Bee stings and

Some readers may be convinced that this approach is reasonable and would feel safe if this density were not exceeded. However, we should now change the perception of this bee sting and add the caveat that if a person is allergic to bees, an additional 10X safety factor should be added. This is pre-... 

Ragweed pollen, bee stings and other antigens elicit immune responses ranging from mild wheezing to potentially-fatal anaphylactic shock in sensitive individuals. Histamine, a chemical produced in many human tissues, mediates many of these responses. Mast cells and basophils release histamine in response to a variety of antigens. 

Hornet venom, poieon. H. consists mostly of biogenic amines ( histamine, serotonin, acetylcholine), enzymes (phospholipases A and B, hyaluroni-dase), and hornet kinin. In contrast to popular opinion, hornet stings are less dangerous than bee stings, and deaths are very rare. Besides the amines, the hornet kinins also contribute to the painful effects. -[HS051000]... 

One of the reasons it has created problems with reporting is that it doesn t differentiate between a bee sting and an amputation... The desire to win the award may have caused some manipulation [of safety statistics]. When I talk to the FRA and...executives [at other railroads], they say that everything is above board... When you talk to lower-level management, off the record they will tell you about these reporting horror stories, but you can never get them to admit it in public because they will get fired. That information is just not available. 

Like all acids, carboxylic acids taste sour. The most familiar carboxylic acid is ethanoic acid, better known by its common name, acetic acid. Acetic acid is the active ingredient in vinegar. It can form by the oxidation of ethanol, which is why wines left open to air become sour. Some yeasts and bacteria also form acetic acid when they metabolize sugars in bread dough. These are added to bread dough to make sourdough bread. Other common carboxylic acids include methanoic acid (formic acid), present in bee stings and... 

Munoz-Arizpe, R., Valencia-Espinoza, L., Velazquez-Jones, L., Abarco-Franco, C., Gamboa-Marrufo, J., and Valencia-Mayoral, R, 1992, Africanized bee stings and pathogenesis of acute renal failure. Nephron 61 478. 

Venom collection is done by electrostimulation in honey bees [8] and by venom sac extraction in vespids [9]. While electrostimulation results in pure venom, venom sac extracts may be contaminated by some body proteins. The amoimt of venom injected by a sting varies from 50 to 140 pg dry weight for the honey bee, but was estimated to be much lower in vespids 1.7-3.1 pg for Vespula, 2.4-5 pg for Dolichovespula, and 4.2-17 pg for Polistes [10]. 

Figure 6.4 Many insects, including bees, use acids and bases to defend themselves. A bee sting s venom is acidic.

Despite the fact that a definite decrease in IgE antibody levels and IgE-mediated skin sensitivity normally requires several years of SIT, most patients are protected against bee stings already at an early stage of bee venom-SIT. The reason for this is that effector cells of allergic inflammation, such as mast cells, basophils and eosinophils. 

Look on the pH chart to find out. Bee stings also contain acid, but the pain from a bee sting mostly comes from other substances. Rubbing a weak base on a bee sting probably won t help much, but applying ice will. Ice numbs the pain and slows down blood flow to the area to reduce swelling. 

The venoms of many kinds of bees, wasps, and hornets (the genera Vespa, Polistes, Vespula, Ropalidia, etc.) contain biogenic amines such as histamine (136), serotonin (141), and catecholamines in addition to polyamines such as putrescine (111), spermidine (110), and spermine (112) (Table VIII). The biogenic amines in the venoms act as the main pain-producing principles 46). The contents of these amines in the venom may affect the severity of pain production, edematous reaction of the skin, or increase in skin permeability by stings of these insects. Consequently these amines act as toxins for their defense, together with acetylcholine, enzymes, and peptides 47). 

Bee venom, administered in the form of actual bee stings, has been used to treat people with multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and other disease that have an autoimmune basis.48 78 This treatment is supposed to modulate the immune response and suppress the damage caused by the activation and attack of immune cells on specific tissues.30 There is little evidence, however, that bee sting therapy can produce beneficial effects in humans.78 Additional research is needed to determine whether these treatments can promote short- or long-term benefits in persons with various autoimmune diseases. 

Wager B. R. and Breed M. D. (2000) Does honey bee sting alarm pheromone give orientation information to defensive bees Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 93, 1329-1332. 

The reactions were diagnosed as anaphylactic shock, a common allergic reaction among bee sting victims, for example. Mine is harder to control because of the popularity of perfumes, fragranced products, cleaners, toiletries and cosmetics, car fumes, fertilizers, and the thousands of items that can cause my vocal cords to swell and my body to go into shut-down mode. 

Simple proteins can also act as potent agents for cell destruction. The main active component of bee sting venom is a protein composed of 26 amino acids called mellitin which adopts a helical, and potentially membrane puncturing, conformation. The protein is also an inhibitor of bacteria that cause Lyme disease and suppresses infections caused by Candida albicans, Mycoplasma hominis and Chlamydia tracomatis. 

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