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Journal of Thai Traditional & Alternative Medicine Vol. 7 No. 2-3 May-December 2009 ÒÒÛ

sting if bothered. In bee acupuncture, the sting pulled out from

- Bombus, a genus of bees of the family live bees is used to carry out scattered needling on
Apidae; the bumblebee. This type of bee is larger the affected area or the cutaneous region of the me-
than honeybees, produces smaller amounts of honey, ridian related to the relevant diseases or where there

and sting when bothered. is pain. Usually the stingers of 3-5 bees are used to
- Apitoxin, the toxic protein constituent of perform scattered needling on an area. The number
bee venom. of Apis mellifera that can be used is about 10 but not

more than 25, while that of Apis cerana indica can be
2
Bee acupuncture
more.
The use of the sting organs of bees to carry out Bee acupuncture, performed once every two days
needling along meridians and points to treat diseases in 10-15 treatments, constitutes a period; the second
is called bee acupuncture (Fig. 1 ). It is a mixed type period begins 5-7 days after the first.

of Chinese acupuncture, which would normally com- When treating facial paralysis, cerebral embo-
bine the use of needles, medicine and moxibustion. lism, cerebral thrombosis, bronchial asthma, migraine,

The method not only gives people mechanical stimu- hypertension, and thromboangiitis obliterans, it is
lus, but it also provides a pharmacological effect by better to do scattered needlings 1-2 mm apart, 1-2
injecting the right amount of liquid into the skin au- times a week. In combining bee acupuncture with

tomatically. Apitherapy activilin (Figs. 2 & 3), the number of bees

Fig. 1 Bee acupuncture using a live bee.