Hello Friends,
I got back into keeping bees, one year ago, primarily for use in Apitherapy.
I have a good friend with MS and the stings have helped him quite a bit.  As
for Arthritis treatment, I have been using the stings on myself and have seen
a reduction in some of the knots on my fingers.  We put the bees on orange
blossom for the last six weeks and the friend who owns the property is an
Arthritis sufferer.  He has been diagnosed with Degenerative Arthritis and
has a good deal of pain in his hands and back.  He asked us to give him some
stings to see if it would help his situation.  He took one sting, which I
removed quickly, in order to check for an allergic reaction.

His first actual treatment was on his thumb (2 stings).  He told us he had
immediate relief which lasted for about 2 days.  We increased it to 4 stings
the following week.  He had such good results that he asked for a treatment
on his back, near  the tail bone.  We put 4 stings there and increased it to
14 stings on that spot by the end of 6 weeks.  He has been able to perform
physical tasks at a tremendously increased rate since he started the
treatments.  His wife told us that he is like a different person now.  The
physical tasks he has been doing would have had him in bed for three days 2
months prior to the Apitherapy.

I have another beekeeper friend who uses stings for Osteo Arthritis and he
swears by it.  He uses the stings every time he has a little pain.  His
Mother has had both knees replaced.  He has had no surgery.  I do not work in
the medical field, so I am not able adequately explain the mechanism which
causes the stings to work, but it is hard for me to argue with results I have
personally witnessed.

I believe it could be as simple as this.  The stings surely cause the body's
immune system to wake up and take notice.  I know my immune system is working
because I can take as many as 15 stings in one finger with very little
reaction.  This was not the case when I first started.  I have had a spell
where I did not get stung for 4 weeks and I had a bit of a reaction when
getting back into a regular weekly stinging  program.  The body (immune
system) goes to work on the Arthritis. I believe the stings have a much
broader benefit, than just a treatment option for Arthritis, but that is a
topic for another discussion.   Bob Bassett