Chapter Three

Every bee-keeper has his or her favourite treatment for stings. Jan and I favour household cleansing ammonia applied neat and rubbed well in, but not near the eyes. We have found that, if applied quickly enough, it can reduce a bee sting to little more of a problem than one suffers from nettles.

However, there are a number of qualifications to that statement. The first concerns the handling of the sting. When a bee stings it usually leaves the sting itself in the victim, held by a very tiny barb. Attached to the non-sharp end of the sting is a small sac, containing a supply of the venom. The sac is equipped with a muscle that continues to pump until it is empty even after being separated from the bee. During that time it pumps several extra doses of the poison into the victim. This can be avoided if the sting is flicked away from the skin. I use the word "flicked" deliberately because if it is taken between finger and thumb the effect is to squeeze the sac empty - exactly the reverse of what is required.

Another qualification concerns the locations of the sting. The pains and swelling suffered in different places seems to vary with individuals. Any sting on my head seems to bother me more than other sites, whilst stings on hands and arms hardly worry me. However, wherever I have been struck, the ammonia treatment is best particularly if applied as soon as possible, (except near the eyes).

Whilst writing about stings I should mention that it is well known that wasp stings need the exact opposite treatment to that required for bees. Vinegar applied quickly, in the case of wasps seems to reduce the unpleasant effects. Also, wasps do not usually leave their sting in their victim so the flicking out tactic does not apply.

Some people have a disproportionate reaction to stings. My son-in-law swells up at frightening speed if stung by anything, and once we had a visiting child who reacted in a similar way. The child was whisked to the Doctor's surgery and we were told that we had been wise. It seems obvious advice that it is best to give up thoughts of bee keeping if your reaction to insect stings is at all out of proportion.

Having dealt at some length with the frightening or dangerous aspects of "Bee Farming" a phrase used by my more bucolic friends, it seems time to turn to the more rewarding side of the activity. I shall devote the next chapter to honey and its gathering, or more correctly, its theft, from the bees.

Chapter Four