> that makes me wonder whether those of us who
> don't react much to stings are really at low risk
> for an unexpected allergic reaction.
>> I would say everyone is at some risk of an unexpected
>> allergic reaction.
I've never worn anything other than a Sherriff "S21 Bee Farmer" veil, and
that only goes up when the bees get ornery. For the special case of moving
bees at night, when a veiled jacket zipped up is a very good idea, I do so.
https://www.bjsherriff.co.uk/product-category/bee-suits/s21-bee-farmer-vest-
and-hood/
https://tinyurl.com/yd3aobpa
I bought 3 of them from Brian Sheriff (and some of his famous bee-themed
ties) at one of the EAS or ABF meetings in the mid to late 1990s, and I
haven't needed to buy replacements, as they have proven so durable, they
have outlasted everything else I have ever bought for beekeeping. They get
a soak in some Oxy-Clean and a rinse now and again, nothing more. As a
result, I am consistently awarded a "I tried" sticker at blood drives, as
the Red Cross does not want blood that tests out as 50% bee venom and 50%
single-malt.
When asked, my wife's allergist (NYU med school faculty) starts sounding
like my TIAA-CREFT rep, intoning "Past Performance Is Not Indicative of
Future Results", and he assures me I could be his next patient for bee sting
therapy at any random time. He suggests that I should not work my hives in
a tee shirt with my veil down. He sees nothing but allergies all day, and
he dismisses "patent history" as "mostly irrelevant" as a predictor of
severe allergic reactions. For some reason, no one has bothered to work on
the genetics of any of it, they still just do scratch tests.
I do carry a bottle of (children's) Liquid Benadryl, as this is something
that can be swallowed even with a closing throat, and I have seen that
swallowing a whole bottle will buy a victim 20 minutes or so, more than
enough time to get to one of the several hospitals nearby. You can buy a
case of these from food/drug wholesalers, like I used to, and make sure that
every glove compartment has a bottle. Cheaper and easier to use than an
Epi-Pen.
I'd still rather take a few stings a day than suffer heat stroke, but I
guess I could wear a jacket and just start out before dawn every time I want
to look in on the bees...
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