I would really like to see a sticky post somewhere that addresses this topic.
I frequently read and hear from the general public various declarations about bee stings.
Most everyone that gets a bee sting (especially first timers) will have:
1. A local reaction.
Most people that have been stung before will have reaction to the venom in the sting that results in:
2. An alergic reaction.
Some folks will have swelling in the limb or larger general area of the sting will have:
3. A hyper-reaction.
A small percentage of people will be stung and have their throat swell shut or have organ failure, this is:
4. A Systemic Reaction or Anaphylactic Shock.
Here are a few points to consider:
A. In my local area, approximately 1 in 1000 homes encounter a swarm of bees in a given year.
B. The CDC reports that less than 1% of people fall into category 4.
If you do the math, the odds are about 1 in 100,000 that you would be both deathly allergic and have a swarm of bees invade your property.
It never fails, deathly allergic folks are always the one that have the swarm of bees that lands in their back yard.
I am considering mailing a survey to everyone in town about to which degree they are allergic.
The ones that reply they are deathly allergic, I am going to approach to ask if I may hang swarm traps in their yards. I think this would greatly improve my likelihood of catching swarms before they have an opportunity to invade wall voids or attics. In my area, that should net about 60 swarms.