extremely sensitive to something which does not affect a normal 

 person. 



Normally a period of ten to twelve days must elapse from the 

 time the first sting is received until the fully sensitised condition is 

 developed. Once this extremely hypersensitive state is attained it 

 may remain active for months or even years. This necessary latent 

 period of ten days suggests an obvious remedy to prevent these 

 conditions by getting stung at short intervals of a week. It is for 

 this reason that inoculations for, say diphtheria, are given at seven- 

 day intervals so that should the patient be allergic to the serum the 

 dangerous conditions are forestalled. When a person allergic to 

 bee venom becomes stung again, the serious harm and disturbances 

 which may follow are then due to the release of a substance known 

 as histamine. Immediately this sets up, what a doctor would call 

 an anaphylactic reaction causing considerable dilation of the 

 capillaries and contraction of the plain or smooth muscle. It can 

 be neutralised by an anti-histamine referred to presently. 



There have, however, been cases from time to time, fortunately 

 of great rarity, where a person who happened to be allergic to bee 

 venom has died from anaphylactic shock, due to being stung more 

 than 10 days after a previous one. In other words had the individual 

 been stung a second time only seven days after the first one, then 

 death would not have resulted. This curious behaviour is known 

 as Theobald Smith phenomenon, and anyone wishing to study it 

 in greater detail should consult a medical book. * Although in 

 such a rare case a sting has been known to cause the death of a 

 person, it would require many more to kill a normal human being. 

 For sufficient venom to cause death, probably over 500 stings de- 

 livered simultaneously 'would be necessary. 



It must not be assumed that immunity from bee venom affords 

 similar protection from wasp or other insect stings, as the venom 

 content differs in each case, but of course immunity to wasp stings 

 can be achieved if necessary by undergoing a similar form of treat- 

 ment as for bee stings. 



One curious feature of immunity which occasionally arises, and 

 for which, outside the medical profession at any rate, there is no 

 known cause, sometimes occurs among seasoned bee-keepers who 

 partially lose their immunity. Usually this lapse is confined to those 

 who have kept bees for many years, and it may be due to some de- 

 terioration in the quality of the blood with advancing age. It may 

 also quite possibly be due to the fact that in such a case complete 

 immunity had never really been obtained, or that only local immunity 

 had been achieved. Other factors such as a sting in a blood vessel 

 would provide contributory causes or less manipulations among 

 the bees, due to the restrictive influence of old age. It is fortunately 

 only a rare occurrence, and it need not be assumed that this fate 

 ultimately awaits every bee-keeper. 



Persons suffering from rheumatic complaints may find that 



*W. W. C. Topley. An Outline of Immunity. 



33 



