The Sting!

You would expect a bee keeper to be stung and I am often, through gloves and mostly my hands and fingers. They are a bit painful but bearable and I can keep working.
Honey bees sting and then die eventually (but not staight away), because they leave thier sting behind including the pumping mechanism (muscle) to inject the venom into the enemy.
This also emits a chemical (pheromone) that lets other bees know its under attack and then others will sting the same area.
I’ve seen bee keepers where one glove seems to be an object of hatred! It make sense really!
Dealing with a bee sting, its best to scrape them off and not to pick them out. Scraping removes the sting without squashing the pumping mechanism, if you grab it you squeeze the vemon into the skin and get a bigger dose.

Anyway you can see I’m used to dealing with this hazard. I must say at this point I am allergic to wasp stings and at risk of Anaphylaxis from thier venom.
I have epi pens just in case although my reaction to them is rather variable.

This particular day, having inspected my hives, I had finished up and cleaned my equipment. I was pottering about still in my suit to allow any stragglers to fly off.
Later as I started to take my suit off, I undid the veil and peeled the whole lot down. As the sleeve came off over my hand I had a very painful sting at the base of my thumb (palm side joint). It made me yelp and throw my keys on the floor. Then faffing about with the sleeve, trying to get it off probably left the sting in enough time to give me a good dose of venom (20 seconds is enough). The hapless bee had stung me right next to a vein and it was excruciating.

Once in my kitchen I grabbed the vinegar and doused it. I can hear you yelling that’s for wasps not bees but actually there has been research that suggests anything that disrupts the PH of vemon may help. I then went in search of antihistamine cream.

I sat for a while trying to work out if I felt any other changes, panic does that! Was I feeling itchy? Was there any redness on other parts of my body that would signify an anaphylactic reaction! I made myself feel itchy just thinking about it! Pull yourself together!

Anyway when I knew it was a localised reaction I thought no more about it. Then within an hour my hand began to swell. It got puffier and puffier. I put ice on it, took an antihistamine tablet and cancelled my evening out. I had dinner and a glass of wine, I went to bed (wine does that to me).

In the morning my hand was wrinkle free (the first time in years) and I was not actually able to bend my fingers! My arm was also a bit swollen and it was creeping towards my elbow! It was sore, itchy and hot!
I phoned the doctor and it took a long time for them to call back so I read up on it. This kind of swelling can last a long time but, usually clears in 48 hours. Its a whole lot worst if its on your face. Bee sting reactions can last 7 days and to treat as any other swelling.

Well they were spot on, I had one day with a very fat hand that didn’t work properly and 48 hours later its gone down considerably and just a bit puffy.

The plus side to all this, the arthritis in one of my fingers on the affected hand seems a whole lot better. Wishful thinking? Old wives tale? Who cares there is a definite change!

Well lets hope thats the only time that happens but, I supect not.

Anyway at least I’ll be fit enough for my next camping trip now!