November, 1909. 



American Vae Journal 



arrangement of extracted honey ap- 

 peal to me? No! Neither of these is 

 what is wanted. What's the result? 

 The increase in the demand for honey 

 is slow, the price is dull, and the bee- 

 keeper generally feels dull about it. 



Put bulk comb honey in the place of 

 the above, and you till the bill. Now 

 there are just thousands of those 

 " bills " to fill. That's what we have 

 been doing here in Te.xas. It can be 

 done in other States. Neither will it 

 only help to increase the demand for 

 more honey, but it will make bee-keep- 

 ing more profitable. My own experi- 

 ence of nearly 20 years has proven that 

 beyond a doubt ; it has been profitable 

 to me, and n'hy should it not be so 

 with you? That is the question. 



Bee-Stings for Rheumatism 



Since writing my article on the 

 above subject, on page 236, the follow- 

 ing letters have been received. I gladly 

 place them before the readers for sev- 

 eral reasons. The first is, because they 

 may help to draw out further informa- 

 tion on this subject, from the bee- 

 keepers, as to whether bee-stings are 

 or are not a "cure" for rheumatism; 

 and, second, such information may be 

 of enough value to settle this widely 

 spread question, "bee-stings for rheu- 

 matism." 



Bee-Stings for Rheumatism. 



Of all the words in the English language 

 which have been butchered to make the 

 Romans howl a day. " cure ' is the worst. 

 The newly fledged doctor, the patent medi- 

 cine fakir, the faith-curist, all "cure," by 

 claim, when the old. experienced medical 

 man smiles sadly, knowing that there are but 

 four diseases for which we have remedies 

 which come anywhere near meeting the 

 demands of the word " cure," to make well; 

 to banish disease. 



Had our big Tehana brother. Scholl, prac- 

 ticed medicine for a matter of 30 years, as 

 has the writer, he would hestitate to claim 

 a cure for any kind of human ill. big or little. 

 and pause at rheumatism longer than any of 

 the rest. 



Bee-stings never "cured" rheumatism. 

 Mr. Scholl. I know this is an impolite view 

 of your positive statement that " a cure was 

 made in every case." I, and others, have 

 failed utterly to relieve the symptoms of 

 uric acid poisoning by the aid of bee-stings, 

 consequently you saw cases that had had 

 other treatment before the patient was 

 stung. This is a guess, based on the knowl- 

 edge that a rheumatic patient will begin at 

 once taking anything and everything recom- 

 mended from doctor's stuff to bee-stings, 

 and while I shall not deny that the symp- 

 toms alluded to abated at once after the bee 

 did her work, it is no proof that the sting 

 caused the relief. 



Neither does your own experience apply. 

 for rheumatism is more often than not a 

 self-limited disease; it will "get well "with 

 astonishing frequency witliout treatment. 

 Perhaps you had a cold spell just before 

 going to work witli the bees, and felt the 

 trouble, and getting out-of-doors in the sun- 

 shine caused the system to throw off the 

 uric acid so that you " got well. ' 



Were this bee-sting cure a new theory I 

 should not wonder that it attracted atten- 

 tion, but I have heard of it since childhood. 

 Think you, Mr. Scholl. that the human race 

 would still be suffering, and the doctors 

 looking for a remedy, if bee-stings cured? 

 No. sir! the disease would be banished poco 

 I'ronto, for the treatment is available all the 

 time. 



I have spells of muscular rheumatism — 

 though there is really and truly nodifference 

 in the disease, only in the severity of the 

 manifestations, which come on regardless 

 of bee-stings. Part of the time last spring 

 the weather was cold and damp, and I suf- 

 ferctl severely, notwithstanding 1 was stung 

 many times daily, for I am nervous and care- 

 less with my bees, and I suffered until the 

 *veather turned warm, when the trouble left 



in an hour, but the next cold, wet spell de- 

 veloped the symptoms again. 



I believe a sudden and severe stinging 

 might develop a case of rheumatism, for a 

 .r//<i(-^of any kind z«V/. If you do not know 

 the etiology of the disease you may be 

 pleased to know that large quantities of 

 urea are thrown into the circulat ion daily and 

 hourly. Much of this is converted into uric 

 acid which is ahways present in the blood, but is 

 always being carried off. If fromsome cause 

 the kidneys fail to eliminate the compound 

 i t remains suspended in the blood until some sud- 

 den shock to the nervous system causes it to erys- 

 tallize out in the form of millions of small needles, 

 which prickins the tender nerz'es cause mviSC\i\&v 

 rheumatism in the large muscles; lumbago 

 in the small of the back, but is generally be- 

 lieved to be kidney trouble by the laity; 

 sciatica, where the big nerve of the leg is in- 

 volved; pleuradynia if the muscles of the 

 chest suffer: neuralgia if the nerves of the 

 face are involved. If a man lived in a con- 

 stant temperature of 70 degrees, and where 

 the moisture was as lacking as in Llano 

 Estacado. with never a care to move his 

 mind, his blood might be saturated with uric 

 acid enough to kill him 'inflammatory rheu- 

 matism; if suddenly crystallized, and the 

 sting of a bee would be enough to do it. or as 

 he sat eating a dinner the receipt of a letter 

 bringing bad news would suffice. 



Like yourself. Mr. Scholl. I have been de- 

 ceived by superficial examination. In my 

 first year of practice the healing of disease 

 was an open book to me. and I pitied the 

 older men who lost patients. Now— well, 

 do not ask me to confess to an amount of 

 ignorance which is appalling. 



Of course, /do not object that you believe 

 that bee-stings w'M cure rheumatism, not at 

 all. but I do ask that if we are both alive ^s 

 years from now thatyou report your failures. 

 In the meantime. I shall much more greatly 

 enjoy your bee-talks. I like them. 



Buck Grove, Iowa. (Dr.! A. F. Bonnev. 



Bee-Stings for Rheumatism. 



On page 2.36 in the July number of the 

 American Bee .Journal, some one wrote that 

 bee-stings will cure rheumatism. I will give 

 my experience. 



I am a man of 70 years, and I have been in 

 the bee-business for bo years, and my father 

 was a bee-man before me. Sly father was 

 often laid up with rheumatism, and he cred- 

 ited the cause altogether to bee-stings. He 

 never used veil nor gloves nor smoker, and 

 he used to get stung pretty badly, and the 

 doctor told him the cause of his rheumatism 

 was the bee-stings; and that he would have 

 to go out of the bee-business to get rid of the 

 rheumatism. He never went out of the bee- 

 business and he never got rid of the rheu- 

 matism. 



I have had the .rheumatism for over 40 

 years, and I have it badly now— not much of 

 the time without pain. .About a month ago I 

 was stung 12 or 14 times on my face. neck, 

 and han<ls. and in the evening I had so much 

 pain with rheumatism that I had to call in 

 thedoctor.and my feet wereswelling up with 

 rheumatism. 1 told the doctor that I got 

 stung pretty badly that day with the bees, 

 and that I iiad read in several of the bee- 

 papers that bee-stings were a sure cure for 

 rheumatism. The doctor said that he had 

 read the same thing in some paper, but it 

 was all " bosh." He said he never knew of 

 a case of rheumatism to be cured by bee- 

 stings. I have traveled over the country a 

 good deal in my time, and I have yet to find 

 the first man who was cured of rheumatism 

 by the sting of bees. 



I met an old farmer when I was selling 

 honey in Akron. Ohio. He stopped me on 

 the street and told hisexperience with bees. 

 He said that he once got stung so badly that 

 he had two doctors there, and the two doc- 

 tors worked with him for two hours to save 

 his life, and then he decided to go out of the 

 bee-business, and out he went. He gavt- 

 some of his colonies away and some he sold 

 cheap. And he told me that lit- had had 

 rheumatism for 15 years, and he still had it. 

 I have never seen him since. I am sure he 

 was telling the truth, for when he walked 

 away he walked very lame. 



If beestings would cure rheumatism, I 

 would go out and tell the people what bee- 

 stings would do. and insist on their trying it. 

 Some of the greatest doctors say rheuma- 

 tism cannot be cured, and I believe it. for I 

 have had to walk with crutches many days 

 because of rheumatism. One time I was 

 stung 12 times on my throat. In s minutes 

 my limbs got spotted. The doctor told me 

 that he harl no medicine that would stop it 

 or even help me. It went over me so quickly. 

 About that time I began to get pretty sick. I 



told the doctor to give me a half-pint of 

 whisky, and he did so. He said that might 

 help me. I drank the whisky, and in half an 

 hour the spots on my limbs all disappeared, 

 and I went to work again. I am a temperance 

 man. but I never will be without a little 

 whisky in my house. Whisky is a sure cure 

 for severe bee-stings. 

 Seville. Ohio. M. D. Tyler. 



In spite of the able experience of 

 one, as Dr. Bonney seems to be able to 

 give, I cannot help believing that the 

 effect of bce-sting^ /loi'soii in a person's 

 system will at least relieve, if not even 

 cure, rheumatism. Dr. Bonney does 

 not even mention this part of the sub- 

 ject in his letter, confining all of his 

 arguments to the sting of the bee. In 

 this we would have to agree with him 

 to a certain extent, if we consider the 

 effect of the shocks, crystallization, 

 etc., mentioned by him, that might be 

 caused when a person is stung by a 

 bee. He does not refer, however, to 

 the effect that the poison of these 

 stings may have upon the ailment after 

 it becomes incorporated in the system. 



It would also be well to bear in mind 

 that these shocks would not always 

 be the same, not only in diflferent per- 

 sons, but also in one and the same in- 

 dividual. While they may be more 

 severe to one person, they are not to 

 another, and although the first stings 

 may be quite severe, the patient may 

 soon become used to these sliocks so 

 that the shocks would have no longer 

 any effect upon the rheumatism. This, 

 then, brings us to a point when we can 

 let the question of the effect of the 

 shock upon rheumatism, as spoken of 

 by Dr. Bonney, drop altogether. 



We now come to the question as to 

 the effect the bee-sting poison can have 

 upon the ailment of rheumatism, if it 

 is once in the system of the afflicted 

 person. My own experience of nearly 

 20 years, during which time I have 

 been stung numberless times, shows 

 that my system has been " toughened " 

 to such an extent that it seems to me 

 that it would be easier for me to ward 

 off trouble such as rheumatism, etc., 

 and I lay this to the fact that there is 

 always more or less of the bee-sting 

 poison in my system, injected into it 

 by the bees that stung me. 



Now, we would like to know more 

 about this matter, and hope to hear 

 from others. If bee-stings are not 

 good for rheumatism we want to know 

 it. 



Referring to the other letter, our 

 correspondent cites that some of our 

 greatest doctors say rheumatism can- 

 not be cured, but I believe that a time 

 will come when it can be cured as well 

 as other once incurable diseases, for 

 which "science" has found a remedy. 

 It is " Nature" that has given us the 

 rheumatism, and I believe that for 

 every ill or disease Nature has some 

 remedy by which they can be "cured." 

 This is but natural, and rheumatism 

 will find its remedy, whether it is bee- 

 stings or something else. I would not 

 indulge too much in that whisky cure, 

 however. 



She Overheard It 



"Did it sting you. Aunt Jane?" asked the 

 precocious child of the rich but cranky old 

 relative of whom the family had expecta- 

 tions. 



■ Did what sting me. child?" asked the old 

 lady._ irascibly. 



"The bee pa says you've got in your bon- 

 net." 



