REGARDING Immune Reactions to Stings So much has recently been written on this topic that I'll follow up with a new post title. On Tues, 9/24, Dave Cawley reported on a large swelling of his forearm following a sting to his wrist, and wondered what could have caused such a reaction. On Wednesday, 9/25, Tom Elliott related a similar incident following a number of stings to his ankles. And finally, on Thursday, 9/26, Morten Petersen explained that reactions to stings fall in three groups, small local reactions (the majority of our cases, fortunately), large local reactions, and "allergic" reactions (systemic reactions). Actually, all of these reactions are technically known as allergic reactions, differing only in degree. What Dave and Tom experienced fall into the second of these categories, the large local reaction, and are very typical of this kind of response. Most of the time, our reactions are the small local kind, and with continued exposure (at least 100 stings/year) will diminish in intensity with time. Occasionally, the other two will be experienced, and should be treated with extreme respect. The large local reaction is a warning sign that your body may be developing a dangerous overreaction to bee venom. The systemic reaction is far more serious - it can kill you. For this reason, it is of utmost importance that *every* beekeeper get a prescription for Epipen (injectible epinephrine solution) and keep it at hand whenever you work your bees or especially when you allow someone of unknown sensitivity around your bees. The systemic reaction can knock a person unconscious within *three to five minutes*, can totally restrict ones airway (choking one to death), can depress respiration and pulse rate down to zero. In short, it is nothing to take lightly. It also has been reported here that certain common anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g., Ibuprofen) can diminish the ability of ones body to react normally to stings. Sometimes, a large local reaction may occur due to some totally unknown reason; a beekeeper who has gone about ones business for years suddenly develops it out of the blue. One must act prudently, of course, not giving an Epipen injection whenever a small local swelling occurs, but one will rather quickly known when a sting reaction is getting out of hand, and Epipen is the single treatment of choice for this situation. Ted Fischer