Apitherapy

[Guest guest]

The old wives tale I have been told is a bee keeper will never get arthritis.

The guy up the street I buy honey from is 93, still drives and even plows

driveways. Very active and smart man. I trade him different plant medicine for

bees wax and honey. Katu

 

Could it bee? Seminar has potential to create buzz

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=230555 & ac=Outdoors

Apitherapy, the practice of using natural honeybee products to treat ailments,

has been around for centuries.

 

Theo Cherbuliez, a Freeport physician who uses this method, says you'd never

know it in America.

 

" It's been used for 2,000 years in China and in the last century in Eastern

Europe. Japan also has used it for several centuries, " Cherbuliez said. " The

only place where it is new is probably the socially developed counties,

especially the U.S. "

 

Cherbuliez is giving a free seminar on the health benefits of apitherapy at

Maine Audubon in Falmouth on Feb. 2.

 

It is an opportunity for the South Freeport psychiatrist, who moved to Maine

four years ago, to introduce more people in Maine to this natural remedy that

involves honey, pollen, royal jelly and bee venom.

 

But it's not the beginning of Cherbuliez' teaching on apitherapy. Cherbuliez,

the vice president of The American Apitherapy Society, has been sharing the

success of apitherapy for 30 years in seminars around the world.

 

Cherbuliez has lectured on apitherapy in several countries, including Greece,

Cuba, Israel, Japan and Africa.

 

" France is not much ahead of the U.S., but Germany is, and Eastern Europe. Many

years ago I visited Bucharest where 13 medical specialists work with beehives, "

Cherbuliez said.

 

In the United States, critics of apitherapy say the risks of being stung by a

bee, and the possible allergic reactions that can result, outweigh possible

benefits. And this alternative medicine is not recognized by the American

Medical Association or the National Institute of Health.

 

Still, the New York-based American Apitherapy Society gives courses around the

country in applications for honeybee products.

 

In Maine, Cherbuliez' lesson may prove to be an introduction to many.

 

Marc Plaisted, a Maine beekeeper for 38 years, said he knows little on

apitherapy, but is excited to learn and to have a local resource on this

practice.

 

" It is completely new and different. I don't know very much. Probably in Maine,

I would be typical. Most beekeepers here, it's not something we do, " said

Plaisted, who lives in Pittston.

 

As the vice president of the Maine State Beekeepers Association, Plaisted has

heard of benefits bee venom can offer people with arthritis and multiple

sclerosis, but knows of no specific cases.

 

Plaisted said the issue of liability is the reason he has not thought of

exploring apitherapy.

 

" If you do something new, and someone gets hurt, you're liable, " Plaisted said.

" But if someone came to my house and said, 'Jeez, I need some bees. I'm doing

apitherapy treatment,' I'd be the first one to get them a jar of bees. But for

me to sting someone, it's not something I could do. There are just too many

people suing too many other people. "

 

That said, Plaisted is willing to learn more about apitherapy.

 

" I think people are more looking into these remedies, they are looking for

something practical. There is some basis to these remedies. And who are we to

judge? Why not look at everything? And if you are using something as simple as

honey, maybe the drug companies don't like it, but oh well, " Plaisted said. " To

me, if it can help one person in the world, it's worth it. "

 

Cherbuliez said he has seen apitherapy treat maladies so severe they were

crippling. In one instance, he said, a man in Cuba who suffered from a

reoccurring leg infection that antibiotics could not stop was cured with

apitherapy.

 

The difference between antibiotics and products from a beehive, Cherbuliez said,

is that antibiotics are " represented by a particular chemical molecule " which

over time can become ineffective, whereas within a hive there is constant

variation.

 

" Bee venom varies from one season to another, depending on the age of the bees

and the race of the bees, " Cherbuliez said.

 

" It is more known for arthritis and for its approach with multiple sclerosis

when nothing else works. "

http://www.apitherapy.org/