06/19/2025
POLLINATOR WEEK
My story with immunotherapy.
Last year around this time, we posted some photos of a bee stinging my (Leah’s) hand. There is a little bit more to that story...
A typical reaction to a bee sting includes localized pain, swelling, redness, and itching – all of which I completely expected. Unfortunately, my reaction became more severe, including hives on my head and torso, itchiness all over, and then difficulty swallowing. Thankfully, I was able to get some Benadryl quickly, and we took a quick detour to the local fire station where the helpful paramedics were able to monitor my reaction. That was the beginning of a new adventure in learning about allergies to bee stings and venom immunotherapy.
While not always the case, sometimes being around honey bees all the time and getting stung occasionally can result in a heightened reaction and development of an allergy. So, for the past 12 months I have been treated by a local allergist to help desensitize me to bee stings. Treatment started as numerous repeated micro doses of venom and has now turned into a maintenance injection every four weeks. The hope is that this ongoing treatment will lessen my severe reaction to bee stings. For some patients it takes 3-5 years of treatment, and others continue the treatment indefinitely. My ever-loving husband has helped me get some “mini” stings lately. These were just pricks with the stinger from a bee that has already tried to sting someone/something. The good news is that these have resulted in only minor localized reactions. I still get to be careful and will keep the epi-pen close by. I wasn’t able to help much with last year’s honey harvest, and I hope to be a more involved participant this year. Beekeeping is certainly full of adventures!
Update: check out the video recommended in the comments.
