Bob noted that the oldest person in the US is a beekeeper- Fred Hale who
lived in Maine until he was about 106 and then moved into a nursing home
to be close to relatives in New York. He was a large scale beekeeper and
exceptionally knowledgeable. He credited the tot of whiskey to his
longevity, not honey. He was very active through his whole life. Was
cutting his firewood up through his late 90s.

As far as stings... I know one very knowledgeable beekeeper who, before
the season starts, gets stung on purpose to desensitize himself.
(anecdotal evidence)

Also, a beekeeper's family is more likely to become sensitized to bee
stings if the beekeeper brings their suit into the house and changes
there. (scientific evidence)

Taking the two together and foolishly extrapolating (a recent common
occurance on this list) it would seem that reducing the number of times
a beekeeper is stung would be more dangerous than letting it be a normal
function of beekeeping. The reason ties directly into the studies of
beekeepers families. It is the suit and all its accumulated "bee stuff"
that sensitizes (scientific) but it is stinging that desensitizes
(anecdotal). If you try to keep from being stung, you are more liable to
have a reaction than if you allow yourself to be stung.

 From purly anecdotal evidence, I know that as the season goes along my
reactions to stings are minimal. Once I was picking berries and wondered
what was "scratching" my legs and it was a group of yellow jackets
stinging away. They were just an annoyance compared to a bunch of bees
doing the same.

Interesting that those who extol honey as healing forget the value of
apitherapy. My guess it is more the stinging that gives any health
benefits to beekeepers. Anyone can eat honey.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::