{"id":3661,"date":"2013-10-17T10:09:12","date_gmt":"2013-10-17T08:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ceidiog.com\/pr\/?p=3661"},"modified":"2019-04-24T11:56:04","modified_gmt":"2019-04-24T09:56:04","slug":"beekeepers-wife-has-pioneering-treatment-for-life-threatening-allergy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ceidiog.com\/pr\/news\/beekeepers-wife-has-pioneering-treatment-for-life-threatening-allergy\/","title":{"rendered":"Beekeeper’s wife has pioneering treatment for life-threatening allergy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The wife of a beekeeper is living on a knife edge – knowing that a single sting could threaten her life.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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As a result keen gardener Lynn Rose won’t be helping husband Steve collect honey from his dozen of hives for the Hamper Llangollen food festival next weekend, Saturday and Sunday, October 19 and 20.<\/p>\n

Years of being exposed to bee venom on Steve\u2019s clothes has led to her being highly allergic to the fluffy pollinators, who usually get a warm welcome from gardeners and farmers alike.<\/p>\n

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After a sting saw Lynn dialling 999 for emergency treatment to save her life, she\u2019s now undergoing pioneering treatment at Broadgreen Hospital in Liverpool to help de-sensitise the allergy.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile she\u2019s keeping a safe distance from the hives \u2013 home to 200,000 bees – at their house near Corwen, while Steve makes ready his display of honey and all things bee-related for the food festival at Llangollen\u2019s Royal Pavilion.<\/p>\n

The 62-year-old and her husband run a B&B at their converted farmhouse home, Cilgwri in Glanrafon, and also offer courses in bee-keeping.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t used to have any problems at all, and I\u2019m not scared of bees \u2013 and I love honey, I have it every morning on my toast,\u201d said Lynn.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur house is on a smallholding of seven acres, at the end of a half-mile track\u00a0 – we moved here from the Midlands because of the space and to keep bees. But that means there aren\u2019t many people close by if something goes wrong, and there\u2019s poor mobile coverage.<\/p>\n

\u201cSteve was out and I was\u00a0 in the garden when I got the fright of my life. I stepped into the flight path of a bee and it collided with me, on my collarbone. At first I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d been stung and so didn\u2019t panic.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then I started to feel very short of breath, and tried to contact my husband but there was no mobile coverage. Finally I managed to alert my neighbour, who saw that I was very unwell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was extremely brerathless and was covered in hives \u2013 not the bee home but the little red allergic spots. So we dialled 999 and fortunately an ambulance was nearby, on its way back from Corwen, and was with me in a few minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the paramedics got to me I wasn\u2019t in a very good state\u00a0 – they gave me a nebuliser to help me breath, plus anti-histamine to counter the allergy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat seemed to sort me out, and fortunately I didn\u2019t need to go to hospital. But it was scary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI now carry an epi-pen to give me a shot of adrenalin in case I get stung again and go into an anaphylactic shock. We\u2019ve moved many of the hives away from the house or onto other sites.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems a lot of bee-keepers\u2019 wives develop an intolerance and even an\u00a0 allergy to bee stings, because of the venom that\u2019s often on their husband clothes,\u201d explained Lynn, a former animal nurse trainer.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy GP decided that it wasn\u2019t safe for me, as we live remotely and there\u2019s no way that Steve will give up his bees. So I was referred to Broadgreen allergy clinic. The treatment will last three years in total, so I am only partway through.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was injected with\u00a0 a very small dose of bee venom and then monitored to make sure I didn\u2019t react. The doses got stronger as the treatment went on \u2013 at first the injections were once a week, then once a fortnight, and now it\u2019s only once a month that I have to go to Broadgreen.<\/p>\n

\u201cEventually my resistance should be enough to cope with being stung by two bees at the same time,\u201d added Lynn, mum to two sons.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Steve, a retired mining engineer, has been collecting honey from his 40-plus hives ready for the Llangollen Food Festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will\u00a0 be displaying\u00a0 my honey as part of the honey exhibition in the Pavilion, there should be around 100 jars to be judged,\u201d said Steve, who says he\u2019s not been stung himself by a bee for four years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will also have a display area where people can see hives, with photos and a video of the life cycle of a bee.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe second half of the summer has been good for bees, with flowers coming late \u2013 although the bad weather earlier in the year, and last year\u2019s wet summer meant we lost of bees.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favourite honey is heather honey, which this year has been exceptional because of the warm August. I am also making honey mead, and there should be entries of cakes, biscuits and breads made with honey\u00a0 – something for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cadwyn Clwyd\u2019s contribution came via the Rural Development Fund for Wales 2007-2013, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the Welsh Government.<\/p>\n

Robert Price,\u00a0<\/strong>Cadwyn Clwyd’s\u00a0agri-food project officer, said: “The location of the Pavilion is absolutely\u00a0 spectacular – I can’t imagine that any other food festival in the UK has a more beautiful setting.<\/p>\n

“It’s also brilliant news for the local economy. If you buy from a local producer, all that money is recycled through the local economy and that sustains employment in our rural areas.”<\/p>\n

For more information about Hamper Llangollen 2013 go to:\u00a0<\/strong>www.llangollenfoodfestival.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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