This is a comment I was thinking of making re the prior discussion on stinging. A colleague working with beekeepers and AHB in Nicaragua reports that, even though the beekeepers could get "suited up" sufficiently to avoid direct stings, their beekeeping work was sometimes impaired by the venom which got into their eyes from the bees outside their veils.(Their eyes would become irritated and swollen, even without a sting.) I've never heard of bees "projecting" venom, or of a similar experience with EHB. Perhaps the venom was deposited on the screen, dried and blew as particles into their eyes. If so, I wonder what effect breathing so much dried venom would have on sting reactions (isn't breathing dried venom one hypothesis for the hypersensitivity (IgE antibodies) to bee venom observed among immediate family members of beekeepers?). Kerry Clark, Apiculture Specialist B.C. Ministry of Agriculture 1201 103 Ave Dawson Creek B.C. V1G 4J2 CANADA Tel (604) 784-2225 fax (604) 784-2299 INTERNET [log in to unmask]