- Each bee contains only a few milligrams of venom.
- A farmer needs three colonies of bees to extract one gram of venom.
Image: FILE
In Kenya, most people would associate bee farming with providing honey only but did you know bees can produce venom which is beneficial in a number of ways?
Bee venom, often referred to as apitoxin, is a powerful substance of honeybees.
Although it is known for its role in defensive mechanisms, this venom holds untapped potential that extends beyond the hive.
The bee venom is known for its medical and therapeutic applications, including pain relief, skin care and immune system stimulation.
How to collect bee venom
For farmers with idle land or limited resources, bee venom farming offers an economically viable option that requires minimal investment while maximising returns.
Bee venom collection involves placing special collectors at the hive entrance, stimulating bees to release venom without causing harm.
The process of collecting bee venom can be integrated seamlessly into existing honeybee farming practices.
Currently, the country imports around 80 per cent of its honey and only 20 per cent is sourced locally.
With the global demand for honey soaring, local farmers can tap into this demand by expanding their honey production.
Farmers can integrate both honey and bee venom farming simultaneously to boost sales and the economy of the country.
In the world market, a gram of bee venom goes for around Sh30,000.
As bee farming is rare, farmers take advantage to explore and create lucrative produce.
It takes about 45 minutes to extract one or two grams of venom.
Each bee contains only a few milligrams of venom, therefore a farmer needs three colonies of bees to extract one gram of venom.
Each colony comprises hundreds of bees including a single queen, hundreds of male bees and 20,000 to 60,000 worker bees.
However, despite Kenya’s rich biodiversity and favourable climate for beekeeping, a significant portion of the bee venom available in the market is imported, making it an expensive and rare product.
Components of bee venom
Bee venom is a mix of secret recipes crafted by bees and a mix of special things that work together in amazing ways.
It comprises melittin that helps with pain and swelling when you get stung by a bee. It is also good for calming down inflammation, Apamin which reduces anxiety.
It also contains Mast Cell Degranulating Peptide that releases histamine, which can make a person itch after a sting and phospholipase A2 which helps the venom spread in your body and gets your immune system ready to fight.
It comprises hyaluronidase which helps make sure the venom goes where it needs to be breaking down stuff that gets in the way, adolapin a painkiller and histamine and dopamine which can make you feel itchy or sore after a sting.
Uses of bee venom
Bee venom is a product that can be used in a number of ways as a medicinal substance.
Bee venom can be used as an anti-inflammatory to reduce inflammation by suppressing the production of inflammatory molecules. This makes it a potential treatment for conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and chronic pain.
Bee venom can also be used as an analgesic to relieve pain by blocking the transmission of pain signals to the brain. Therefore, potentially treating migraine headaches.
Others are as immunomodulatory to modulate the immune system, making it a potential treatment for autoimmune diseases such as lupus and multiple sclerosis and as neural protective to protect nerve cells from damage, making it a potential treatment for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)