Bee Sting Allergies? Me too, look what I got!

[Dusty_Ranger]

my dad is allergic to wasp stings and other such things and cottonwoods trees and cat and everything i swear but the only real bad one is the wasps he almost died last summer the good thing was i had the Chevy cavalier and i had him to the hospital 12 mins doing 210km the whole way long long drive my younger brother is deadly allergic to wasps and bees also but for the other allergies they use Allegra and they are find were in southern BC so cottonwoods and wasps and stuff are plentiful up here

 

[Dusty_Ranger]

so in a nutshell im pretty much on call with the ranger in the summer just in case

 

[Mark_88]

Hmmm...my dad had an attack after a bee sting...wasn't allergic his entire life and then almost died from a bee (maybe it was a wasp)...

I was working in an apple orchard a few years ago digging around the trees and putting mulch...the first tree I picked I had only dug two or three scoops and I felt a sharp sting on my arm...wasp nest...

I started to feel a bit light headed and went over to the pharmacy and got them to give me some benadryl...never had to take any but it's a good thing to have around as it will give most people enough time to get to the hospital for a shot if necessary...

On another note...I just read where there has been a serious decline in bees in the last few years...and apparently they have no idea where they disappeared too...but only honey bees...

 

[Simple_serf]

CCD is a real concern. Most crops are polinated by commerical beekeepers. If we can't polinate crops, food is going to be an issue soon.

CCD isn't here in WNY yet, at least no one has reported it. We have new problems due to varooa mites...the old pesticide for them was banned a few years ago, and now they are coming back with a vengance. Another reason beekeeprs are going from Italians to Russians, despite the inhertent problems with russians (Swarming, slightly worse temperament, less production). Russians have very meticulous grooming habits, and this helps control disease. Oh, and they can survive our winters! (-10 for 2 weeks...no problem!!)

I know I'm lucky. The problem is going to be that when I do get stung, it isn't going to be by just one bee. It will probably be by 10 or more. (or knowing my luck, I'll drop a damn brood chamber...nothing like 30,000 pissed off bees).

 

[RhainyC]

Serf,

I have read a bit about CCD and was very saddened to hear it is still basically not treatable. Hopefully they learn what has caused it, which will be one step closer to curing it. As for the different Species, hope they don't get too aggressive on you, and that you don't get stung at all this year! I heard also about the mite issue, here's hoping they figure out a good solution for that as well, that won't cause more trouble than the last one.

I wish I didn't have to be so terrified of little winged insects, but, I do appreciate the work they do!

 

[rickcdewitt]

damn acronims,what is CCD?i've heard of the honey bee deaths.serf have you heard cell phones are supposed to disrupt honey bees ability to navigate?

 

[RhainyC]

Rick, sorry, CCD is Colony Collapse Disease. They don't know what it is really it just kinda wipes out whole hives with no warning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder

 

[Simple_serf]

Yeah, I have heard about the cell phone thing, but I just don't buy it. After all, those frequences have been in use for quite a few years now. The bigest culprit that we have talked about in our monthly bee meetings are the newer pesticides that are being used on crops,due to the old chemicals being phased out. These confuse the bees and cause them to get lost and affect navigation.

Around here most of what is grown is either tree fruit or corn, and corn is open air polinated. Most orchards in this area (ours included) are trying to be organic (in our case, it's mostly out of laziness), and this is good for the bees.

Bees have survived for thousands of years, in one form or another, so we will see what happens. I am also interested to see how Russians hold up to this problem. They are just starting to be utilized more. most commercial operations still use Italians (some use Carolinians, but it's not common, and they get mean after a few generations if you aren't in the hive often enough).