For those of you who don't know, I'm allergic to bees.

What does that mean?  Well, simply put, it means that if a bee stings me and the sting is left untreated the bee's venom (apitoxin) will cause enough swelling to reach my heart or my throat.  in either case, the swelling will kill me.

Now, how does a person treat a bee sting?  Quite simply, you can't.  Not really.  A bee's sting is basically a heavily modified egg-laying organ (ovipositor) that now carries venom and a bard instead of eggs.  When the bee stings you, the bard on the sting catches and the sting is ripped from the bee's body, thus ending her life.  For you, the stung, is has another implication, though.  The bard makes sure that the sting stays in your skin long enough to deliver its full dose of venom.  Regardless of what you do, the amount of venom delivered is always the same.

To remove a sting is actually easier than it sounds.  The old-fashioned way is to remove the sting by sliding a blade in under the slant of the sting and to scrape it out.  Since you already have the venom in you, that doesn't matter, though, and you can remove the sting any way you like.  I rubbed mine off when I got stung on Saturday, like it was dust.  If you do feel the need to remove it with something flat, please don't go looking for a knife - paper works just as well, and most people have at least one money note somewhere on them.  Once the sting is out, you have nothing to worry about anymore.  Just try not to scratch the itch from the sting for the next few days.

For those of us who are allergic, getting our medicine as soon as possible after the sting is of tantamount importance.  The swelling can either stop our hearts or suffocate us.  Any anti-histemine will work, but I would personally suggest either Phenergan or Celestimine.  Carry them with you at all times just in case.  I was lucky, I was stung just outside a petrol station on Saturday, so getting my pill in was really simple, but we aren't all that lucky.  Try and keep a small bottle of water with you as well for swallowing the pills.  Also, don't panic at all:  the faster your heart beats, the better your chances of the venom spreading.  Take slow, deep breaths, and the tablets also won't hit you with too many side-effects (diziness, etc).  I'm not quite sure how that works, but it does.

I'll give you guys more on handling bees in the next post.  Until then - sleep tight!!