Bee Venom

Collecting Bee Venom

Bee venom has long been thought to have therapeutic qualities witih benefits ranging from relief for arthritic joints to improved mobility for sufferers of Multiple sclerosis. The variety of proteins in bee venom like phospholipase A and mellitin are believed to be the active ingredients that stimulate the body's immune response. Currently several studies funded by the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, are underway to examine bee venom and the possible role it might play in ameliorating the effects of MS. Possibly treatments fo diseases that involve a compromised immune system may find benefits in bee venom.

For bee venom to be put to medicinal purposes it must first be collected. It takes the entire venom sac of about 10,000 bees to yield a gram of venom. Typically a bee will only inject a portion of the content of the venom sac, so collecting venom is labour intensive. Michael Simics has been refining the technique for years and he travels to Calgary area every year for a few weeks to collect venom. I went out with him one morning to see how it is done.

The best time to collect venom is when there is a good nectar flow on and the bee population is at its strongest. A fairly high temperature is desirable for the collection. The collecting device is hive top with a metal gridwork on the underside. The tops are wired together and connected to a central controller which controls the periodic currents sent through the grid work. The mild current is not fatal to the bees but it induces spasms that stimulates them to deposit venom on the underside of the collection board. The venom sac of a bee contains 0,3 mg of venom and when a bee stings she will only inject 1/3 of the venom.

The collection takes about 10-12 minutes for each set of 10 hives. When the venom has dried on the collection plate it can be scraped off. Protective clothing and a face mask are worn to prevent inhaling bee venom.

The venom is made available to practictioners of apitherapy in a variety of forms.

Composition of Bee Venom