Hello all,
 
This past weekend I learned a few lessons that I thought I would share with
the list.  The first was that I should have replaced my bee suit and gloves
long ago.  Why?  My beesuit has been washed with bleach to keep its bright
white and virgin appearance.  This, over time, has worn the fabric down to
where it is not of much value when it comes to preventing stings.  The
second was that my gloves needed attention.  The gauntlets next to the
elastic had given way to a few holes.  I had not had any problems with the
suit or gloves all season long.  The problem became very obvious as I was 
robbing my bees of honey supers over the weekend.
 
I have one hive that I requeened this past spring because it was so
violent.  A subsequet check showed that the queen was laying away and
everything was fine.  Apparently, the hive superceded the newly introduced
queen with an egg from the previous queen because they got their aggressive
nature back during the summer.
 
I robbed all of my other hives with no problems except for excessive heat.  
My son and I were dealing with temperatures in the high 90s and perspiring
heavily.  When we got to this last hive we put our fume pad on top with
bee-go and waited for the bees to move out of the super.  I removed three 
supers this way with no incident other than the bees were buzzing us to
show their disapproval.  When I pulled off the fourth super the bees
exploded out of the top of the hive and covered me.  They found every
weakness in my protection.  They crawled in my gloves.  Somehow, I don't
know how, they got under my veil.  They came up my legs.  They stung
through my sweat soaked bee suit and t-shirt.  I sustained 40+ stings - we
couldn't count them all.  My son was well protected and sustained no
stings.  We ran away and were pursued for over 300 yards by the bees.  Once
away from them we pulled on my suit which removes all of the stingers
through the suit wherever I was stung through the suit.  We packed up and 
left another three supers on that hive for another day.
 
While driving home I experienced a little light headedness.  My son noticed
several stingers in my neck and removed them as I drove.  We also found
several on my arms and removed them.  By the time we removed them they had
already pumped their full load of venom into me.  Soon my scalp, armipits 
and inner thighs starting itching like crazy.  By the time we made it home,
the skin under my armpits and inner thighs looked like I had a severe case
of poison ivy.  My wife thought it was a chigger infestation.
 
A phone call to a friend in the medical profession gave us the answer.  He
said that the lymph glands that process poison in the body are located
under the arm pits and in the groin area.  When they are overloaded, poison
is sent to the skin.  He advised me to take benadryl and drink water
continuously.  Following his advice proved out.  Within three hours the
rash was gone and the stings were down to nothing.  Even today, there is
very little itching.  Normally, when I get a sting it itches like crazy a 
few days later.
 
So for everyone out there with a well worn bee suit.  REPLACE IT!  Also
make sure your gloves are in good shape.  You never know when something
like this can happen to you.  Also, it might make sense to keep benadryl in
your beekeeping equipment to aid in those times when you get several
stings.  When washing your bee suit, just use detergent with no bleach.  
Use the gentle cycle on your washing machine and hang it out to dry.  This
will help prolong the life of your suit.  The functionality is much more
important than a pristine white appearance.  Requeen violent hives and use
extra caution when working them.
 
And now for my question, how many bee stings is lethal?  I know that one
bee sting can kill someone who is allergic.  I'm not allergic, I suffer bee
stings all the time.  How many bee stings can a person sustain until it is
life threatening?  Can anyone back up the medical advice I was given?  Can
drinking plenty of water really lessen the after-effects of bee stings?
 
The good news is that we are going to get over 50 gallons(600 ilbs.) of
honey this year.  We're still extracting so the final tally is not done.  I
need a new storage tank for next year.  The new suit and gloves are on
order.
 
Ted Wout
Red Oak, TX, USA