For those who may not have known him or about him, Charlie Mraz was an 
exceptional man and probably the founder of Apitherapy.

As I recall his talk, when he was in his teens, he was told that his 
Rheumatoid Arthritis would cripple him and he would need a wheelchair 
by the time he was in his 20s.

He noticed that, in the summer when he was working bees, his RA pain 
seemed to decrease, but returned in the summer. Since the only thing 
different was the bees and being stung, he stung himself on purpose 
and noted a decrease in symptoms. He refined his technique by marking 
the location of his pain and stinging himself right there. From then 
on, he was pain free. And spry, when I saw him about 15 plus years 
ago. He was a kind, gentle man, with a good sense of humor and patient 
with those who asked countless questions.

I ran the Annual Meeting of the MSBA the year we invited Charlie to 
speak. It was the largest crowd we ever had since it drew in lots of 
non-beekeepers (so made a ton of money for the organization, since 
they only came for the talk and skipped lunch).

I have told this part of the story before, so forgive the repetition, 
but, at the time, my shoulder was giving me a load of pain and I was 
scheduled to see a specialist who was going to do surgery to relive me 
of the pain. When I heard Charlie describe his symptoms and summer 
relief, a very large light bulb lit over my head since they were 
exactly mine. When I got home, I got some bees and stung myself right 
where the pain was. I slept soundly on that shoulder for the first 
time that winter. No surgery, and no more pain since then. I do get 
twinges, but just grab some bees and all is back to normal.

Like Peter, I do try stings on other problems, but have found that 
they do not work on many other joint or joint related pain. Forget 
bursitis or sciatic nerve pain- BTDT. But for arthritis, it has been a 
life enhancer for me.

So thank you again, Charlie Marz.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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