Moots,
My hives are really gentle. I depend upon the bee stings to keep me healthy. The occasional stings help keep my range of motion, especially my left arm. When I started beekeeping, I could not raise my left arm above straight out without helping it up. A lot of the stings that I got the first year were around my watch on my left hand. Within 4 months, after years of having problems, I regained full motion. My second year I had almost no stings, no protection, and I started having problems again. This past year this hive got me back on track. This past year, even with stings between the eyes, I didn't swell up. After 20 minutes, except for the little red dot, you can not tell that I got stung. After not being stung for about 3 months during this past winter, I did swell up and itch a little from the stings that I took removing a swarm from an apartment 3 weeks ago. By night fall there was no sign of the stings.
A few stings are good for you.
Jim