>I am wondering if body stress due to heat stress might not also aggravate the body's reaction to stings.� Working in LA (Lower Alabama), I have been drinking copious amounts of water...

The following is cut from a recentg diary entry:
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After "hitting the wall" yesterday, I remembered my old trick of drinking a glass of water with a teaspoon of salt stirred into it to replace salt in sweat on hot days in the full sun.  I used to do that and it helps avoid exhaustion. (So does wearing nothing but shorts under and pouring a pail of cold water over your head, bee suit and all).

One time, we had an employee who, unknown to us, was on a salt-free diet.  He was in late teens and healthy and had no reason I know of to avoid salt.  He did not mention it on the medical portion of the information dossier we kept on each employee to be able to respond appropriately to emergencies and to assign work appropriately.

One day, when he was working alone in a yard sixty miles away on a very hot day, he suffered heat prostration and called me.  I drove up and by the time I got there, he was passing out.  I drove him to the hospital and the stupid doctor thought that the kids was suffering a bee sting reaction.  Oh, well.

Another thing I did not do was take a siesta, which is the smart thing to do in hot weather.  Today, I also plan to find some work in  the shade for the hottest hours, from one to three PM.

Hopefully, we'll have a breeze today, too, since that makes a  big difference.  My beeyard is quite sheltered and get really hot.  For tropical, insects like bees, that is a good thing.  For me, not so much.

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As far as drinking salt water is concerned, and how much or often to drink a glass of salt water when working in the heat, my experience has been that if it tastes good, I probably need the salt.  If I find it unattractive, I probably don't.

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