The use of bee venom for therapeutic purposes stretches back to ancient Egypt and is documented throughout European and Asian history. Hippocrates employed bee venom to cure arthritis and joint discomfort. Interest in bee venom therapy has ebbed and flowed since then.

Traditional medicine traditions in China, Korea, Russia, Egypt, and Greece all make reference to the medicinal qualities of bee products. Apitherapy has been used since Hippocrates and Galen’s time. The modern usage of bee venom appears to have begun with Austrian physician Philipp Ter [cs] and his 1888 essay “About a Peculiar Connection Between Bee Stings and Rheumatism,” although his claims were never tested in appropriate clinical studies. The phrase “bee venom treatment” was invented in 1935 by Hungarian physician Bodog F. Beck, and beekeeper Charles Mraz (1905–1999) in the latter part of the twentieth century. By approving Nikolay Artemov’s “Instruction for Bee Sting Venom Apitherapy” in 1957, the USSR Ministry of Health sanctioned the use of bee venom to treat specific illnesses.

Chinese Apitherapy

The employment of bees and their products to offer medical health care to people has a long history. Wild pigs, black bears, and other animals have long sought honey comb, and early man learnt to search for beehives in rock outcrops and tree holes. These bee colonies housed honey, pollen, and pupa combs; they were almost certainly targets for primitive man who were stung while attempting to get these goods. In reality, they were the first individuals to get apitherapy when they searched for bee larvae and pupas, ate honey, and were stung.
Fifty-two Prescriptions, China’s oldest prescription book, was discovered on a silk scroll in the third century B.C. in Ma Wang Dui’s Han tomb No. 3 in Changsha, Huûnan Province. It includes two bee-related prescriptions, one of which utilizes honey to cure illnesses.

According to Li Ji Nei Ze, delicious honey was used to express filial piety and respect for the old 2,300 years ago; moreover, bees and cicada larvae, which have a high nutritional value, were the nourishment of monarchs and other aristocracy. Sheng Nongûs Herbal was published 2,000 years ago and contains 365 different types of medicinal ingredients, among which honey, beeswax, and bees are regarded better quality medicines capable of curing illnesses and preserving health.

Egyptian Apitherapy

• Propolis, the “black wax,” was described on an Egyptian papyrus 1550 years ago (Asis, 1989). • Propolis is claimed to have been utilized, together with other active substances, in the secret process of mummification of pharaohs.

7 Egyptian papyri were discovered between 1.900 and 1.350 BC. They offer a significant number of prescriptions for the treatment of various diseases utilizing honey and wax. The most notable of these papyri is “Ebers” (1550 BC), a medical handbook containing 147 prescriptions for cures using honey for external use, 102 for internal use, and many others involving the use of wax. The ancient Egyptians were also aware of and used propolis, which they referred to as “black wax.” They created the well-known “kyfi,” a type of essence or fragrance containing honey and utilized for medicinal and witchery reasons.

Many of the uses of bee products in Egyptian medicine, particularly those referring to internal (through the mouth) use, are replicated in Greek and Roman literature. Aside from honey, propolis, and wax, the Ancient Greeks and Romans used bee venom for medicinal purposes; several alcohol drinks with a honey basis were produced for medical purposes: “hydromeli” (water+honey), “oxymeli” (vinegar+honey), “oinomeli” (wine+honey), “omfakomeli” (grape juice+honey), and “melikraton” (milk+h

Apitherapy knowledge may be found in Greek papyri unearthed in Egypt. Honey appears to be a component of ophthalmological recipes; specifically, Attic honey is advised as an eye ointment, as well as in treatments for the mouth, skin, gynecological issues, otitis, and nasal infections. Other therapeutic recipes call for Attica of Pontian honey, while honey from Crete and Theangela is included in the Materia Medica. Egyptian honey, on the other hand, was not well received. According to Plinius, “miraculous” Cretan honey is a great medical product, but Ailianos claims that Pontian honey, also known as “mainomenon meli” (mad honey), is a treatment for epilepsy. It appears that centuries before contemporary study confirmed its characteristics, the ancients already understood that particular types of honey provide far better outcomes than others when utilized for medical purposes.