Hi Everyone,
Research on bee sting allergy was done some years ago at Mayo Clinic
in Rochester MN.  They used family members of beekeepers because they
had a much higher risk of developing actual sting allergy than the
general population.  They developed the very successful desentization
program using pure bee venom.  So to answer Bill's question yes family
members of beekeepers who do not work the bees and get stung are much
more likely to develope allergy to stings.  The desentization does
work and could be a good and reasonable option in my mind much better
than the epi-pen which needs to be carried always and you have to
watch the expiry dates etc.  I always wonder about MD's who will
prescribe the epi-pen but not discuss desentization ( an actual cure )
with the patient it just does not seem reasonable to me.

blane


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Blane White
MN Dept of Agriculture