# Instructions?



## Kyle Meadows (Jul 14, 2006)

Hi all,
I'm interested in trying bee stings to relieve arthritis pain for my wife, who suffers from Ankylosing spondylitis. (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ankylosing-spondylitis/DS00483)
She is not allergic to bee stings.
Where can I find basic instructions for the process? We have 4 hives, so we have the bees already. A few questions I have are:
1. Can you use worker bees, or the queen?
2. Is there a recommended way to handle the bee and get it to sting?
3. Should the sting be centered right on the area of pain?
If there is any other practical advice, I would appreciate hearing it.
Thanks.
Kyle


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

Hi Kyle,
I use beestings myself for spinal nerve pains and for arthritis. I just grab a bee by the wings and press it down on my pain centers until the bee stings me. I let the bee stay there and fly off on it's own, then squeeze the sting muscle good to empty all the venom into me. I use worker bees, don't use the queen, might have to kill her to get her to sting you as queens don't normally sting people.

It really works well for me, and I hope it works great for your wife.


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## cow pollinater (Dec 5, 2007)

Hi Kyle,
I've been stinging my wife every other day or so for a while now. I moved my four gentlest hives (all cordovans from Koehnens) up close to the house and I rotate which hive I use so as to limit the amount of intrusion. If you don't do that, you may get your share of apitherapy as well
What I do is blow a small amount of smoke in and then I take off the migratory cover and take it with me to wherever my wife is. That way I have plenty of workers to use but I don't have to worry to much about anyone else getting stung as when they fly, they just go back to the hive. 
I wear nitrile gloves, which really make it hard for the bees to squirm around and sting your fingers but alsogive you good feel. I grab them however I can and wiggle them around on whichever site we are stinging. I don't let go until they sting because even though it may take a while to get them worked up, you don't want one stinging your wife in the face or anything like that if she is worked up and you don't hold her. 
We do all of the stings and then wait until the first ones stop twitching before I begin to pull the stingers, which I pull in the order they went in. We rotate which pain areas we sting as needed and generally sting within eight inches of the pain center.
When you start, sting only one time. Sting each pain area by itself one time before you move forward as different parts of the body can act very differently. It takes six stings to make a difference on my wife's back but only one on her ankle is almost to much. I also advise that you clean the area beforehand to avoid infection.
Bees have been an absolute blessing for my wife, I hope they help you as much as they have us. Good luck.


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## notaclue (Jun 30, 2005)

One of the officers in our club does apitherapy for his wife's arthritis. She swears by it also. He had a video and at least one meeting the program was about sting therapy with video. I do know that when I get stung it helps me and the more I get stung at a time the better I feel also. The single stings help more locally for me. I don't purposely get stung though.


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## BigDaddyDS (Aug 28, 2007)

Help me out here...

What are the effects of being stung on a person suffering from arthiritis?

I have occasional arthiritis pains, and often joke with my wife that I'm performing apitherapy when I've been stung. But, I haven't noticed any cessation or change in my arthiritis pains after stinging. What am I looking for to happen?

Is the numbness the "therapy" that practictioners are looking for? Because, usually along with the numbness, my finger joints are too swollen to bend comfortably the next day after being stung on, say, the knuckle. Not to mention itchy.

Like I say, help me out here. I'd really like to understand!
DS


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## notaclue (Jun 30, 2005)

The video I saw showed how the 'therapist' would find the exact point of pain, mark it and apply the sting there. From what I understand is that there is some kind of a build-up in the joint/pain area (# of stings) until relief begins to take effect. Something about helping to reduce the inflamation with the sting and after a while there may be little or no swelling from the sting itself. The American Apitherapy Society (?) would have information and possibly contacts within your state or area. 
Other benifits I have heard of is that it may also help "wake up" our immune system and other stuff I'm not sure of. Your best bet for information may be if you have a state apitherapy organization or the national organizations. I would contact them, look it up on websites or get some books.

http://www.apitherapy.org/

http://www.apitherapy.com/

http://arthritis.about.com/od/bee/Bee_Venom_Therapy_Bee_Stings_Apitherapy_Other_Beehive_Products.htm

There may be some info here for you. I've not looked at the last one but heard of the site.


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## cow pollinater (Dec 5, 2007)

My wife and I have found that it only gives a noticable affect when you apply it in the general area but the build up of stings in other areas also seems to help a little over time. Example: when my fingers get stung, it just hurts and sometimes they swell a little. But if my fingers get stung alot, my shoulder doesn't hurt as much for a while. If I sting my shoulder when it is giving me problems, however, it's problem solved. There is only a quick pain from the sting and then euphoria in the area that was sore. I find it kind of pleasant


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## seamuswildhoney (Jul 24, 2008)

*Apitherapy*

I have heard that bee stings are good for many ailments including cataracts.One of my girls stung me in the eyebrow and the vision seemed to get clearer. Anyone else have any input?


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## Parke County Queen (May 22, 2006)

*It Works!!*

I have a bone spur and arthritis in the thumb joint. I wear a brace at night, but it has become a constant pain now and is starting to be a problem using my hand. I don't want the operation they are recommending as it is my right hand and I couldn't use it for 6 weeks after. In desperation, I have started sting therapy. Last week was the first time and wow! what a difference. The pain started diminishing right away and by morning, it was totally gone. It came back about three days later. My husband is only home on the weekends and I can't wait for him to get home so he can sting me again. I will have to get up the nerve to sting myself! I don't know if I could do it with my left hand. 

My friend's wife is an apitheripist and this is what she said - "When a bee stings, our bodies send cortisol, a hormone that has anti-inflammatory properties, to the effected area. After two or three days the cortisol begins to diminish so by administering more stings it starts the process over. For some people swelling may require waiting an extra day or two."


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## Mathispollenators (Jun 9, 2008)

*I use to do that*

As a teenager I had a shop teacher that wanted me to catch bees for this same thing. Now give a teenage boy the chance to sting teachers yea boy I was up for that for sure. After a month or so of catching & putting them in a baby food jar for Mr. Hudson I talked him into letting me bring a hive to school. I hid them behind the shop and all was cool no one knew but us in the class and his injections went well. As time went on I needed to do something to the bees but anyway they (the bees) got upset and I got injected a time or two myself. I had about 3 frames out the hive and mad bees when it hit me. "Mr. Hudson are you ready for your injection?", I called out. And his reply was "I guess so". To which my reply was "put your hand in here then". That copper chain bracelet had a bee knotted up for every link it looked when he pulled it out that hive. To finish my story I think it cured him or at least he went to a more reconized treatment. Cause I soon took the bees home and he didn't need any more of my injections after that. 

I have never researched rather or not this actually did anyone any good but I have forever heard it worked. And the cortozol thing in one of the post sounds reasonable anyway.


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