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IN THIS CHAPTER

Understanding apitherapy

Exploring bee venom and other therapeutic bee-related substances

Using products of the honey bee for health and beauty

Honey bees are sophisticated creatures, producing many substances (besides honey) that have proven health benefits for humans and some animals. The study and use of these products for healing and maintaining health is called apitherapy or “bee therapy” and include use of bee venom, pollen, royal jelly, propolis, beeswax, and honey.

Apitherapy gained national recognition through Charles Mraz, a beekeeper who founded the American Apitherapy Society (AAS) in the 1930s. During his lifetime he treated people with arthritis pain, multiple sclerosis, and other autoimmune diseases with bee stings and products of the hive. (He chronicles his personal journey as a pioneering healer along with case studies in his book Health and the Honeybees that was published in 1955.) The AAS continues to be dedicated to educating medical professionals, beekeepers, and the public about the benefits of bee medicine.

Well before the AAS was established, honey and bees were used as medicine for thousands of years. Evidence exists that the ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, Chinese, Greeks, and even Romans employed honey for various treatments, including wound care and diseases of the intestine. The oldest known medical text of Egypt dating back to 1553–1550 BC is known as Papyrus Ebers. There are passages about using honey along with herbal remedies as a natural antibiotic and to dress wounds. In 50 AD, Dioscorides the physician to the Roman army, wrote: “Honey is good for all rotten and hollow ulcers,” alluding to treating the soldiers who suffered infected wounds during war time.