The Sting of the Honey Bee a Remedy for Rheumatism, Acute and Chronic.

W. W. HOUSER, M. D., LINCOLN, ILL.

There is a general and widespread belief in many countries of the world that the sting of the honey bee is a cure for rheumatism. The theory is that the apic acid of the sting destroys that which is the cause of the disease. Persons who have rheumatism are said to be immune to the poisonous results that ordinarily follow the sting of the bee.

Dr. Newton Friend, a prominent physician of England, has made a special study of the question and reports actual cures among his patients from the bee sting.

Moses Bray of Santa Clara Co., Cal., a bee keeper, was cured of an obstinate case of rheumatism by numerous and repeated stings of bees. Mr. Wm. Stolley of Grand Island, Neb., an extensive bee keeper, claims to have cured numerous cases of the most obstinate kind by administering bee stings. His method is to begin with one sting per day and gradually increase to ten or twelve per day.

His method of applying the stings is as follows: Put the bees in a room with only one window. They will collect on the glass. Then with a wet sponge catch the bee while on the glass, and apply to the affected part, and the bee does the rest.

My observation is that this is a remedy of great importance and deserves close study as a specific for one of the most painful and obstinate diseases known to the medical profession.

COMMENT:—This subject was quite freely discussed in the medical press some fifteen years ago, but few, however, have thought best to make practical use of the method. Dr. Gress, of Atchison, Kansas, informed me at one time of very extended observations he had made, and of positive conclusions he had arrived at. Homoeopathic physicians have long used apis, a remedy derived from the honey bee, for the cure of rheumatism, and their observations have given the remedy a fixed place in the therapeutics of this disorder. I want a report of the observations of every one who has used the method above described, or who has used apis.

Ellingwood's Therapeutist, Vol. 2, 1908, was edited by Finley Ellingwood M.D.