A doctor's life: Bees - geez

There are two natural forested areas within the boundaries of MVC that have been preserved as a watershed and to prevent erosion since the topography is mountainous. Huge century-old trees that were spared the logger's saw still stand and every now and then these trees become the home of honey bees that move from one place to another when they feel threatened. The honeycombs that they create come to the point of overflowing and literally drip honey, which is discovered by someone and the next thing is inevitable - harvest. This is certified wild honey from flowers of wild plants and trees and the taste is unparalleled by the cultured variety.

An unconscious man was brought in on board a motorcycle by his cousin who said that they were out harvesting honey from atop a 60-foot tree. The climber - the victim apparently, was up on the branch where the honeycomb was located when the bees decided to give it their all and defend their honey. With all the bees stinging at he same time he decided that it was not worth proceeding and start descending. He just got back on the ground when he collapsed and efforts by his cousins to revive him were futile. Apparently he was suffering from anaphylactic shock. Somehow his cousin managed to load him on the motorcycle and make the winding road uphill to me. On examination he was by most parameters - dead. No heart rate, no BP, no breathing - except that his eyes were not yet in a fixed and dilated stare. I considered this a sign of hope and proceeded to give him the initial Epinephrine by subcutaneous injection and he started breathing and his heart recovered after some compression massage on his chest. He was discharged lightheaded after a few hours - now a much wiser honey lover.

Another incident was when some high school and elementary kids of the faculty decided to go trekking to the river some distance below the campus. Instead of going through the beaten path they decided to take the steep incline for added adventure. At one point there was a small tree where they could hang on to to keep from sliding downhill. Unbeknown to them was  the presence of a honey bee nest on one branch, which was agitated when they bumped the tree. The mad scramble to get away from the tree ensued and they tumbled downhill. Some were obviously suffering from the stings so they hurried back up and rushed to the clinic. One kid had so many bees still clinging with their stings to his skin that it took time to clean him up. After he was bee-free, we counted his welts and discovered that he topped 74 stings. I bet that he would never get near a bee hive ever in his life again.