probably after half a dozen stings - but it was a long time ago, and the ol' memory isn't what it used to be.

LJ
 
#16 ·
I swell if stung on the ear after thousands of stings over a lot of years. Hands, arms legs and torso seldom does a sting do anything but hurt as bad as the first one. What you gain more than immunity is the mindset required to just ignore the sting as a minor inconsequential matter, Which it is for the vast majority of people. It is dangerous for a beekeeper to not get stung as people who around the bees and products tend to develop hypo allergenic reactions at a much larger number than normal. As do family members.
 
#20 ·
It's been a long time since I started, and I know I swelled up early on. But I haven't done so in many years and I get stung many times every day. Maybe what happens to my help can help answer your question.

When they show up, they're covered from head to toe. suits, ridiculous looking veils, gloves and duct taped pants....Doesn't take long before the suits and gloves get left in the truck. Then they leave off the veil...like I often do...and of course they get stung about the head and face. Next day they come to work with eyes closed up and face all distorted. Had one guy go back to Montreal to recover when he couldn't open his eyes. :) Mostly they try again over the next few weeks and get stung again, veil for awhile, they again and again....Well it isn't too many weeks before they stop swelling severely. Lips still swell, and next to the eye socket swells for some time, but before the end of the summer they don't swell at all, no matter where the sting.

Nose shots and stings to other appendages still hurt like the devil but no swelling. Trouble is that most beekeepers never get stung nearly enough to get their bodies regulated to accept the venom. So come on....get stung more. It's good for you. :)
 
#29 ·
That's where I'm at. I know and accept that lots of bees will be invading my personal space, but heck if I'm going to let them get near my eyes! I also am a bit OCD about my hands (wash them a lot, and any knick drives me nuts) so having my hands swell is crazy to me. I can deal with arms/legs/shoulders....
 
#24 ·
At first I just wore the veil, no gloves. I got stung from time to time but it never bothered me.

Then, little by little I began to have reactions........swelling, a little dizziness, sometimes chest pain and I felt lethargic.
I picked up an Epi pen and wear gloves now. I work more carefully and have not been stung in several years.

I'm curious to see if I still have an allergy............well, not that curious. Benadryl and allergy meds have always worked, but I'm still careful.
 
#25 ·
I was told about 50 stings a year gets you there. The first few in the Spring tend to cause a bit of a reaction but after that, not much. I've learned to go barehanded because it doesn't matter much taking stings in the hands anymore and I'd just as soon get stung there and build immunity. Unless its a hot hive, I seem to get stung less barehanded than with gloves.

Once in the while I get nailed by one that really hurts, last one was a nose shot - gave me a sort of sinus headache for a few hrs.
 
#26 ·
i was picking up some queens from a long time breeder. he got stung a couple of times in the arm and wrist as he was pulling queens out of a bank. he did not react. his wrist started to swell. i asked him if it hurt. his answer "yes it vvg8dxgr/km2xxzrf /jjeed4s hurts". he got more than 50 stings a year. :rolleyes:
 
#28 ·
They still hurt just as much as the first ones. Some swell & some don't - depends on where they hit. I haven't had enough to say I'm more immune. ~50, from my hot hive last year, had no appreciable affect. I have some old MSG that nullifies the sharper ones almost immediately. I usually wear a "pollinator jacket" - I'd just as soon not take any unnecessary abuse.
 
#32 ·
Don't listen to these folks that brag about not wearing protection and getting stung a lot. They are not tough, they are dumb. The only reason you should get stung multiple times daily is because you decide getting stung is not as bad as wearing personal protective equipment. With the proper equipment, you should only get stung a few times per season. I also agree with the posters that say the fear of getting stung is worse than the actual stings.
 
#33 ·
Don't listen to these folks that brag about not wearing protection and getting stung a lot. They are not tough, they are dumb. .
Really? We are dumb? LMAO!!
When working a yard in 90 degree weather, you will be so hot you will pass out.
Pick you poison, heat stroke or being stung. I get stung about one out of every 10 - 12 hives. And I seldom if ever get stung if I smoke them lightly!
 
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