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Honey has great health benefits, but watch out for the stings.
Walking past our home on a sunny August day, many people notice Jane’s beautiful, well-tended gardens. Some folks surely appreciate the irony of presenting her art on a canvas of crabgrass and weeds that is our lawn — and my responsibility. To those individuals, I apologize for my lack of green thumbs and suggest you move along quickly before I see you snickering. A few folks will even linger, studying the selection and arrangement of her perennials. Most, however, will miss a small detail, critical to more than just the success of her gardens. The honeybee.
Perched on a small deck next to our garage, hives of Italian and Carniolan honeybees have thrived for nearly four years. Honeybees are critical to the pollination of most plants, including those in my wife’s gardens, but also for many vegetables and fruits. Honey, the product of the bees’ labor, is full of health benefits, a true super food. On any given summer day, one can find a couple hundred thousand of these hard-working, female insects in our back yard. Yes, there are male honeybees but their only duties consist of mating and eating. I try not to dwell on any cross-species analogies between humans and bees for obvious reasons. Ladies, stop smiling.
Coexisting with honeybees has been a relatively painless process for the kids since Jack’s only sting a couple of years ago. Walking barefoot through the grass of the back yard, Jack, age 6, inadvertently stepped on a bee foraging on clover. With a gasp quickly followed by crying, Jack hurtled across the yard to the deck where I was recording hive inspection data. Using my reading glasses, I easily spotted the stinger in his heel and removed it using a credit card to brush it off. This technique is better than grasping the stinger as less venom is introduced from the stinger sac. Fortunately, Jack’s reaction to being stung was mild — just redness and swelling at the site of the sting, mild pain and itching. I treated it with cool compresses, elevation of the foot and Benadryl. His mother kissed his foot. If you read my previous article on Jack’s feet, you’ll know why I didn’t even consider that option. Within hours, he was fine.
Reactions to the venom of bees, wasps and hornets can, however, be severe. A significant localized reaction with extensive swelling, redness and pain can occur and may take days to resolve. Anaphylaxis, affecting two to three percent of people, consists of widespread hives, difficulty breathing, swelling of the tongue, mouth and throat and even loss of consciousness. Prompt emergency room evaluation is recommended even if you use an Epi-pen. The risk of experiencing recurrent anaphylaxis with a subsequent sting is high for these individuals. Sustaining multiple stings at once (more than 15 or so) can also be toxic and should prompt an E.R. visit.
Our family appreciates the beauty of Jane’s gardens and “our” bees. All of us stay at least ten feet away from the hives unless suited up in beekeeper’s gear, and none of us walk barefoot in the yard. Til next time.
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