For me the most complete explanation of Bee stings appeared in the Aug & 
Sept 2006 ABJ by Buddy Marterre, MD.   The first part goes into all the 
chemistry while the second part talks about treatment.  The biggest take 
aways for me were:

1.  People can be roughly divided into three categories:

   I  People who get stung, feel temporary pain which disappears after a 
few minutes.
   II People similar to category I but additionally suffer from itching and
      swelling for a few days after the sting.
   III People who suffer from systemic anaphylaxis shock.
   People can move from one category to another category.


2.  "... this implies that half the beekeepers who have large local 
reactions might benefit from immediate administration of a leukotriene 
inhibitor (Singulair or Accolate), where as the other half would benefit 
from anti-histamines (Benadryl, Allegra, Claritan, Zyrtec) before or 
immediately after the sting"

After reading the article I switched to Singulair when stung, and have 
not had any appreciable swelling since.  Previously I was taking 
Benadryl with no relief.

Dave Meldrum
Andover, Ma.

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