I'm a newbee too..started with two packages and the bees kinda multiplied...it is fun, isn't it?!
Just so you know, you can develop an allergy at any time (I do happen to be a veterinarian and deal with allergies quite often, and the mechanism is the same for all mammals). Allergies happen after repeated exposures. The vast majority of beekeepers develop something akin to an immunity after repeated stings, but there are the few who suddenly, out of the blue, have a severe, lifethreatening reaction. Keep some liquid Benadryl and H-2 blockers in your work box, and some people keep epi-pens as well, but an epi-pen is an emergency tool to give you time to get somewhere for steroids and other treatments. I lug around liquid Benadryl, Pepcid, an epinephrine inhaler (like what an asthmatic might use) just in case, along with a phone.
Like you, so far I've only been stung twice. Once was, I believe, purely on accident by the bee; I was standing near the hives watching the action and a bee stung the back of my neck, no warning, no buzzing my head, nothing. The second was when I accidentally grabbed a bee and she nailed me through my gloves.
I don't want more than maybe 7 hives, one to look through each day :lol
This has been a great place to hang out...hope you learn lots!
Just so you know, you can develop an allergy at any time (I do happen to be a veterinarian and deal with allergies quite often, and the mechanism is the same for all mammals). Allergies happen after repeated exposures. The vast majority of beekeepers develop something akin to an immunity after repeated stings, but there are the few who suddenly, out of the blue, have a severe, lifethreatening reaction. Keep some liquid Benadryl and H-2 blockers in your work box, and some people keep epi-pens as well, but an epi-pen is an emergency tool to give you time to get somewhere for steroids and other treatments. I lug around liquid Benadryl, Pepcid, an epinephrine inhaler (like what an asthmatic might use) just in case, along with a phone.
Like you, so far I've only been stung twice. Once was, I believe, purely on accident by the bee; I was standing near the hives watching the action and a bee stung the back of my neck, no warning, no buzzing my head, nothing. The second was when I accidentally grabbed a bee and she nailed me through my gloves.
I don't want more than maybe 7 hives, one to look through each day :lol
This has been a great place to hang out...hope you learn lots!