The Journal of the American Apitherapy Society is published quarterly by the American Apitherapy Society. Letters, articles, and personal accounts related to apitherapy are welcome for publication. Authors of published articles will receive a one year free membership to the AAS. All materials printed in the AAS Journal become the property of the AAS. Please send all materials to the editor, Patsy McCook, at BeeEditor@aol.com

The AAS wishes to share here a particularly interesting article from the most recent issue of the Journal.

The benefits of beebread for T.J.

An apitherapy case history of a child
born with a rare chromosomal abnormality

by Priscilla Coe

Donald Downs, a long-time apitherapist in Wellington, Ohio, and member of the AAS board, has, at several AAS conferences, presented a brief case history on his work with T.J. Born with a virtually unknown genetic abnormality, T.J. was given a brief life expectancy. Beebread was introduced into formula via his feeding tube at age two by his maternal grandmother, Angie Gebhart Bittner. A distinct turning point for the better was noted almost immediately in his overall health. Since then, his only sustenance has been formula with the addition of beebread or honey, and his vitality and capabilities have steadily improved. Today, as T.J. approaches his sixth birthday, his grandmother notes the unimaginable strides her grandson has made, especially considering that no hope was given at birth, and she credits the hive products 100 percent. The following is a transcript of an interview with Angie in July 2007. Supplementing the interview are an excerpt from the child’s medical diagnosis, an afterword, and a description of beebread.

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My grandson, Todd Jason—who we call T.J.—was born on October 30, 2001. He weighed five pounds, nine ounces, and was 19 inches in length. My daughter, who was age 17 at his birth, had a normal delivery after a 38-week pregnancy, and everything looked fine at first. T.J. did have a few characteristics that might be associated with a Down syndrome child, but not many. Within a few hours after his birth, though, we knew something was wrong, but no one could figure out what. It took three months to identify that T.J. had an extra chromosome 2 (1), making him very original. The exact diagnosis from a doctor specializing in genetics was that he had both a triplicated and a duplicated segment of chromosome 2. It is normal to have one chromosome 2, which is a pair with a chromosome from each parent, but T.J. had three. He also had additional complications at birth.
            A terrible crisis occurred on Christmas Eve, when T.J. was not quite two months old. He had been assessed with overall “failure to thrive” (2) and was having severe respiratory problems. Doctors at our local hospital, Altman Hospital, in Canton, Ohio, said we had to decide if we would let T.J. go, meaning taking him off the vent he was on and letting him die, or if we wanted to put a “trach” (tracheostomy tube) in his windpipe to make breathing possible. Our entire family was in agreement to go with the trach.
            T.J. was moved to Akron Children’s Hospital 70 miles away. A crew came down to incubate him, and it was a night of horror. He then had three surgeries on January 5, 2002: one was to put in a Nissian tube to deal with reflux, the second was to put in the trach, and the third was to put a Mickey feeding tube in his stomach. Over the next year and a half he was in the hospital a lot, though he otherwise lived at home with us. During this period he essentially died five times and I, personally, did a type of CPR on him—not compression on his heart, but mouth to trach, rather than mouth to mouth. His immunity was very low and he couldn’t go out in public. Even a small amount of exercise would wear him out. He lived on formula. I had trained as a Professional Nursing Assistant and was given custody of him.
            Prior to meeting Donald Downs, I had an experience that set the stage for my openness to apitherapy. A woman with MS called, asking me about bee stings. She was being treated by Donald but had to drive an hour to get to his house. I told her I would get back to her, but didn’t know anything about bee venom treatments. Right after that, I saw that Donald was speaking to our local beekeepers’ group. My husband, Rick, and I keep bees and currently have about 130 hives. I’d always had the feeling there was something else you could do with bees besides producing honey. We were busy with our apiary, but I told Rick I felt strongly that we needed to go to the lecture. As it turned out, we stayed and talked with Donald afterward for an hour and a half. I then started going to the bee sting sessions at his house and continued for about three months. One day I couldn’t get a babysitter and took T.J. with me.
            Donald suggested we give T.J. a small amount of beebread. The first day I tried it, when T.J. was two years old, I put one teaspoon of beebread in with the formula in his feeding tube. I had resistance from the nurses who were helping, but nevertheless continued to give T.J. this amount of beebread every day. Within a week and a half, his bowels improved (he had been taking MiraLAX), he had more energy, and he developed a “glow” that people commented on. Donald came down a few months later and noticed that while T.J. had been ghost-white in the past, he now had good complexion. He had also put on weight, and was pushing himself up from a blanket on the floor. I never questioned giving T.J. the beebread.
            After three or four months the doctors saw that T.J. was getting stronger, he was less asthmatic, and his lungs had never been so clear. They finally asked me what was going on. Previously, he had been in the hospital for anywhere from a few days to over a week with his asthma attacks, and this improved tremendously after we began with the beebread. The trach was removed from T.J.’s throat when he was four years old, and the hole healed. Removing the trach was a very important decision I came to through prayer. I continued on with the beebread until fairly recently, when I decided to give T.J. one tablespoon of honey per day in the feeding tube instead of the beebread. I am not aware of any changes in his medicines.
            Looking back, a lot has happened that we were told would never happen. At his birth, the doctors told us T.J. would not live past four and a half months. We were told he would never sit up. Now he can sit up by himself for a few minutes, though he is otherwise in a wheelchair. His height and weight are normal for his age. He can go out in public now and has been in a preschool for children with special needs since age three. His teachers have commented on his steady improvement.
            T.J. can’t walk on his own, but he can stand up and walk a bit when we hold his hands. He mostly smiles, though he does speak with a vocabulary of a few words. If you could look at him and see inside his eyes, you would realize he is much smarter than you might think at first. His sleep is normal, and I would say he has normal, healthy instincts overall and continues to grow and develop. A few weeks ago we were at a Mexican restaurant and T.J. reached for my glass of iced tea, opened his mouth, and tilted his head back. I knew he wanted a sip, which I gave him. This was a first—he had learned how to swallow. In the past he wouldn’t let us put anything in his mouth, and didn’t even want to have his teeth brushed.
            Another fairly recent development is that he has learned to cry. T.J. never cried as an infant. In fact, it seemed as if he didn’t know personal pain. He had never reacted to surgeries or when he hurt himself. He now has two younger brothers. Starting about two years ago, he started to cry when he saw his brothers cry. Now he cries on his own, sometimes for his advantage, such as when he wants us to come to his room at night.
            Overall, he is a very happy child and loves to be around adults and children. He loves country music and nature sounds. I made him a tape of sounds from the beehive—which we completely wore out! I would say that apitherapy provided a 100 percent turning point in T.J.’s life. The honey and pollen supported T.J. with nutrition he wasn’t getting and improved his use of oxygen. With all this, my husband and I have now both become apitherapists. We have treated as many as 35 people at a time with bee stings for conditions such as fibromyalgia, arthritis, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and shingles. I’ve always felt that the bees are very spiritual and that they can offer us much more than we even know about now.                            

Notes:

1)  Chromosome 2 is one of the 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans. People normally have two copies of this chromosome, one copy inherited from each parent. Chromosome 2 is the second largest human chromosome, spanning more than 243 million base pairs (the building material of DNA) and representing almost 8 percent of the total DNA in cells. Source: www.ghr.nlm.nih.gov

2) Failure to thrive is a medical term that denotes poor weight gain and physical growth failure over an extended period of time in infancy. Source: www.wikipedia.org

Donald Downs can be reached at (440) 647-2483, or 20475 Pitts Road, Wellington, OH 44090.

Priscilla Coe is a beekeeper in Sonoma, California, who works in food public relations in San Francisco. She is a longtime student of many aspects of holistic healing and has attended a number of AAS and international apitherapy conferences. Contact her at priscillacoe@earthlink.net or P.O. Box 1267, Sonoma, CA 95476.

 

GENETICS CONSULT NOTE

PATIENT:                                            Todd Jason Mitchell                 
DATE OF BIRTH:                                 10/30/2001     
DATE OF VISIT:                                   12/17/2001
PRESENT AT VISIT:                             Patient, mother, father, and maternal grandmother
REASON FOR REFERRAL:                   “Multiple congenital anomalies”

HISTORY:  Todd is a 5½-week-old white male who was born to a 17-year-old mother after a 38-week pregnancy which is reported to have been complicated only by an automobile accident at about 32 to 33 weeks gestation. The mother apparently sustained significant injury to her jaw, neck, and back, resulting in the onset of what proved to be false labor. The pregnancy appears to have been otherwise uneventful. The mother noted fetal activity at approximately “16 weeks”; the movements were described as strong and very active. An ultrasound performed in the second trimester was considered normal. TriScreen and glucose tolerance tests were also considered normal. No other specific problems were encountered in the course of the pregnancy, specifically excluding bleeding or spotting, evidence of infection, toxemia, diabetes, or blood group incompatibility. The mother denies use of alcohol. She smoked three to four cigarettes per day. There was no exposure to X-ray in the first trimester, but X-rays were obtained following the auto accident. The mother denies the use of social drugs. The infant was born at Aultman Hospital after eight hours of labor with epidural anesthesia. The infant was a cephalic presentation and a vaginal delivery. No resuscitation was required. The birth weight was 5 lbs. 9.4 oz. and the birth length was 19 in. The head circumference is believed to have been about 12 in. The infant remained in the hospital for approximately three weeks after birth following the discovery of multiple congenital anomalies which included “a heart abnormality, undescended testes, a small chin, abnormal hands, and a dimple at the base of the spine.” Apparently over the course of hospitalization, significant problems were encountered with respiratory distress and circumoral cyanosis associated with stridor. The infant was apparently founded to have evidence of reflux and was treated with Zantac and Reglan and was finally discharged with a monitor. The family was instructed to thicken the feedings.
            Over the course of hospitalization a karyotype was obtained which revealed what was believed to be a derived chromosome composed of a triplicated segment of chromosome 2 involving 2q33.2     q35 and a duplicated segment involving 2q35     q37.2. Thus the infant has both a triplicated and a duplicated segment of the long arm of chromosome number 2. Preliminary searches suggest that this may be a unique anomaly.

 

Some observations about chromosomes

by Theo Cherbuliez, M.D.

T.J.’s condition has been diagnosed as the result of a chromosome abnormality. Chromosome helixes—the repository and a determinant of who we are and how we function—come in equal pairs; the separation of these pairs is part of the mechanism of reproduction. Normally when the pairs separate, each strand detaches from the other, and the result is an exact copy of each one. Then each strand duplicates itself, and the reproduction of the chromosome is accomplished.
            Sometimes, however, the separation of the two strands is incomplete: a fragment of one of the helixes does not separate from its equal, instead remaining with its strand of origin. The result is the creation of two slightly unequal pairs. One helix has a little piece missing, and the other has a double version of that same piece. Typically this creates anomalies—a person may be especially gifted in a particular area, or may have certain deficiencies.
            In T.J.’s case both strands of chromosome 2 have pieces that did not separate. This is highly unusual—unique, in fact, if the diagnosis is correct. An accident of chromosome duplication of this magnitude is generally incompatible with living, and we are told that T.J. “died” five times.
            This inspirational account revealed the grandmother’s love and commitment expressed in the  extraordinary amount of effort she devoted to keep little T.J. not only alive but also growing. Equally important is the role of apitherapy—a natural set of remedies—in correcting an “error of nature.” In effect, we have observed a partly documented representation of the role of apitherapy in grave cases, for which traditional medicine offered no treatment.

 

Beebread in apitherapy

by Priscilla Coe

Beebread is an extremely nourishing tonic made of pollen and honey that roughly simulates the beebread made by honeybees in the hive. Its high lactic acid content supports healthy digestion, which is a foundation of good health. The lactic acid also can be converted to glucose, glucose being the main source of energy used throughout the body.
The production of beebread in the hive is not fully understood. Approximately one-quarter of the mature bees in a hive collect only pollen, one-quarter forage only for nectar, and roughly half forage for both pollen and nectar. Therefore, it is estimated that half of the pollen brought back to the hive has been mixed with nectar. The remainder of the pollen brought back to the hive has been mixed with some of the honey that the bees took with them as an energy source on their flights to obtain the pollen. The bees tightly pack these pellets—each containing millions of pollen grains—along with saliva, into the worker cells until they are three-fourths full. Having previously cleaned and lined these cells with a thin layer of propolis, the bees then seal the beebread “silo” with a thin layer of propolis to prevent the development of bacteria and fungi.
To make beebread for apitherapy purposes, the typical ratio is one to one, honey to pollen, though some people prefer additional honey for a more liquid consistency. This is mixed in a sterile glass container and then left for a few weeks to ferment. It is ideal to use fresh, not dried, pollen: as pollen dries, its vitality and nutrients are adversely affected. Fresh pollen has a moisture content of 10–20%, while dried pollen’s is 4–6%.
Vetaley Stashenko notes that when the pollen is moistened with honey, the pollen’s lactic bacteria, with the aid of the pollen’s high protein content, quickly produce large amounts of lactic acid. The pH level of fresh pollen is approximately 7.2; in one-week-old beebread it drops to 3.5–4.2. He further notes that preparing beebread is more efficient without oxygen, and therefore recommends that the jar be covered tightly and that the contents not be stirred after the initial blending. After the several-week fermentation period, beebread should be stored in the refrigerator. Theoretically, it can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer for as long as five years, though over time the amount of protein, sugar, and other acids will decline. Therefore, it is best to make beebread in small quantities and consume it within a few months.

Source:  Vetaley Stashenko, Ph.D., N.D., naturopathic doctor, apiculturist and apitherapist. He can be reached at vse@bellsouth.net or (561) 239-4848.

Vol. 15 No. 1, January-March 2008

• Honey helps the body heal itself, by Andrew Kochan, M.D.
• Bee venom therapy protocol for Bell's palsy, by Alan Lorenzo
• Honey for a spider bite, by Bob Harrison
• Hooray for honey, by Marina Marchese
• How my injuries were healed by bee stings and honey treatments, by Velma Thomas
• BVT for arthritis pain: stung by the realization, by Marlene Anderson
• Care of honeybees for bee venom therapy, by Dick Johnson
• Notes by a new beekeeper, by Annemie Curlin
• AAS Network

Vol. 14, No. 3, September 2007

• The benefits of beebread for T.J.: An apitherapy case  history of a child born with a rare chromosomal abnormality, by Priscilla Coe
• Apitherapy in Iran, by Behnam Kaviani-Vahid, M.D.
• Beebread in apitherapy, by Priscilla Coe
• Honey -- more than just a sweetener, naturally, by Ronald Fessenden,  M.D., M.P.H.
• Research roundup
• Bee death in the USA: Is the honeybee in danger? by Dr. Wolfgang Ritter
• Care of honeybees for bee venom therapy, by Dick Johnson
• Notes from a new beekeeper, by Annemie Curlin
• Apitherapy resources
• AAS profile: Andrew Kochan shows fellow physicians the way to apitherapy
• Honey recipes, by Ann Harman

Vol. 14, No. 2, June 2007

• North Carolina CMACC draws "apitherapy ambassadors" from around the world
• Case study: Bee honey therapy for a pregnant woman with rheumatoid arthritis, by Mamdouh Abdulrhman, M.D.
• Case study: Honey treatment for a wound, by Cristina Aosan, M.D.
• Case study: Bee venom therapy for equine arthritis, by John Drakes
• Case study: Bee venom therapy for herpes facialis, by Hirofumi Naito, D.V.M.
• Learning life lessons from the bees, by Connie Frank, R.N.
• Global effects on U.S. honeybees, by Dick Johnson
• Apitherapy resources
• Honey recipes, by Ann Harman

Vol. 14, No. 1, March 2007

• Brazilian propolis: A promising adjunct to dental care, cancer treatment, vaccines
• The science, and the health, behind the taste of honey, by Vetaley Stashenko, Ph.D., N.D.
• A letter from Christopher MH Kim, M.D., former AAS president
• Swiss Apitherapy Association launched: structure influenced by AAS
• In Lithuania, bee products widely used in opthalmology: abstract presented at Apimedica, Athens, September 2006, by Jurate Jankauskiene and Dalia Jankauskaite
• Understanding the Postal Service: new, improved policy on mailing bees, by Ed Allen
• Taking BVT to an Indian village to treat a case of MS, by Reyah Carlson
• A profile in courage: Paul Cappy, veteran Vermont beekeeper, by Todd Hardie
• American Beekeeping Federation convention features apitherapy workshop, by Shirley Acevedo
• Research roundup
• Apitherapy resources
• Honey recipes, by Ann Harman

Vol, 13, No.4, December 2006

• Appreciating varietal honeys: From folk medicine to twenty-first century research, by Priscilla Coe
• Profiles of two popular American varietal honeys and their therapeutic uses: black locust and alfalfa honeys, by Dr. Vetaley Stashenko
• Honeybees in Ghana's traditional communities, by Keith Morris
• Chilean group pursues formal recognition of apitherapy, by Ronald Huber
• Salt Lake City CMACC: participants share experiences, offer suggestions
• The honey bee's contribution to medicine, by Kirsten Traynor (reprint from American Bee Journal)
• Research roundup
• Gifts from the hive, by Ann Harman and Frederique Keller

Vol, 13, No. 3, September 2006

• Honey drops as a treatment for dry eye syndrome, by Jurate Jankauskiene, M.D., and Dalia Jankauskaite, M.D.
• Connecticut conference: Exploring apitherapy's connections to spiritual healing, by Glenn Perry
• One apitherapist's experience: BVT for removal of a sebaceous cyst, by Michael Szakacs
• Madrid conference: Propolis, pollen, and medicinal plants, by Carol Waddington
• Iran festival: Celebrating bee products' health benefits, by Behnam Kaviani-Vahid
• Research roundup
• AAS profile: Glenn Perry's zeal for apitherapy spurs expansion of local workshops
• An introduction to been venom therapy, by Charles Mraz (reprint)
• Honey recipes: soda makin', by Doug Erb

Vol. 13, No. 2, June 2006

• A novel protocol: An alternative remedy for MS that really works! by Alan Lorenzo
• An experience from Chile: Apitherapy: a body-mind view, by Irene Wied
• Ohio apitherapy day: Workshop offers lessons for the experts, by Donald Downs
• Apitherapy in Uruguay: Using apitoxin in tablet form, by Dr. Eduardo Lema
• Assessing the safety of Brazilian propolis, by Jose Alexandre S. Breu
• Comments on a randomized crossover study of bee sting therapy for multiple sclerosis, by Michael Simics
• AAS profile -- Life after Lyme disease: Reyah Carlson promotes apitherapy in the Midwest
• Maine workshop highlights apitherapy for animals
• Cooking with honey, by Ann Harman

Contents of March 2006 Journal - Vol. 13, No. 1

• Bee venom therapy for a patient with multiple myeloma, by Behnam Kaviani-Vahid, Pharm. D.
• Bee venom therapy for MS: Further studies needed, by Theo Cherbuliez, M.D.
• Apitherapy in the Middle East -- Kuwait workshops a first step? by Vetaley Stashenko, Ph.D., N.D.
• "The bee lady" visits Kuwait, by Pat Wagner
• Apimondia abstracts
• Research briefs:  Honey helpful against two bacteria; Topical honey, beeswax effective for diaper rash
• AAS profile:  Apitherapy + acupuncture = an excellent combination, says Frederique Keller
• March honey recipes, by Ann Harman

Contents of December 2005 Journal - Vol. 12, No. 4

• Regional chapters: A new direction for the AAS? -- Connecticut offers a possible model, by Glenn Perry
• Treating a corneal ulcer with topical honey, by Mamdouh AbdulRhman, M.D.
• Apitherapy bee gardens: Exploring a framework for bee-centric healing centers, by Priscilla Coe
• Research update: Using topical honey for a diabetic foot ulcer
• Apitherapy at Apimondia 2005: Dublin, Ireland, by Theo Cherbuliez
•  AAS profile: Susan Cherbuliez brings energy and expertise to her role as AAS treasurer
• December honey recipes, by Ann Harman

Contents of September 2005 Journal - Vol. 12, No. 3  

• Summer CMAC in Vermont Offers Indoor and Outdoor Learning
• Sourcing Organic Ingredients for Apitherapy Products. Part 2: Organic Spirits, by Priscilla Coe
• AAS Profile: Barbara Dalby Adds International Perspectives to the AAS's Work
• Informal study of Bee Venom Cream, by Andrew Kochan, M.D.
• Apitherapy in China: An Update, by George Chao
• Bee Products and their Health Benefits: A Summary from "Dr. Sting," by Marina Marchese
• Autumn Honey Recipes, by Ann Harman

We have selected a few articles from The Journal of the American Apitherapy Society (formerly known as Bee Informed) for your information. The links to these articles can be found below.

Sourcing Organic Ingredients for Apitherapy Products - Part 1

Sourcing Organic Ingredients for Apitherapy Products - Part 2

Using Bee Honey to Treat Acute Pancreatitis

Informal Study of Bee Venom cream

Not giving honey to infants: A recommendation that should be reevaluated

Please contact us at AAS, 500 Arthur Street, Centerport, NY 11721 to purchase back issues. Back issues are available for $6.00 a copy (this includes postage).