Bee venom: From pain to profit

Abstract

Apitherapy is used as an alternative medicine practice of using bee products. Bee sting was used to cure arthritis in old days. Recent researches have shown that bee venom may help reduce autoimmune symptoms by decreasing inflammation and enhancing immunity. It has antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, radioprotective, and regenerative properties. Bee venom therefore have a good demand in pharmaceutical industries for the development of medicines related to human and animal disease treatments. Venom can be collected from bees using devices that extract venom from bees without killing them. The global market for bee venom is likely to reach nearly US$ 540 million by 2032.There is no national legislation for bee venom production, or marketing. The organized market is almost non-existent. It is essential to create awareness in consumers as well as apiculturists regarding the future market for bee venom.