Re: Is wasp venom collected and hows it processed ?

Hiya!

My first piece of advice would be to NOT attempt collecting wasp venom!  
Collection of venoms from bees, wasps, snakes, and other venomous 
creatures is done by trained individuals under exteremly controlled 
circumstances to prevent the collector from being stung or bitten and thus 
injected with the venom.  Also it requires a great deal of sterility (or 
at least sterile processing) to have a serum usable for any medical or 
research purpose.
  
Venom is collected from poisonous creatures primarily for the creation
of an antivenom - an antibody that is designed to attack the venom in the 
bloodstream and neutralize it.  

Antibodies are made from living cells which are sensitized to a poison (or 
a drug), or genetically altered to be resistant to a drug or poison.  
These cells live out their lives in sterile cell culture.  This is a 
process where cells are kept in very clean(sterile)containers in 
incubators which keep them warm (37 degrees celcius), have a controlled 
humidity to keep their medium - or liquid food - from evaporating, and 
carbon dioxide kept at a certain percent in the air in the incubator to 
keep their medium from becoming too acidic.  The cells make the antibodies 
and release them into the medium, and this medium is collected by the 
researcher to be purified, preserved, and condensed.  It is a process that 
can take many months of growing cells and collecting medium and testing, 
and needless to say, requires a lot of experience, equipment, and money.
  
At the moment, there is no known antivenom for wasp venom, although 
researchers are working on it.  

Again, I strongly impore you - do not try to catch these wasps!  Stings 
from these animals may seem like minor irritations, but they can be very 
dangerous.  The first sting or two from a wasp may only result in minor 
swelling, pain, and itching, but as the amount of venom your body is 
exposed to grows, your body becomes sensitized and you develop an 
allergy.  This means if you are stung again you can have more than the 
normal irritation - the spot where you are stung can swell up very badly, 
and you can have asthma attacks - or worse.  The normal wasp and bee 
exposure we deal with as we go through life - getting stung once in 
awhile - is ususally not enough to cause an allergy to be developed.  
However, exposing yourself to wasps to try and collect their venom - 
especially in a non-controlled situation (like in a yard or near a nest, 
or even fishing them out of bee/wasp traps)is just plain dangerous - even 
a dead wasp or bee can manage to "sting" you if you're not careful - those 
stingers are sharp!
  
Be careful, and please - stay away from the wasps.  

   - Patti O.

 http://www.botune
t.com.br/cevap/english/center.htm

specifically this page: http://ww
w.botunet.com.br/cevap/english/Emergency/bees.htm