Читать книгу Honey For Dummies - Howland Blackiston - Страница 42

This ancient practice of stinging with live honey bees can be traced back to the second century BC in China where acupuncture was being used to promote health and healing by balancing the flow of energy within the body. By inserting fine needles at precise points along neurological trigger points, the theory is acupuncture opens up energy channels called meridians to release the body’s natural supply of cortisone (cortisol). In turn, cortisone relieves inflammation and pain related to autoimmune diseases.

Bee venom is a white liquid released when a female worker honey bee stings in an attempt to protect her young, hive, and honey. Stinging is a defensive behavior that results in her losing her life when her stinger, venom sac, and the muscles and nerves surrounding it are ripped out of her abdomen as she pulls away from the point of her sting. BVT follows the same protocol as acupuncture by substituting a female honey-bee’s stinger for a needle to prick the body in controlled doses by a trained apitherapist (see Figure 4-1). This practice has helped some people find relief from chronic pain associated with arthritis, multiple sclerosis, migraines, and lupus, in addition to simply boosting the immune system. Bee venom therapy has been used even to kill cancer cells. Today, BVT is used in hospitals around the world; the most famous is the bee therapy clinic Lianyungang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Courtesy of Champlain Valley Apiaries

FIGURE 4-1: Charles Mraz stinging a patient with a live honey bee to deliver bee venom offering relief from chronic arthritis pain.

Generally, BVT is not recognized in the United States; however, the Winchester Hospital in Massachusetts has a BVT clinic if you are looking for alternative treatments.