Lavender or not to Lavender??

[Linda M.]

  I read somewhere (I think in the bee journal...) that smelling like lavender would calm your bees - kind of like it would a person. Or some kind of floral scent would do the same. Has anyone tried using a splash of lavender oil before?
  In one of Michael Palmers You Tube videos he says it's good to get stung a couple times a year but, I hate getting stung. Actually, I got stung only once this year and that was because she got stuck under my pant leg. 3 of my 4 hives are very gentle. My green hive occasionally was kind of defensive  - I would crouch down and watch them and a couple girls would come out and go back and forth in front of my head. I was thinking if I ever came across some defensive bees somewhere if maybe I smelled pretty they would be nice  ; )
   

[Dallasbeek]

If you smell nice, it will attract their attention.  I like it better when they just ignore me.

[jalentour]

Being ignored is a good thing.

[BeeMaster2]

What Dallas said.

[Acebird]

The best smell you can acquire is smoke but most people don't like smelling like smoke.

[Hops Brewster]

recheck that video, Linda.  I think he recommends a few more stings than a couple a year   

[Linda M.]

Yes - approximately once a month.

[Richard M]

What's his basis for recommending anyone to get stung?

[Linda M.]

It's a short You Tube video:
"Michael Palmer - Importance of Getting Stung"

Published on Oct 12, 2013
Michael Palmer explains why bee keepers and their family members need to get stung by a bee approximately once a month and how this helps reduce the chances of having an Anaphylaxis reaction to a bee sting. Filmed September 4, 2013 at French Hill Apiaries in St. Albans, VT.

Check it out - it's interesting!

[Acebird]

Michael Palmer explains why bee keepers and their family members need to get stung by a bee approximately once a month and how this helps reduce the chances of having an Anaphylaxis reaction to a bee sting.

Last I knew MP is not a medical doctor so I question why he would make that suggestion.  Venom is a poison.  You can build an immunity to a poison but I doubt anyone would give their kids a can of baby rattlers to play with to build up that immunity.  Most old time beekeepers have an immunity to bee stings because if they didn't they would be dead already and no longer a beekeeper.  The best way to build immunity to bee stings is to become a beekeeper and build up the immunity gradually.

[iddee]

I have read where commercial beeks and people who seldom get stung have a less chance of a reaction than beekeepers family members, landscapers, exterminators, etc., who get stung more than the average person, but less than a beekeeper. It seems very, very few stings, or very many stings, add to the safety. A middle amount of stings are the most dangerous.

Don't ask me for links. I read it long before the internet existed.

[Wombat2]

The basis of desensitizing people to allergens is small doses over a period of time with gradually increases until the body does not react - and it works. However having said that my first job was working as the Sterile Products Manager for a large drug company and bulk of our products were antibiotics. We had women working in the sterile filling area for years who would turn up for work and within an hour have a violent allergic reaction and could no longer work in the area.

[BeeMaster2]

Iddee
The reason beekeeper's family have alergic reactions is they end up handling suits and items that have bee venom on them. If they receive regular stings they do not become alergic. The stings help built up immunity, bee venom power alone causes an alergic reaction.
Jim

[iddee]

That's what I said. Those who are exposed to more than the average person, but not to the beek's degree.
It can be from many sources, not just handling clothing and equip.

[Richard M]

It's a short You Tube video:
"Michael Palmer - Importance of Getting Stung"

Published on Oct 12, 2013
Michael Palmer explains why bee keepers and their family members need to get stung by a bee approximately once a month and how this helps reduce the chances of having an Anaphylaxis reaction to a bee sting. Filmed September 4, 2013 at French Hill Apiaries in St. Albans, VT.

Check it out - it's interesting!

Hmm. I've been stung every month in the Spring-Summer (Oct-March here) for the last 2 years and finished up with anaphylaxis last month. Obviously I should have been shoving my bare hands into a hive each month April through Sept too.

I was wondering where I'd gone wrong (lying in hospital on an adrenaline drip and oxygen), now I know.

[iddee]

There's no guarantee with nature, Richard. We are talking odds only. The only real conclusion they have come up with is, one will never react to their first sting. It can be any sting after the first, even the 100 thousandth one. It just seems some things can raise or lower the odds.

[Dallasbeek]

Michael Palmer explains why bee keepers and their family members need to get stung by a bee approximately once a month and how this helps reduce the chances of having an Anaphylaxis reaction to a bee sting.

Last I knew MP is not a medical doctor so I question why he would make that suggestion.  Venom is a poison.  You can build an immunity to a poison but I doubt anyone would give their kids a can of baby rattlers to play with to build up that immunity.  Most old time beekeepers have an immunity to bee stings because if they didn't they would be dead already and no longer a beekeeper.  The best way to build immunity to bee stings is to become a beekeeper and build up the immunity gradually.

I'll join Iddee and others who responded to the quoted comment above.  Handling bee suits, etc., exposes the family to the bee venom without getting stung, so they become much more sensitive to the venom.

My first information about the benefits of bee venom was aboit 1949, when I was aboit 13 or 14.  I met a beekeeper who told me he exposed himself to stings regularly to benefit his rheumatoid arthritis. 

Who's going to do a controlled study that satisfies the requirements of the FDA and the scientific community, at acost of maybe $1 million, just for the heck of it?  Looks to me like anecdotal data is all we're going to have.

[BeeMaster2]

A few years ago, I forgot who it was but one the experienced Beeks on Beemaster here was helping a new Beek with her new hives and a frame of bees was dropped and the next thing he new he was on the ground in full anaphylactic shock. If he had been on his own he probably would have died.
Jim

[Dallasbeek]

Jim, that is one sobering thought. 

[flyboy]

Jim, that is one sobering thought.

Wow it sure is. Matter of fact every sting is a sobering experience.