In message <[log in to unmask]>, "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]> writes >WRT the couple you reference above, "all because he changed in the >house and she handled the suit when she washed it" seems to be "jumping >to conclusions" at best....as we know, people do develop >allergies...even beekeepers. I'm not sure how one can conclude with >any certainty what "caused" the allergy anymore than we can conclude >that painting a hive yellow will deter mites even if we document a mite >hive that is painted yellow. > Allergy to Bee Stings and Its Prevention [Paperback] L.R. Croft Its a University published work btw. My own comments?............... I have written on this SO many times, having allergy in the family it is a thing we researched closely, and my son, who still works with me, and his girlfriend, are even allergic to pollen and honey, despite having had the full works of desensitisation to bee stings (my son twice). I am not going to go through the whole rigmarole again..............but there is NO doubt that what caused their allergy was persistent low level exposure to bee debris, be it dust, hairs, dried venom, whatever. It is due to the bees natural constituents themselves and NOT to any other favourite 'bete noire' of anyone else (looking at other posts in this thread). That is not to say that you could NOT have an allergy to these other things, but all my family friends and even two staff who ended up allergic were allergic to BEES (not exclusively to venom btw). Yes it WAS tested at one of the most advanced units in the subject in the UK and under the supervision of a professor who is a major expert in this field. We stopped taking the suits home to wash, and subsequently had two more children.........funnily enough they do not have allergy when all the others in the family do.............so we set up a washroom at work and all staff MUST wash their suits and gear there and not take it home..........6 months later the girl who worked in the room next to the washing facilities (making honey mustard) went down with serious level allergy to bees.........level 4 on the RAST test for anyone who knows about such things. -- Murray McGregor *********************************************** 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