the bees. A surfeit of stings before becoming accustomed to them 

 can be most unpleasant and occasionally very serious. 



The bulk of bee-keepers ultimately achieve immunity, some 

 quickly, some longer. Others gain only partial immunity, and a 

 comparative few never attain any degree of specific protection. 

 Immunisation can only be induced by repeated injections of venom. 

 ' ■Quiescent intervals such as the winter or longer periods without being 

 stung only serve to promote sensitive susceptibility, so that the longer 

 one is free from the administration of venom, the more is the degree 

 of immunity lessened. Moreover, immunity is not a permanent 

 possession. It is hardly won, and may easily be lost. 



It is impossible, therefore, to give a minimum time in which 

 immunity may be reached. If, however, throughout the first season 

 of bee-keeping an average number of bee stings is received (assuming 

 .there is such a thing as an average rate), or possibly up to a dozen 

 or so per month, it will be found that at the end of the season 

 immunity has been almost achieved as well as relief from the normal 

 symptoms. 



During the off-seasonal lull this may be partially or almost 

 wholly lost, but by the end of the second season the beginner should 

 have acquired the right amount of bee venom into his system to 

 complete the anti-toxic reaction. This depends, as always, of course, 

 on the number of stings required to meet his own particular con- 

 stitution. In the third season he will begin to feel quite an old 

 stager. The average bee-keeper secures almost complete immunity 

 in from one to five years. 



As mentioned above, some portions of the body are more 

 sensitive to the effects of the venom than others, as in fact might be 

 expected. Therefore, even with immunity some parts like the lips 

 or nostrils will swell a little from a sting, but should very quickly 

 subside. For this reason the bee-keeper who seeks immunity by the 

 least painful method is encouraged to do so by leaving the hands 

 exposed. The skin here is harder and tougher than the face, and 

 the covered parts of the body's anatomy, so that the effects of being 

 stung, while admittedly somewhat unpleasant at first, are not so 

 serious or so prolonged as those in the more tender portions. 



While in general the bulk of bee-keepers ultimately gain some 

 appreciable degree of immunity, there are a few of their unfortunate 

 fellows in whom the reaction to bee venom produces contrary 

 conditions. This curious effect in which an additional sting may 

 produce increased susceptibility instead of increased resistance, is 

 due to the bee-keeper being allergic to bee venom. Family history 

 is again the only true guide to allergic symptoms. 



What happens in allergy is this. The first sting may produce 

 only local effects, but unknown to the recipient, the blood becomes 

 sensitive to bee venom, and when a subsequent sting is received 

 soon after the reactions are considerably magnified and may rapidly 

 develop into serious proportions. It is a somewhat similar process 

 to that in which a grenade is made sensitive by first setting it, or to 

 the previous arming of a bomb being released. Allergy means being 



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