[Bionic]

On Tuesday evening the Swansea beekeepers held a talk by Emily Carne, Advanced Nurse Practitioner immunology and allergy clinic Cardiff.

This clinic is the only one of its kind in Wales and if get referred for an allergy of some sort it will be Emily or one of her team that you see.

Being a beekeepers club the obvious aim of this talk was being stung by bees, although it seems that a much higher percentage of people get stung by wasps than bees.

If you get stung and it hurts around the area then you have a local reaction to the venom.

If you get stung and your reaction is in a place other than the sting area then you have a systematic reaction which is more serious.

I was stung last year on the neck but my reaction was intense itching in my hands and feet, feeling very light headed, weak and I had to go to bed for a while. Apparently this is serious and I should be carrying an epi pen.

So just in case you weren't aware. There is a great deal of difference between the local and the systematic reactions and how you treat them

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Thanks for that bionic I really did find it very interesting. I dont think that I do have a reaction to bees/wasps but then I have only been stung a handful of times in my life.

[Bionic]

Apparently you never get a systemic reaction the first time you are stung.


At that stage the antibodies that attack the venom haven't built up.


That Initial[size=78%] sting might be years ago, even as a child. Once the antibodies start to fight they always remain in your body.  So if you are stung at any time later and you are the sort that gets a systemic reaction rather than local one you are susceptible to anaphaltic shock (not sure if that spelling is correct)[/size]

[cloddopper]

One way of limiting the amount of venom injected from a bee sting is to remove the sting as soon as you realise you've been stung . Scrape the sting out off the skin in a quick side ways scraping motion.  That will ensure you don't accidentally squeeze the venom sac and pump more venom into yourself or the victim.
 
The flat scraper at end of the hive tool is good whilst at the hives , but away from the hives an edge like a credit card or a coin are good ,  just don't press the venom sac , scrape it sideways instead .

 Most folk who get a bee sting to the head or neck do swell up, usually it starts to swell with a minute or two , extending to overnight & sometimes into the next day .
Often so much that as the venom drains down the face your whole face side that's affected become a very painful balloon fixed to your head .
Your eye or eyes can end up being closed . A sting just below the nose or on the lips & chin usually sees you end up with a neck like a hippo , sometimes from just above the ears down to the collar bones or lower.
 
Bee stings especially bumble bee stings in the armpits are very painful so are multiple stings to the boobs/nipple areas. For these I definitely suggest you get urgent medical help if you can manage to get well away from the site of the nest /hive /swarm area .
 
 If you are able to ,use a large towel soaked in hot water , as hot as you can get your hand in ,  then wring it out and place it over the area of the sting  trying to make sure you have several thicknesses of the thick hot towel over the sting area one the sting is out . Keep it there for as long as you can and repeat it again if possible  .
It's always a good idea take big flask of boiled hot water when working at your out apiaries , you can make the  tea or coffee after you finish up there .

 The heat of the hot poultice helps neutralise the bee venom , it also works for wasp sting and stings from the weaver fish when at the beach

 The reactions to be venom  can be very varied .. there was a thought that the people who took anti histamine as a prophylactic before or after being stung were actually putting themselves in danger by making the reaction more intense then or next time round .. I don't know what the current line of thought  is .

As beekeepers get older it was suggested that the effect of the numbers of sting over their careers  become cumulative.  In that some of the keepers whom had been bee keeping for years & years as  boy & man , till one day they had a single sting mild sting on the hand and within minutes had gone into an anaphylatic ( SP ?) shock .

Joining the BBK or a similar national bee keeping organisation other than the local ones  should allow you to find out the current way of thinking /treatments from a reasonably reliable source rather than relying on the old ancient witchcraft cures & antediluvian therapies of the local be keeper down the road who is still using ideas from before the 1800's.

[Bionic]

Clodhoppers, strange that you should say about the hot water. I went to another talk last night at the East Carmarthen bee keepers. This talk was given by the local doctor. Apart from those needing epi pens the Dr suggested the next best thing to help is ice, so the very opposite to your suggestion.


Hmm, I need to look at this further

[cloddopper]

That's why it's good to get teh current latest info from the national bee keepers association.
 

Ideas do change , though I think the doctor is offering a numbing device for the pain long after the event of being stung , not a way of destroying the toxins in the venom .

 It could be that by increasing the blood flow in the area of the sting with using the poultice the extra blood flow is also diluting the venom's effect .


Put this into your search engine & you'll see just how difficult it is to get an unequivocal answer :-
   "   hot poultices on bee stings " .

 Please do post what you discover .