Not sure what is happening to the person who asked the question. It could be related to the following. The ones who usually suffer are beekeepers families if they bring their beekeeping stuff (suit especially) into the house . There is documentation that members of the family can develop allergies, sometimes life threatening, to bees and bee stings. I know a couple that this has happened to. He is fine (the beekeeper) and now she can go into shock from a sting. All because he changed in the house and she handled the suit when she washed it. I have a shed just for my beekeeping equipment and suit so change in the shed and do all the washing (the suit all by itself) to keep my wife's exposure to near zero. But even beekeepers can develop bee allergies. My guess is because of reduced exposure rather than the normal exposure we get over the year. But I am no allergist so may be completely wrong. Just seems to work with me. I practice apitherapy for my arthiritis, so get stung 8-10 times on purpose every two months in season, which does not include the normal number of stings during inspections. Plus, we all handle frames and equipment covered with bee stuff (technical term for pollen, wax, etc.). Bill Truesdell Bath, Maine *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm