A close friend of mine's son was allergic to bee stings. He died at age 35
last year from a sting. He was walking to visit someone and decided to take
a shortcut through a field instead of following the road. He was stung and
collasped once he got to the side of the road and was found three days
later.
Two years ago I had four yellow jackets nests in my yard. Two were in the
ground and two in the base of a tree. Was stung three different times that
year and fortunately not swarmed at. (Which still surprises me)This year I
found one in the ground early and got rid of it. I have read that you can
greatly minimize the threat of nests by setting traps in the spring when the
temp goes above 50 degrees. The trick is to catch the new queen in the
spring while she is looking to make a nest. Also, from the same source, as
the year gets to fall, yellow jackets get more aggresive as their nest
grows. I think that they are also attracted to certain colors also.
Ed KU4BP
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of scottw3tx@verizon.net
Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 12:31 AM
To: 'van wd8aam'; 'K0DAN'; TowerTalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Flying critters
Mammals (including humans) can have an allergic reaction to insect venom
(antigen) without prior exposure. Such is rare.
However, recent prior exposure to insect venom [ie. repeated incidents
(several days or weeks apart) of bee stings from the same species of bee]
can increase levels of antigen specific immunoglobulin "IgE". Then,
re-exposure to the same species venom induces an anaphylactic reaction
(which can be fatal).
Therefore, the risk of a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction increases,
in pre-disposed individuals, with repeated incidents of exposure to the same
antigen. Ultimately the second or third sting incident in a "season" is
much higher risk. Those individuals with pre-existing asthma, autoimmune
disease, and eczema are at even higher risk.
73, Scott W3TX
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