WIDirt
Member
I have always wanted to keep bees, and I have about a dozen books on the subject and many, many plans for building hives, supers, etc. However, being highly allergic to bee stings....
So, I continue to dream.
...Mmmmmm, fresh honey....... Mmmmmmm!
Are you truly allergic to the point of anaphylactic shock where you need to carry an epi-pen? Many folks say they are allergic but they are just sensitive and swell up. This is quite normal with bee stings. When I first started, I was working some Afracanized (killer bees) with my mentor and got stung through my gloves 6 or 7 times. My hand swelled up and itched but that was it. Even if you are truly allergic, you can get shots that will eliminate it in many people. There are a number of commercial beekeepers on a bee forum I frequent that used to be truly allergic to bee stings. Now they are not after the shots.
Sorry for the delay in responding. Yes, anaphylactic shock. I am allergic to every insect that stings. A mosquito raises a welt on me over 2" in diameter.
When I was 10, I was given a brand new Hodaka 100 dirt bike for my birthday. The following weekend, we went to the Beatty sand dunes in Nevada. (I grew up in Las Vegas) I was the first one up Saturday morning, and before anyone could stop me, I was on the bike and headed for the dunes 1/2 mile away. (You couldn't camp on or ride on the dunes at night. Don't know if that still applies or not.) I never made it. I hit a pucker bush and went down. On an anthill... I only got stung once. By the time I got back to camp, with out the bike, I could barely breathe and my arm was almost twice as big as it should have been. My uncle, a surgeon at Sunrise Hospital, later Sunrise Humana, was with us and pumped me full of some antivenom, I know not what. The only thing that did was make breathing easier. I didn't get to ride my new bike for almost 2 weeks after that.....
I spent the next 5 weeks having allergy tests done. I react to everything.
I have been told I should have an epi with me always. I still won't carry one, and I have a see it/kill it policy with any insect that can sting/bite.
My wife and my mother have discussed the situation, and I have been very firmly told, "No, you may not have bees" by SWMBO....
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