Data on bee venom allergy in beekeepers are scarce–few
epidemiological studies have been undertaken and in those that
have the sample size was usually small. We therefore decided to
investigate the problem of bee venom allergy in beekeepers as
part of a study focusing on various health issues and motivation
in this group.

Our analysis showed that those beekeepers who were allergic
to bee venom were more emotionally unstable and nervous
and more likely to complain about pain and to suffer from
anger and fears. They were also more likely to respond to
stress more quickly but recover from it more slowly than
healthy beekeepers. Personality variables may thus influence
the development of allergies. This has also been shown for
patients suffering from other conditions that are considered
to be allergy related, including asthma. Although this
factor was not selected as significantly predictive by stepwise
discriminant analysis, our study provides some evidence that
psychological variables may contribute to the development of
allergic reactions. However, there may be other explanations.
Beekeepers who are less emotionally stable are more likely
to continue beekeeping in spite of allergic reactions. This
issue needs to be addressed in future studies.

Munstedt, K., et al. "Allergy to bee venom in beekeepers in Germany." Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology 18.2 (2008): 100.

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