Probably not.
My neighbor just informed me (after I made the mistake of telling him that I was going to keep honey bees) that he has “really bad anti-falactic shock to bee stings.” I can only assume that he was asserting that he would go into anaphylactic shock if he were to be stung by one of my honey bees.
So, I asked him to clarify. “Well, it’s those hornets and yellowjackets that do it… it gets worse every time.” Every time? He’s had more than one anaphylactic response to an insect sting? My God! What happened?!
“Well, my hand swells up. It takes a couple of days, but it gets really swollen.”
Oh, boy.
Here’s what I’ve learned. I’ve heard the number thrown around that 1 in 10,000 people are actually allergic to bee stings. On the other hand, if you ask people if they’re allergic to bee stings, roughly 25% will say ‘yes’. Moreover, about that number doesn’t know the difference between a hornet, wasp, bee, or syrphid fly, for that matter. Let’s review.
Honey Bee: Adorable. This is a worker. She’s got four wings and is fuzzy. She’s very unlikely to sting you, and if she did, you’d swell up for a couple of days. If you had an anaphylactic reaction, you’d know it in a few minutes. Note that the worker bee dies after that one sting hence tempering their enthusiasm. We don’t have “africanized” (killer) bees in Oregon.
Yellowjacket: Less adorable, but still, a nice thing to have in the garden as a predator of pest insects. Doesn’t die after one sting. Therefore, more willing to dish them out. Same deal with the allergy. If you’re not allergic, it’s just going to smart and swell up. They can gang up on you, though. That’s bad.
Syrphid Fly or Hoverfly: It doesn’t even have a stinger. It’s a fly (note: two wings, the others have four). They’ve apparently adapted to look like bees/hornets as a defense mechanism. These guys hover motionless in the air. The other’s generally don’t. They are excellent predators of aphids. Aphids are freaky and disgusting.
I hope that helps. Bees are not wasps. Hornets are wasps. They’re all pretty cool critters, but if you have to be anthrocentrically angry at one, pick the stinging wasps. They’re sort of annoying. Especially yellowjackets at a barbecue.
In summary, disliking insect stings does not make you allergic to them.
And, yes, I’m still angry about my throat and my roof. And now my nose is running, too.
So, just… lay off.
Maybe you can assure him that you’ll have a needle and epinephrine ready in case of a bee sting from one of your bees.
Sorry to hear about your throat and the roof. I can’t do anything about your roof, but as someone who’s had to sing high E-flats for the last three days, I can tell you that honey and lemon in hot water (most people are too stingy with the honey) really does help. Soon you’ll even have your own honey.
Sweet Jesus! High E-flats!? Are you being held at freeking Abu Ghraib?!
Just out of curiosity, what makes a high e-flat any worse to sing than a high something else?
And thanks for the honey idea. I have some lemons out in the greenhouse, too. Consider it done!
I hear you! Everyone says they are allergic when they hear I have bees. Plenty of people are terrified to come anywhere on my property for fear of being attacked by the stinging horde. Meanwhile, my kids play all around my bees and have only ever been stung 1x each. Anyhow, almost everyone swells in reaction…but like you said, it isn’t life threatening. Still, you may want to have your local bee inspector come and verify your set up just as a liability protection. You may also want to consider keeping an epi pen handy just in case. I have had bees quite awhile now and have never had a problem…but I play it safe on neighbors, especially. Just my 2 cents
Hi Warren. Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll have to look into both of those… not sure where one gets a bee inspector nor an epi pen around here.
For what it’s worth, I’ve been told by reliable sources that it’s nigh on impossible to assign liability for a bee sting. There’s no real way to prove where the bee came from… short of gomer opening up your hive, sticking their head in, and claiming attractive nuisance.
I feel dirty even having to say that.
Did the honey/lemon help?
A high C is usually considered the limit of what a human can sing. To make a high sound, your vocal cords have to be pulled very taut, and the air needs to be controlled. (Try whistling a low note and a high note, and feel extra the tension in the high one, but imagine it all happening inside your neck.) An Eb is three whole half-steps up from a C, and much more difficult to control, so there’s a huge risk if it sounding awful. And we have to hold the note for 9 seconds!
なるほど。
Yikes, Kelly – I avoid anything over the C for sure! Rian, you can get an epi-pen from your family Dr… but it’s really usually a prescribed thing, I don’t know that they’d allow you to have one “just in case” without some special training and paperwork… I have a Girl Scout Brownie who is highly allergic to peanuts, and we take an epi-pen with us on outings, but it is prescribed to her specifically.