Stinging Insects 
39 
results are usually from a number of stings but, rarely, death has 
been known to follow a single sting, entering a blood vessel of a 
particularly susceptible individual. 
It is clearly established that partial immunity from the effects 
of the poison may be acquired. By repeated injections of the venom, 
mice have been rendered capable of bearing doses that certainly 
would have killed them at first. It is a well-knowm fact that most 
bee-keepers become gradually hardened to the stings, so that the 
irritation and the swelling become less and less. Some individuals 
Effect of bee stings. After Root. 
have found this immunity a temporary one, to be reacquired each 
season. A striking case of acquired immunity is related by the 
Roots in their “ABC and X Y Z of Bee Culture.” The evidence 
in the case is so clear that it should be made more widely available 
and hence we quote it here. 
A young man who was determined to become a bee-keeper, was so 
susceptible to the poison that he was most seriously affected by a 
single sting, his body breaking out with red blotches, breathing grow¬ 
ing difficult, and his heart action being painfully accelerated. “We 
finally suggested taking a live bee and pressing it on the back of his 
hand until it merely pierced his skin with the sting, then immediately 
brushing off both bee and sting. This was done and since no serious 
effect followed, it was repeated inside of four or five days. This 
was continued for some three or four weeks, when the patient began to 
have a sort of itching sensation all over his body. The hypodermic 
