The Buzz Around Bee Venom Therapy: An Introduction
I recently began a beekeeping course in Southern California. I never intended to become a beekeeper. My journey with bees began when I was hospitalized for a month and told my only option moving forward was pharmaceuticals. If you know me on a personal level, you’d understand that was my worst nightmare coming true. I wasn’t willing to accept that reality and began diving into research on my own. I would spend hours upon hours researching any approach to my illness that wasn’t pharmaceutical based. I kept landing on Bee Venom Therapy. I had no idea how I was going to pursue this, I was recovering in Upstate New York with limited access to resources.
Eventually I mapped out a plan to move back to Los Angeles and started piecing the puzzle together. Through a Tik Tok search I came across an account called Stinglab. After watching every single one of her videos, I sent a message to her. Come to find out, she was located in Southern California and had a program to do the therapy. Almost 1 year later, we are two weeks away from starting my first sting with her program! The power of social media in this regard will never be lost on me.
When I made the decision to explore this healing modality, I thought it was important to learn as much as I could about bees and their ecosystem. If I was going to go on this journey with them, I wanted to garner respect for these lovely creatures. I started a six-week course at The Valley Hive. The course is for total newbies, beekeepers who wish to broaden their base knowledge, and members of the community who desire an understanding of what it takes to competently manage a colony of honeybees in the Los Angeles Area.
I recently finished my six weeks and am now in the hands-on lab work portion before I take my final exam. I don’t plan to keep bees at this point in my life, but I will when I get that countryside home with lots of land. My main focus with the bees right now is beginning the actual therapy. On average, BVT takes between 1.5-3 years of 3x weekly treatment to fully eradicate deeply seated viral and bacterial infections, like Lyme and Epstein-Barr Virus.
So what exactly is Bee Venom Therapy? Beyond the sting of a bee lies a multitude of potential healing benefits. Bee Venom Therapy, or apitherapy, involves the controlled application of bee venom, typically with live bees. This age-old practice has roots in traditional medicine systems, with proponents showing that the compounds found in bee venom can have therapeutic effects to say the least. The primary purpose of BVT is to stimulate the body’s immune system so that it can begin to heal itself. The primary components of bee venom include melittin, apamin, adolapin, and peptides, each contributing to the unique properties of this natural substance.
One of the most intriguing things about bee venom therapy is its potential to impact viruses, including those with lipid envelopes like HIV. The viral envelope is a lipid membrane surrounding some viruses, and disrupting this envelope can hinder the virus's ability to infect host cells.
Research has explored the role of melittin, a major component of bee venom, in penetrating the viral envelope of certain viruses. Melittin has been shown to interact with lipid membranes, forming pores that can disrupt the integrity of the membrane. In the case of enveloped viruses, this disruption could interfere with the virus's ability to enter host cells.
What does that mean simply put? Bee venom has compounds, like Melittin, that can poke holes in the lipid envelope of some viruses. By consistently disrupting this protective layer with melittin, the virus's ability to enter and infect cells could be significantly reduced or stopped altogether. Over time, this could lead to a decrease in the number of viruses in the body, potentially eradicating the infection.
My journey with the bees is just beginning. I’m looking forward to documenting my findings and sharing with you all!
