This is my first post about Bee Venom Therapy (BVT) and is really just an introduction to my experiences over the last two years .. so I guess we had better start at the beginning and explain what BVT actually is, then why I have been exploring its potential and finally I would like to share a little of what I have been doing with it and the results so far. This really is a work in progress and will probably extend over several posts, maybe even several years.
So what is Bee Venom Therapy (BVT)? Well you can Google it and you will find lots of interesting answers, or even better you can type it into YouTube and watch the bees in action!
Bee Venom Therapy
BVT, or sometimes just referred to as Apitherapy, is the use of bee venom to treat medical conditions. It has been used since ancient times to treat a whole host of conditions such as arthritis, rheumatism, diabetes, muscular pain, gout, skin conditions and more recently it is being used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, Lyme disease and chronic fatigue syndrome. It is likely that BVT was the original acupuncture, delivering raw bee venom to the point of treatment.
It is a widely established practice in Asia with many specialist BVT clinics and it was actually legalised in China in 2007 despite having been used there for centuries!
Bee venom is a rich source of enzymes, peptides and biogenic amines. There are at least 18 active components in the venom which have some pharmaceutical properties. Bee venom also contains melittin, a peptide made up of amino acids that functions as an anti-inflammatory. Bee venom therapy functions by cutting down inflammation, improving your blood circulation and bolstering your immune system and additionally contributing to increased cortisol production.
The live bees are stimulated to inject the venom directly into to the affected area, trigger points or acupuncture points and after an initial test to make sure that the patient does not have an allergy to bee venom the number, frequency and location of stings is very dependant on the illness being treated.
So if you are still with me and haven’t moved onto a search for witch doctors or yoghurt weavers you may be thinking ‘well that’s all fine, there are a lot of questionable alternative therapies out there but why am I harking on about it now?’
I took up beekeeping in 2009 due to the publicity surrounding colony collapse disorder and global honey bee decline – if the reports are to be believed then there will be real issues for future generations regarding food security with an expanding global population.
My wife was then diagnosed with early symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) in 2010 and was experiencing a lot of pain and discomfort in certain joints. Rheumatoid arthritis is an auto-immune disease where your immune system, which usually fights infection, instead attacks the cells that line your joints, making them swollen, stiff and painful. Over time, this may damage the joint, the cartilage and surrounding bone.
There were days when she struggled to walk up and down the stairs and found the buttons on the children’s clothing nearly impossible. She was referred to the NHS rheumatologist by the GP but she also sought the advice of a nutritionist, who recommended a strict detox diet, and also underwent a course of acupuncture.
I had heard of bee venom being used to treat the symptoms of RA and started doing some research on the internet, always treating claims of miracle cures with a pinch of salt. I talked with my wife about the possibilities and watched the terror in her face at the thought of being stung multiple times and we decided to trial introducing ‘Manuka honey with bee venom’ into her diet to start with.
Bees don't get arthritis
My reading also lead me to purchase two books that were occasionally mentioned, firstly ‘Bees don’t get arthritis – The healing powers of bee stings, honey, pollen and propolis’ by Fred Malone and then later ‘Health and the honeybee’ by Charles Mraz. Both books were excellent in giving guidance on how to actually start the BVT and I had a willing victim. I also read articles by Bodog Beck who was responsible for writing ‘The bible of bee venom therapy’.
Health and the Honey Bee
BVT is not something that you enter into without a lot of care, thought and consideration but the alternative is a lifetime of taking synthetic steroids with a whole host of nasty side effects and certainly not what you want to hear when you are only 36….
We decided to start a course of treatment using the bees from early 2011 once the regular hive inspections were taking place and there was a good flow of pollen into the hives so the venom would be potent. This will be the subject of my next post.
Posted by Emma Sarah Tennant on March 10, 2012 at 11:00 am
This is a really interesting topic. I think a lot more research needs to be done (about bee stings, pollen, honey, wax, all products of the hive in general) but very interesting to follow the story here.
Posted by danieljmarsh on March 10, 2012 at 2:54 pm
Hi Emma, thanks for your comment – in the time that I have been keeping bees I have definitely come to view the hive as a medicine chest as you start to understand the massive healing potential of virtually all the products that the bees make. I also agree that there is a huge amount of research that could be carried out in gaining greater understanding of the health benefits of the bee products but unfortunately most ‘serious’ drug research in the UK is funded by the pharmaceutical industry who also produce and market the synthetic steroids and other drugs so there is no commercial interest in them doing so. During the 1970′s Germany’s largest apiarist was a drug firm called Mack that had 1300 hives and produced a venom ointment called Forapin, I am sure that we will see more ‘bee based’ products being developed in the future.
Posted by Suzanne on April 19, 2012 at 9:45 pm
Hello. Can you please post your email address because i would like to email personally to your wife as I have suffered from RA for 4 years and just recently started using BVT, it works!!! I am 30. If you don’t mind, I would love to ask some questions etc..thank you Suzanne
Posted by danieljmarsh on April 20, 2012 at 7:06 am
Hi Suzanne, many thanks for your comments and glad that you have had a positive result with the BVT – you can direct mail on danieljmarsh@gmail.com
Posted by Nekai on July 3, 2012 at 11:25 pm
I started using BVT in 1995 – I was lucky enough to know someone who had studied Chinese medicine in China for many years and who know of its widespread use there for RA and many other conditions. I was also lucky enough to live 3 hours away from Charles Mraz who gave me my first stings.
I went from being unable to balance or walk to an almost complete remission of MS symptoms in about 6 weeks and have been in pretty good shape ever since.
Kudos to you for being so brave to take it on alone – and for being so thoughtful, and recognizing you have to be well prepared before starting.
The first month can be real challenge, with big topical reactions, some flue-like symptoms, and even hives or other allergic symptoms. It was scary and I thought I was crazy to keep going but after the first month all that went away. Now the reactions are small and stings don’t even hurt longer than 8-12 hours. The results made everything I went through worth it!
Best of luck to you and your wife!
Posted by Nekai on July 3, 2012 at 11:29 pm
PS — a lot of research has been done and is being done into BVT. National MS Society has funding clinical research. Check America Apitherapy Society website for more info.