By Cathy Wong
Medically reviewed by Meredith Bull, ND 
on April 29, 2020

A type of apitherapy (from the Latin api, meaning bee), bee sting therapy involves administering bee venom through live bee stings or injections at specific points on the body. Healers have used bee sting therapy for more than 5,000 years as a treatment for a range of health conditions including headaches, joint pain, and skin rashes.

Bee venom, also called apitoxin, contains many biologically active compounds, amino acids, and enzymes that have anti-inflammatory properties, alleviate pain, and promote healing. There are also immune-modulating effects on the body from the bee sting itself. This response is theorized to be the reason for its therapeutic effects in certain conditions caused by an imbalanced immune system response (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, eczema).1

Today, bee venom is being investigated to treat the following conditions:2 

  • Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
  • Parkinson's disease
  • Alzheimer's disease
  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (a.k.a. ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease)
  • Multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Eczema
  • Psoriasis

Health Benefits

Bee sting therapy has shown promise, though most of the research is limited to cell cultures and animal studies.3 However, a few small clinical trials have found bee sting therapy to be a safe and effective treatment for a few conditions.

Here's a look at some key findings from recent studies.

Psoriasis

Apitherapy may help in the treatment of inflammatory skin conditions.4 For example, a 2015 clinical trial of patients with plaque psoriasis found apitherapy can help heal skin lesions and reduce inflammation.5

In the randomized, controlled study, 25 patients were given weekly injections of bee venom directly into skin lesions, while another 25 patients were given a placebo. After 12 weeks, patients who received apitherapy showed a significant reduction in both psoriasis plaques and levels of inflammatory blood markers compared to the placebo group. Larger trials are needed to confirm these results.

Pain

Apipuncture—a form of acupuncture that delivers diluted bee venom to acupuncture points—is being explored as a drug-free treatment for pain. A small clinical trial of patients with central post-stroke pain treated 16 subjects with either apipuncture or acupuncture twice a week for three weeks.6

At the end of the trial, both groups reported reduced pain levels, but those treated with bee venom showed even greater improvements. More research is needed to explore apipuncture for the treatment of other pain conditions.

Parkinson’s Disease

Bee venom therapy is being explored as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease. A 2015 study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found bee venom combined with acupuncture shows promise as an adjunctive treatment for the neurological disease.7 

In the small clinical trial, patients who were on a stable dose of antiparkinsonian medication were also treated with apipuncture twice weekly for 12 weeks. At the end of the study, subjects showed improvements in gait speed, quality-of-life scores, motor control, and activities of daily living compared with the start of treatment. 

Though promising, the study authors note further research is needed.