I really am not sure about the exact answer to your question. I am allergic to beeswax, and have had bad reactions to some honey. Maybe my experience will prove interesting to you.
Go figure, middle of a family emergency, and around estranged extended family, my lips decide they are going to swell up huge, and get all red and puffy, they itched like crazy, and were pealing. Not how I wanted to show up, but oh well. I was using the same burts bees chapstick I always did. Being a beekeeper, I had some wax laying around, so I rubbed that on my lips after the reaction to try to calm them down. The reaction hurt so badly I didn’t even want to smile, bc it would split my lip from the movement. I had to be careful as I talked too. I tried all kinds of chapstick, but nothing seemed to help. Finally I put raw coconut oil on them, and it did the trick.
Fastforward several months, and the same thing happened. Finally figured it out, it was beeswax. I’ve had the same experience with wax (beeswax) on my eyebrows.
Later on, I realized honey was causing me to break out really badly. I went off honey, and my complexion totally cleared up.
This year working in the bee yard was too much and I caved and decided I was going to eat a big hivetool scoop of honey. I had no adverse reaction to it, so I am back to eating honey, but not using beeswax cosmetics. (Have you ever tried to find chapstick that does not contain beeswax? Nearly impossible, so far I’ve only found one kind from one brand.)
I’m thankful to be back to eating honey, it’s a sad reality to be a beekeeper and be allergic to honey!

 

I really am not sure about the exact answer to your question. I am allergic to beeswax, and have had bad reactions to some honey. Maybe my experience will prove interesting to you.
Go figure, middle of a family emergency, and around estranged extended family, my lips decide they are going to swell up huge, and get all red and puffy, they itched like crazy, and were pealing. Not how I wanted to show up, but oh well. I was using the same burts bees chapstick I always did. Being a beekeeper, I had some wax laying around, so I rubbed that on my lips after the reaction to try to calm them down. The reaction hurt so badly I didn’t even want to smile, bc it would split my lip from the movement. I had to be careful as I talked too. I tried all kinds of chapstick, but nothing seemed to help. Finally I put raw coconut oil on them, and it did the trick.
Fastforward several months, and the same thing happened. Finally figured it out, it was beeswax. I’ve had the same experience with wax (beeswax) on my eyebrows.
Later on, I realized honey was causing me to break out really badly. I went off honey, and my complexion totally cleared up.
This year working in the bee yard was too much and I caved and decided I was going to eat a big hivetool scoop of honey. I had no adverse reaction to it, so I am back to eating honey, but not using beeswax cosmetics. (Have you ever tried to find chapstick that does not contain beeswax? Nearly impossible, so far I’ve only found one kind from one brand.)
I’m thankful to be back to eating honey, it’s a sad reality to be a beekeeper and be allergic to honey!

WHat a fantastic and insightful answer. Firstly I am sorry that all happened to you that sound fricken dreadful, and I am sorry for that. I guess my question is a difficult one to answer or know for sure what it could be. I for example have some unprocessed honey that is entirely raw from a nearby farm. I could imagine it hasnt been filtered for anything and that perhaps things like venom could technically., in theory, make their way inside I suppose

 

For anyone out there who’s also allergic. It’s a little glossy too, so may work better for women than for men, at least out in town. It’s the only one I’ve ever found that has no beeswax in it. If others know of a different kind, plz lmk!🙂

 

Honey and venom come out of different ends of a bee, so there's not much opportunity for them to mix.

Interesting question though. Some ants use their venom inside their nest to sterilise infected eggs.

Girl+bees - that sounds awful. Glad you can eat some honeys though.

 

Agreed they sure do, I was just wondering if in theory, during the honey making process, that for some reason perhaps venom could make it from some bees into the honey, because if they didnt, there would not quite be any explanation for why some people get a rare allergic reaxction to honey (regarding those who are specifically allergic to the venom/stings)

 

Let me start by saying I am definitely not an expert, nor have I done any research in this subject, however from the knowledge I accumulated over the years from different sources, I can give you an answer that I came to believe in.

Firstly, as they said, venom and honey come out from different ends. Still there might be a chance that some venom might end up in the honey in one way or another. However, even if that happens, the amount is very minimal that it gets so diluted that it should become non traceable with no ill effect.

Secondly, there are those who are allergic to bee venom that go to clinics that helps with the desensitization to the venom, now I don’t remember what they use, but basically if people are exposed to small amounts to compounds that they are allergic to, they develop a tolerance, and that’s not just for bee venom. (I personally went through that with a herb I am allergic to, instead of avoiding it, I kept on taking small amounts and I am no longer allergic to it)

Thirdly, I believe that pollen is a much bigger concern than bee venom as its presence in honey should be much more pronounced than any venom, however I stress on the I believe because I have no facts to prove it there, just expectations from what I deem common sense.

Lastly, you see and hear a lot about people recommending eating local honey (or bee pollen in small amounts) to help with seasonal allergies to pollen, as small traces of that pollen might be present in the honey and help with the desensitization. You can infer from that.

 

The only way I can think of is that if a bee or bees get smashed between combs by the beekeeper. An especially clumsy beekeeper could smash quite a few.

Alex

 

Quite a few dead bees make it into the extractor. These are filtered out before bottling. Even if you swallowed a dead bee whole, and digested it, your stomach acid is going to destroy the enzymes in any venom present. Is there venom in honey? Probably on the order of parts per billion.

 

hey there thanks for responding. I must ask how many bees end up dead duriig this process? A few thousand? I always assumed most bees except for maybe ten would all survive dyring the extraction process

 

Your question is addressed in several publications including the hive and the honeybee. While we react to bee venom, allergic reactions are usually caused by proteins injected along with the venom during a sting. Some of the same proteins wind up in honey which means honey can cause allergic reactions.

 

Quite a few dead bees make it into the extractor. These are filtered out before bottling. Even if you swallowed a dead bee whole, and digested it, your stomach acid is going to destroy the enzymes in any venom present. Is there venom in honey? Probably on the order of parts per billion.

fascinating. Considering a hive may have like 80000 bees just how many in terms of percentage out of say a hypothetical 80k would be dead and make i tinto the extractor?

 

0%

 

Bees float. So does wax. When the honey is allowed to settle, it is then draw off the bottom, and the wax skimmed off the top.

Crazy Roland