ISO Beekeepers
- Thread starter CWS4322
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
OP
OP
CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
If you've ever used an epi-pen, it would be difficult to mistake which end goes against the thigh. However, the little ditty is helpful for children and others. The first time I went into anaphylaxis was quite scary. I was making pesto and learned I was allergic to pine nuts. Fortunately, I had an epi-pen and was not alone. The only time I was grateful for my insect allergy--it saved my life. I would not have made it to the emergency room (despite how crazy my friend was driving) if I had had to wait for the ambulance. My mother, the RN, told me afterwards that if I hadn't had an epi-pen, her advice as a volunteer for St. John's ambulance would have been to tell the person with me to breathe for me if the ambulance didn't arrive on time. Fortunately, I have not gone into anaphylaxis for more than 25 years. I have however sat in the emergency ward several times waiting to see if "whatever stung" me was one of the various insects to which I am allergic (not wanting to use my epi-pen for a false alarm).
Cooking Goddess
Chef Extraordinaire
If you are determined to process your own home-grown honey, you might want to check with a local beekeepers club to see if someone has extra hives they need a home for. Our neighbor up the street has three stacks in his own yard and five in a field a few towns over. Since he processes the honey himself I don't know what kind of arrangements you might need to make with a beekeeper so that you can keep the honey.
If they are on your back 40 AND you aren't dealing with the bees personally, I don't think it would be any more dangerous for you that all the bees that feast on your plants right now. Might be an option that works for you. Just DON'T get stung!
If they are on your back 40 AND you aren't dealing with the bees personally, I don't think it would be any more dangerous for you that all the bees that feast on your plants right now. Might be an option that works for you. Just DON'T get stung!
OP
OP
CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
I hadn't thought of looking for s/one with hives that need a foster home. I have a doctor's appointment the end of the month. I'll ask about going to an allergist and getting shots next spring. Immunotherapy supposedly can reduce the severity of one's reaction. Might be an option--I believe the shots have to be given over a course of three years. Also thinking a getting a couple of beef cattle...but cattle often knock over hives...
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
Tachycardia...
I even know what that means.
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
That doesn't sound good at all. Knowing from personal experience. I ended up in surgery for open heart surgery. 130 bpm.
Imagine being startled x 1000...you don't want to use an epi-pen unless you need it.
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
The only allergies I have are from medicines and seafood high in iodine. And the minute I put a piece in my mouth that has a lot of iodine, I can taste it immediately on the tip on my tongue. I get it mostly with scallops. So I willingly pass on them. No sense in taking chances.
OP
OP
CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
+1
I have four epi-pens. One at the farm, one at the DH's house, one at my house, and one that I carry with me when I go on-site or travel. The DH knows not to use it unless I am in anaphylaxis. It is not pleasant using an epi-pen when it is needed (I end up with a bruise the size of a dinner plate and sleep for 36 hours straight). I certainly don't want to experience what it is like when not needed--hence why I have spent time in the emerg ward waiting to see if I needed to use my epi-pen. I can't be the only DCer who has experienced anaphylaxis?!
This is one of the reasons I prepare almost everything I eat from scratch and why we grow our own food--I'm allergic to food dyes, additives, preservatives, and fear cross-contamination in restaurants. Hence, why I rarely eat out. That "luxury" of growing our own food actually stems from my allergies. I need to be in control of what goes in my mouth.
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OP
OP
CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
+1 not worth the risk. I am also allergic to cleaning products. When I do have to travel for work, I have to make arrangements in advance that the room is not cleaned with certain products and FeBreeze is not used. And, I have to bring my own sheets because of my allergies to detergents. I have structured my life around my allergies and forget that out there in the "real world" how I live is not how things work--it is very hard for me to be in a "normal" environment for extended periods. White vinegar is one of my best friends for cleaning, as is my steam cleaner.The only allergies I have are from medicines and seafood high in iodine. And the minute I put a piece in my mouth that has a lot of iodine, I can taste it immediately on the tip on my tongue. I get it mostly with scallops. So I willingly pass on them. No sense in taking chances.
OP
OP
CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
Don't want to go there--anaphylaxis is scary enough.
Shrek has had complete anaphylaxsis...bee stung him 4 times through his jeans. We didn't know he was allergic and we were up in the mountains. I had to drive us back to a Ranger Station about a mile and the Ranger staff had an e-kit with an epi-pen. Luckily, we had studied anaphylaxis the year before in nursing school, so I knew what was happening.
I had a very mild case last December while eating shrimp, I haven't pushed it.
I had a very mild case last December while eating shrimp, I haven't pushed it.
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
I remember that. I made the mistake of pushing it and paid for it. Won't make that mistake again.
OP
OP
CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
How does one have a mild case? I didn't know I was allergic to bees/wasps, or pine nuts until I experienced anaphylaxis--funny that. I remember having allergy tests when I was around 12 yrs. old because of my wheezing (feathers, mold, mildew at that time). I have it on my list to ask my doctor to send me back to the allergist--haven't been for awhile, probably wouldn't be a bad idea to have allergy tests done again. Glad that epi-pens are no longer prescription--still darned expensive, but available w/out a prescription here in Canada.My mom saved a person's life when she was a St. John's ambulance volunteer. The kid was in anaphylaxis and the closest hospital was over an hour away. She had an epi-pen at the cottage for me. She used it on the kid--even though it was against the rules for a volunteer ambulance person to break skin. The Good Samaritan rule protected her (and the lad lived). After that, she was given some sort of special "allowance" by the ON government that allowed her to behave as a nurse when she was volunteering for the ambulance service. In other words, she could break skin.
I've eaten shrimp my entire life, never had a problem. But, last December in mid-Christmas season gluttony, I was eating a large portion of shrimp and my lips started tingling, ears itching, throat felt like it was swelling shut. I stopped eating them and it didn't get worse, took about an hour for it to stop.
After my surgery, I tried shrimp again and was only able to eat about 4 shrimp before I started getting those reactions. Stopped and haven't tested it since. I don't want to give up shrimp, but I will.
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
I tried a different medication for my Crohn's disease several years ago; it gave me hives. My doctor told me to try taking Benadryl before my next dose, but I still got hives. We discontinued that one and now I'm taking something else with no problems. If I had continued it, though, the reactions might have gotten worse.
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OP
OP
CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
I have prescription benadryl, it is stronger than OTC benadryl. And yes, reactions get worse and happen faster. I am allergic to most food dyes, so can't eat packaged foods or candy.
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
One recent study found that a child can overcome an allergy to nuts if you start to desensitize them with minute amount of peanut butter on their skin each day. I am not sure I would want my allergic child to be part of that study. What happens if my child is the one that doesn't respond like other children do.
