Well stated, Jerry! Sorry about the length of this - after looking this over, I realized that I got to rambling a bit. Anyhow, here goes..... What I have heard (but not experienced personally) is that there are two distinct groups of people: Those who develop immunity to bee stings after repeated regular exposure, and those who become hypersensitive. Another interesting factor that recently came to light is the impact of certain drugs on an individual's sting reaction. My wife experienced a fairly severe reaction to a sting on the nose which included systemic symptoms ("minor" closing of the throat). She happened to have an Epi pen handy, and gave herself an injection. The adrenalin from the Epi-pen gave her as much of a rush as the sting itself did!!! In any case, she has subsequently been stung a number of times, without unusual swelling (both she and I exhibit what I would call moderate swelling to bee stings - for example, if stung on the back of the hand, the entire back of my hand will swell, and sometimes up past my wrist slightly - the swelling dissipates after a day or two, but "the itchies" can last 3-5 days). In retrospect, we attributed her severe reaction to the pain medication she was on. It was an over-the-counter drug aspirin substitute, and I can't remember which one. I remember reading in a recent ?ABJ?Bee Culture? about this subject. Does anyone else recall seeing it - I seem to recall the drugs in question to be "non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs", but I'm not sure. Rick Hough, Hamilton, MA, USA [log in to unmask]