I had heard that bee stings were theraputic for arthritis sufferers, but had dismissed it as being an 'old wives tale'. However, I happened to mention it to an older (late 60's) member of our beekeeper's club. He replied that he did indeed sting his wife when her arthritis was especially painful. She usually attended meetings with him so I had an opportunity to verify first hand the effectiveness of bee stings. She said that "Yes, Merlynn does get some bees and sting me when my arthritis gets bad." As I recall, her arthritis is in her shoulders and Merlynn stings her 2 or 3 times per shoulder. She says it helps so I guess there may be some truth to that old wives tale. Isn't it nice to know that arthritis is one thing we bee keepers won't suffer from because of all the stings we get just tending the bees.