Moved from old Board: Bee Sting Allergy

[SueM in MN]

piratesmate
DIS Veteran
From: Telford, PA, USA
Registered: 02-23-01
Posts: 205

Someone mentioned bee sting allergies & a number of
suggestions on avoiding getting stung were offered.

Yesterday I picked up my new Epi-Pen prescription and noticed several items to avoid that I'd never seen/noticed before. I thought this info might be helpful to others...

The things that were new to me (& maybe others) are set off by ***.
"Suggestions for Avoidence of Insect Stings: Avoid using strong perfumes found in hair sprays, hair tonics, ***suntan lotions*** and other cosmetics. Avoid wearing brightly colored clothing, flowery prints, or ***black, as this color seems to attract insects more than white, green, tan, or khaki garments.***"
originally posted 04-27-01 11:09 AM

 

[Canucksie]

I too have a bee sting allergy, and just picked up my new epipen at the drugstore. Are bee's a problem in WDW. Just curious, as we are leaving next week. Almost died as a teenager, from a bee sting, so this is a concern. I am being tested this week to see if the allergy still exists, as this happened 22 years ago. Thanks, Karen

 

[piratesmate]

I've read conflicting responses on this from the old site: anything from people not seeing bees, to a few, to avoid certain places (something with cinnamon buns, I think.) From those responses, I gathered that IF you see bees, it will be around trash bins.

Has anyone seen any bees in that past couple of weeks?

I was very surprised to read, however, that you are being tested to see if you are still allergic! I thought that once you had a reaction, you would always have a reaction. I was told that each successive reaction would be worse than the previous. Gee, you learn something new every day!

We leave in 20 days!!

 

[SueM in MN]

I'm glad to see you found us after the move, piratesmate.
I have never seen any bees or wasps at WDW and we have been there at various times of the year. They must have some, otherwise how would they polinate all the flowers? I expect that whether or not people see them depends on just where and when they go.
Many of the flowers are in baskets above you or far enough away from the walkways that you can avoid getting too close. Also, WDW probably "patrols to keep the insect nesting areas out of the tourist areas, since disturbing or getting to close to the nest is a good way to get stung.
Here's a link to a WebMD page about insect stings. It does talk about treatment to desensitize insect bite allergies.

 

[piratesmate]

I agree about most bees are not readily apparent and are needed to pollinate the flowers. Unfortunately, the bees that cause the problems are the "yellow jackets" which are nasty little things! They seem to go after anything! They also hang out around the garbage cans, etc rather than in the flowers. They are a little harder to avoid, thus the concern.

When we were there last Aug, we did not see any bees at all - despite the fact that Aug - Oct seems to be the high season for yellow jackets. I was very pleased with the way the parks were kept and felt assured that WDW was handling the problem.

When Canucksie asked if they were a problem, it brought the question to mind again - especially with all of the negative posts I've read over the past couple of months about how the parks have "gone downhill" with regard to maintenance.

I am glad to note that there has been very little response to this thread, as it would seem to indicate that those who have seen bees must be very few & far between!

I wish I had been able to find the old thread in which a series of responses gave advice on how to avoid stings. That was the real reason I posted in the first place.

 

[going2wdw]

I have a insect allergy and had a life-threatening reaction in college, at that time the ER drs said I might have as little as 3 minutes if stung again. I have carried an epi-pen since then and thankfully haven't had any problems. I am not an outdoor person so I have a limited exposure. I don't worry too much, usually the people I'm with notice the insects first and I just steer clear.

An allergist did tell me that it is unlikely that I would have as bad a reaction if stung now (it's been more than 20years). Something about the antibodies becoming dormant and that the reaction after a long time would reactive the allergy but not as quickly. More than one bite at once or one about 6 months after another would be a problem because the antibodies would already be still active.

I also checked one time about getting shots but they required staying at the Dr's office for 3 hours after each shot. The first 6 weeks also required several visits. I decided that I would just risk it, if I ever get stung again I will probably get treated for the allergy.

 

[PatsMom]

It's been a few years, but in 1996 (September) my daughter was stung by a bee in Fantasyland. Right on the upper lip. I was able to remove the stinger quickly and we got her a frozen lemonade to try to keep the swelling down. Fortunately she is not allergic but since this was her first sting we did have a little bit of concern. Of course, I had forgotten to pack Children's Tylenol in my fanny pack. So we hiked over to first aid. The nurse on duty was great, give us tylenol and ice and let us know what to watch for as far as allergies. Just to let you know that a sting could happen - at least five years ago it was possible. So if I had an allergy, I would be prepared.