CHAPTER II 



OF THE EFFECT OF BEE STINGS 



Direct effect of a sting. It is extraordinary that a drop of bee venom 

 so minute in quantity should have so marked an eflFect on the bulk 

 of the human body when one considers the relative proportions of 

 the two. It is a measure of the potency of the venom. If the 

 insertion of an almost microscopic droplet* into some eleven odd 

 pints of blood can produce great pain and sometimes giddiness, 

 the devastating effect on a creature very much smaller can well 

 be imagined. 



Thus other insects such as flies, or bees themselves when stung, 

 perish in most cases almost instantaneously, and a mouse has been 

 known to succumb within a few moments. Bees are not immune to 

 their own venom, but a sting received from a fellow bee is usually 

 delivered through the main nerve chord of the body, thus greatly 

 intensifying the effects. 



Normally in human flesh which is not accustomed to bee stings, 

 the result of a single injection of bee venom causes firstly, immediate 

 pain due to the puncture of the skin. This may subside shortly 

 afterwards, and is followed within an hour by a white weal surround- 

 ing a red spot marking the actual wound. As the venom spreads, 

 irritating new tissues of the skin in its progress, a burning and 

 excruciating pain may be experienced. • The weal gradually diffuses 

 giving rise to a swelling which becomes very irritable and inflamed. 

 The swelling increases, until in 24 hours it has reached its worst, but 

 it may sometimes take very much longer. When the swelhng is 

 at its maximum it usually remains in an apparently static condition 

 for two days, and it may then take the same length of time before 

 these conditions finally subside to normal. Immunity reduces the 

 effects and lessens the time over which they are spread according 

 to the degree of protection enjoyed. 



The general effects on the human body of bee venom are usually 

 far reaching, and vary enormously according to the condition of the 

 victim and the virulence of the venom at the time of the attack. 

 A poor state of health or the incidence of a heavy meal prior to being 

 stung always aggravates the consequences. Extremely erratic results 

 will therefore be encounted, and no hard and fast symptoms can 

 be laid down. A drop of the venom may produce negligible reac- 

 tions in one person, but even constitute a lethal dose to another. 

 The more widespread effects are particularly evident in the case of 

 hypersensitive persons or in those allergic to bee venom. 



*The average drop of venom as exuded from a sting weighs only about 0.2 

 to 0.3 mg., or in English units about only a four-thousandth part of a grain. 



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