I have a friend who is spouting knowledge that I feel is incorrect.  I am hoping
that someone on the list can help me to prove it.

This person proclaims that the effects of chronic exposure to bee venom (as
would be the case with a beekeeper) is cumulative.  The end result of this
(according to our friend) is that each person has an individual and unique to
themselves setpoint at which they have had their lifetime quota of venom.  At
this point, the person goes into anaphylactoid shock and either survives or
doesn't according to treatment.

I (a student of entomology and new hobbyist beekeeper) feel that this is hogwash
and told him so.  I pointed out that the treatment for someone who is severely
allergic to bee venom (one who has reached his lifetime threshold in his
scenario) is desensitization with doses of PURIFIED BEE VENOM.  He wasn't buying
it.  I asked him how in the world could someone die at age 90 having been a
beekeeper his whole life and not having had such a reaction. His response was
that the person never reached the preset lifetime level.  I asked him how people
could possible subject themselves to daily, sometimes more often, does of bee
venom in the name of apitherapy if they knew that with every dose they were
coming closer and closer to the set point of demise.  He still didn't buy it.
When I simply told him that he was wrong, he said, "Prove it."

So, my request is for information, citation, articles, references, etc. that you
may have or know of that would help me to set this person straight before he
continues to spread misinformation to people who are in a sensitive situation
right now (beekeeper family member died from complications stemming from
anaphylaxis.)

Thanks in advance for your help in this!

Wendy Platt
Ph.D. candidate
Purdue University