Your hand swelled up for three days after a bee sting? Honeybee venom is one of the two main insect venoms behind sting reactions in Europe, next to wasp. Our test checks for IgE antibodies to honeybee venom and three of its single proteins, as part of 300 allergens and allergen components. Any reaction beyond the sting site is something to discuss with a doctor, whatever your result.
Almost everyone gets pain, redness and swelling at the sting site. That is the venom itself, not an allergy.
A large local reaction is swelling of more than about 10 cm around the sting, often building over a day or two. A systemic reaction is anything away from the sting: hives across the body, swelling of the face or throat, trouble breathing, dizziness, vomiting or feeling faint.
A systemic reaction to a sting is an emergency. Call 112 (EU) or your local emergency number straight away. Do not wait for a test. Anyone who has had one should see a doctor or allergist afterwards.
Honeybees usually leave their sting, with the venom sac, in the skin. Wasps usually fly off. Bees are calm unless you step on them or come close to a hive; wasps get pushy around food in late summer.
The two venoms contain different main allergens. Some people show IgE to both. Sometimes that is real double sensitisation; sometimes the antibodies recognise sugar structures shared by both venoms (CCDs), which often matter little clinically. Single venom proteins help tell these apart: Api m 1 and Api m 10 point to honeybee, while Ves v 1 and Ves v 5 point to wasp. All of them are on the panel.
Beekeepers and their families are stung far more often than others, and are a group where sensitisation is common.
Bee venom immunotherapy is a long-term treatment that an allergist can offer after a systemic sting reaction. Whether it suits you, and which product to use, is a decision for an allergist.
Api m 10 is one input to that decision. Some treatment extracts contain little Api m 10, and a study found that people whose bee venom IgE was mainly directed at Api m 10 had a higher rate of treatment failure. Knowing your Api m 10 result gives the allergist something concrete to work with.
The lab measures IgE to honeybee venom as a whole extract and to three single venom proteins. Wasp venom proteins are reported separately on the same panel. Your lab report gives each a measured value and a class from Negative to Very high.
IgE to bee venom shows sensitisation. It is fairly common in people who have been stung without any big reaction, so a result on its own does not predict how you will react next time. After a systemic reaction, a doctor or allergist puts your sting history and results together.
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One finger-prick sample checks IgE to 300 allergens and allergen components, from birch and peanut to cat and house dust mite. Post it to the lab, and about 5 days after it arrives you get a value for every one. Our plain-English guide shows you how to read them. €399 in total, €1.33 per allergen.
Pain and swelling at the sting site are normal. Hives elsewhere on the body, throat swelling, trouble breathing or feeling faint is an emergency: call 112 (EU) or your local emergency number. Afterwards, a doctor or allergist combines your sting history with an IgE test.
No test result makes stings safe. IgE can also be low in the first weeks after a sting. If you have had a reaction beyond the sting site, see a doctor or allergist whatever the result shows.
Yes. Honeybee venom and wasp venom are both on the panel, each with single venom proteins, and they are reported separately. That helps a doctor see whether a result points to one insect, both, or a cross-reaction.
Close, but not identical. Bumblebee venom is closely related to honeybee venom, so IgE to honeybee venom often recognises it too. Bumblebees sting rarely, mostly when they are trapped or handled.
