Apitherapy - Clinical Practice

Clinical Practice

While apitherapy encompasses use or consumption of bee products, in the Anglosphere the term is most commonly associated with bee venom therapy and not the consumption of honey or other bee products.

Bee venom therapy is claimed to be of use in arthritis, bursitis, tendinitis, dissolving scar tissue (e.g. keloids), and Herpes zoster, among other illnesses.

The most abundant active component of the venom is melittin, which has many useful properties, including powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-viral actions. However, bee venom is a complex mix of a variety of peptides and proteins, some of which have strong neurotoxic and immunogenic effects.

There is no standardized practice for the administration of bee venom. Some purport that the location of the sting is important, with the sting acting as a sort of acupuncture in combination with the effects of the venom, while others report the location is not important. The number of stings also varies widely from a few to hundreds and they may be administered either by live bees or by injection. This treatment can cause pain, and even result in death if the subject has an allergy to bee venom, which can produce anaphylactic shock.