I have no idea how many stings I get per year. I work with bare arms and hands and often wearing a tee shirt and or shorts so am an easy target. Many days I get zero stings. Some days when the weather is bad and everyone is home I get a half dozen or ten or occasionally more. I never pay any attention so could not even tell you how many right when I leave the bee yard. Usually there is no swelling or itching or redness at all. A few are a bit tender for an hour. The first couple in the spring generally give a little reaction of insignificant swelling for a few hours. It always hurts for 30 seconds. A week ago I got several as I had to work them during a rain and they were bitchy. One got me on the knuckle on my first finger. That one was still a little swollen the next morning. Yet the others were so gone I could not even tell where they had stung me a couple of hours later. Why should one sting react and the others not react all within minutes of each other? The one I remember the most was the time one got the septum of my nose. That one caused tears and a drippy nose for a few minutes. The tears were not due to pain althou it sure did hurt. I can not say I get more or less reaction now than I got many years ago and am 78 now. So, if old age takes a toll on a persons immune system I must not be old yet.
I have heard you should get the stinger out fast. Yet many times I have been stung and was busy with a frame and getting the stinger out right away was not on the agenda. I have found such stingers still in me hours later and never have seen any extra reaction from not getting the stinger out right away. The whole sting reaction thing is a bit of a puzzle to me as it seems so variable how I react or do not react. The one hunk of advice I do have is do not wear black socks. Bees must not like black. I can be wearing shorts and black socks and they will sting me thru the socks and leave my bare legs alone.
Dick
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