Originally Posted by genedoc

People who know they are hyper allergic to bee stings carry epinephrine in an auto-injecting syringe. Epinephrine is not something you want to take unless you are absolutely certain a bee sting is likely to cause anaphylaxis in you. Anaphylaxis is when your body over-produces histamine which can dilate way too many of your blood vessels, dangerously drop your blood pressure, cause tissue swelling (including the lungs) and stress out weak hearts. Epinephirine restricts blood vessels and keeps all of the above from happening. Used improperly, or at the wrong time however, epinephrine can also be fatal.

The bees probably come from the 20 or so bee hives about a mile from the county building at the top of the first GMR climb. I ran into them last weekend when I MTB'd up the trail and stopped to wait for my buddy. One of them stung me inside my ear. It hurt like hell. Second time in my life. First time was in '79 when I was riding a motorcycle as an official in a bike race. The bee flew up my pants leg. I almost took out the entire pack trying to get off the bike and out of my pants. A very "un-official" thing to do.