Hi Bee Keeping Friends,
 
In posting links to newspapers I find some of them expire within a day or
two. I do try to archive some of the material but I can't do all of it.
 
With the article "DON'T KILL THE BEES" I did save a text copy because of
the information about the home remedies for bee stings and the nature of
the post. Anyone who knows anything about the home remedies please post the
information for all. Twenty four cents seems like a reasonable cost for
relief of the pains and swelling of bee stings. (Don't substitute this for
what ever your Doctor has prescribed.)
 
Here is the total article for those who could not find it, its also back on
line at http://beenet.com/bnews.htm
 
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
 
Thursday, 29 October 1998
 
Don't kill the bees
 
I'm writing in response to a recent letter about killing all the bees in
Arizona (``Kill the killer bees'' - Oct. 18). A couple of months ago, a
picture of my bee-stung eyes and nose made the front page of your
newspaper. I'd received several hundred stings (final estimate, 400-500)
during a mass attack in Bisbee. While this was an adventure I'd rather not
repeat, I very much oppose the wholesale destruction of bees. And so should
anyone who likes to eat. We need those bees to foster our food supply. With
the Africanization of all local bees, we need domesticated hives, too. The
beekeepers periodically replace aggressive queens with docile ones, and
thereby reduce the aggressiveness of the bee population as a whole. The
most aggressive hives will eventually be destroyed, and someday we'll learn
to be more cautious around those that remain. In the meantime, folks might
keep the homeopathic remedies Apis Mellifica (for allergic reactions and
bee stings) and Ledum Palustre (for painful stings and bites) on hand. In
August, I used 24 cents worth of those remedies to be out of pain and out
of the hospital within four hours of the attack. My vital signs were normal
by then, and many stinger welts had already disappeared. ``Killer'' bee
attacks are a man-made problem, and should serve as a reminder that we do
not know better than God how the natural world should be. Massive
destruction of the Creator's handiwork will eventually lead to our own
demise, as we, and now Africanized bees, are no less a part of the natural
world than any other creature. So I beg you, all citizens and governing
bodies in Arizona, please don't let my experience with the bees override
your common sense. Think ahead, for the sake of us all, and try to imagine
what future problems we might create with a temporarily satisfying solution.
 
Debrah Strait
Bisbee