> >> Have you ever seen someone try a pinch of bee-collected
> >> pollen, and  immediately go into a major allergic reaction?

No . Not to say couldn't happen.

I have spoke of my two first hand witness to anaphylactic shock. The animal
episode was very intense.
The animal was running wide open into the corral fences within minutes of my
giving the 6 month old animal a CD & T shot. I grabbed the animal and pinned
on the ground and hit with an epipen. Was easy to see the animal was gasping
for breath. Within minutes the animal returned to normal breathing. (in
archives)

The second time involved a member of the Kansas City Zoo staff which had a
reaction while picking up beehives for bees to feed exotic birds. Other
members of the zoo staff gave the downed Zoo staff member a shot of animal
epinephrine. (in archives)

anaphylactic shock is serious business.

> This subject is treated well on page 937 of current issue of The Hive and
> the Honey Bee

quote from pg 937:
"Since there are certainly millions of people ingesting pollen and there are
so few cases of allergic reactions to it , the conclusion emerges that
pollen as a food is not strongly allergenic"

I agree advice should be given for caution to first time users but not so
sure about a warning label?

I have been taking pollen for years. When tired several times a day. Works
better than coffee when driving at night.

In the archives I spoke of my mentor telling of a beekeeper doing a trac on 
another beekeeper using a soft drink straw. A very dangerous last ditch 
method to save a life in a remote area. Staying calm was the key. Not sure 
if the story was even true but an EMT friend said it could be done.

I was also told by a vet you could run a piece of rubber water hose down a 
large animals windpipe  to save its life if epinephrine was not available. 
Again only what I was told. The vet said on a large animal the windpipe 
could be forced open. I asked if would work on a human and he said might but 
animals do not sue.

Opening of the windpipe has been used by medics and tracheals are often done 
in hospitals.

The article Allen posted says only epinephrine will reverse anaphylactic 
shock.

"No deaths have ever been reported from consumption of pollen" (pg. 937)

bob

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