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Inhaling Beehive Air - Apitherapy

150K views 72 replies 38 participants last post by  ABK 
#1 ·
#4 ·
Yes, really. I am not sure about the picture shown above. It is obviously faked. (?) But hive air therapy became widely known in European apitherapy a couple of years ago. It helps people with lung problems. It helps breathing and slows infections of the lungs and so on.

A device was developed, with a bee proof mesh/cloth in a lid, a small ventilator and a mask connected to it like shown above. I see if I can find pictures.
 
#13 ·
.. I slung together for a joke.
Was joking myself.


Oh I'm knocking it.
No reason to get excited. It is not intended to replace common medicine. It is just am accompanying treatment (hope, that is the right term for it) right next to a proper medical treatment. At least in Europe many apitherapists are medical doctors or registered naturopaths. Propolis, Medihoney and other bee products are used in hospitals and medical practices. I do not say it is widespread and commonly used, but there is a growing number of hospitals using it. In East Europe it is very common to use apitherapy in hospitals with good results.

Of course there are a many quacks and charlatans, but you can find those everywhere. I heared even among beekeepers. :eek: Selling snake oil and so.

I am a member of the German Apitherapy group and experiences reported concerning inhaling hive air are quite promising. As long it does help and it doesn't harm - which has to be make sure beforehand, of course! - it'll do.

If you watch the site: http://apitherapy.blogspot.de you will find many interesting articles and in fact quite some scientific research on apitherapy and it's products. It is not all snake oil and bee products have a great potential to help relieving people's trouble.

But of course a word of caution is right. It is medicine and it stay medicine in the hands of experienced doctors.
 
#9 ·
I am not knocking this at all.
I just have never seen this type of therapy.

I love the smell of the hive during certain nectar flows.
It makes me happy when I catch a whiff of curing honey.
Combined with sunshine, I can easily see how it could help with depression.
 
#10 ·
I am not knocking this at all.
Oh I'm knocking it.

1) This is likely an allergist's nightmare. One good asthma attack from this and you're in for some trouble.
2) Anything that comes with a "not intended to treat or diagnose any ailment or condition" style disclaimer might as well say "I'm scamming you, and you're gullible enough to fall for it!".
3) You know what they call alternative medicine that has been proven to actually work? Medicine.
4) Things like this prevent gullible people from getting actual medical attention for their conditions, and considering the guy is listing it as being effective against things like lung infections and bronchitis means people could very well die from relying on this.

So yeah, I'm going to knock this. I'll put this in the same category as Scientology. Was going to say crystal power and vibrational energy nonsense, but this could cause actual pain, suffering, or even death, so yeah, thats Scientology level bad, IMO.
 
#15 ·
So has there been double blind studies carried out with due scientific rigor that show this to be effective above and beyond the placebo effect?

Because unless you can show legitimate evidence of effectiveness (beyond anecdotal evidence, because I can show you Amazon 5 star reviews for holographic stickers and volcanic lava rock pendants that swear it prevents migraines from EMF exposure), then all I see is snake oil.
 
#16 ·
>Funny, every time I see someone going on about the power of crystals, they're usually trying to sell said crystals to me, not give them away. I doubt anyone that would be doing this bee huffing "treatment" is going to be offering it for free either.

I seem to find myself around such people quite often and none of them ever tried to sell me anything... they are usually trying to give me stuff for free...
 
#23 · (Edited)
The smell of beeswax candles is calming... Why do you think so many old churches use them? Smelling beeswax & propolis calms the senses. If you don't like and enjoy the smell of honey & beeswax, then there's something wrong with you. At bare minimum the smell of fresh honey and beeswax is the smell of a successful summer in the works. Atleast until you get stung.
 
#25 ·
"Free bee air with the purchase of a honey bear" "One huff with the purchase of a honey stick" You must be talking about crystallized honey!!! It doesn't run off a hot peanut butter sandwich. Sell pb sandwiches, honey bears, honey sticks, and free bee air. Happy-healthy customers for life! Maybe for laughs give away free bee air from a display hive so the kids can watch the bees buzz like crazy when air passes them by. Smelling air out of beehives is good for you, it's the smell of good healthy bees and fresh summer flowers. It's time to sell it out of those nice stores in the mall where lady's go to buy fancy perfume.
 
#28 ·
There are certain times of the year when a whiff of beehive air does smell quite good to me, but other times, like when the goldenrod is coming in, no. Like grumpybeeman said above, who can't appreciate the smell of honey, beeswax, and propolis. I think even the bees themselves must smell pretty good, but I'm not about to bury my face in a big cluster of bees to find out.
 
#32 ·
Goldenrod honey is a common and appreciated product over here, which I liken to dandelion honey. There is a lot of goldenrod near my apiaries which my bees go crazy over, but I have not noticed asters. Keep in mind that there are a number of goldenrod species, and from various testimonies on these forums, your southern goldenrod is in no way as appealing as our northern goldernrod. I can't tell you which goldenrod species make good honey and which don't, but others seem to say that some of your northern states have the good kind too.
 
#38 ·
research has shown that bacteria in the soil has properties that help relieve stress in the body. Gardeners are typically happier people than those who never fool with one.

The further man pushes himself from nature the further from the little benefits that are found in nature like the scent of beeswax, honey, and propolis. Not to mention a host of other things. While this does seem odd, there is almost always a grain of truth to these things even if it has been blown out of proportion.

As beekeepers who get into hives alot we dont have to pay. haha
 
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