At 05:14 PM 7/25/97 -0700, you wrote:
>
>For about a dozen years I swelled intensely with every sting.  Sometimes
the swelling migrated, especially when the sting was on the top of my head.
 It would migrate to my eyes.  My swelling usually lasted for a week or
more and itched like crazy.   Finally last year the swelling pretty much
stopped.
 
Same with me working bees commercially 7 days a week, 12-14 hrs a day when
I was a kid. Swelling was a problem for years. No problem today but that is
after 42+ years of having the bees use me as their target of opportunity.
 
I won't take the time to repeat some of the now funny bee sting stories
some which I have already passed on, but I will add that to this day the
most often asked question asked me by the public is "Do you get stung?",
should bee do you have some real honey I can buy.
 
I am a bit surprised that no one has mentioned having had a "beekeepers
finger", something that in time most all who work full time with bees get.
I guess that is something that many of you can look forward to.<G> Its
not life threatening just a small irritation and embarrassment.
 
>I discovered a way to reduce or in some cases eliminate the swelling
though.  I found that if I took an over-the-counter antihistamine BEFORE
going to the bee yard my swelling from stings was very minimal.  Taking the
medication after the sting was totally ineffective.  The trick is to find
an antihistamine that doesn't make you too drowsy.
 
Some have used the meat tenderizer (MSG) to reduce the swelling.
 
ttul, Andy-