Dr. Osvaldo Mihura, a physician who performs acupuncture with live bees, maintains 26 hives in the back garden of his office on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital, to supply his practice. Although other Argentine therapists administer bee venom injections, Mihura is the only one in Buenos Aires who applies bees directly to acupuncture points established by traditional Chinese medicine.
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA – Dr. Osvaldo Mihura lays his hands on the beehive in his office on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital. Through the beehive’s wooden frame, he feels the heat generated by the insects’ activities.
“Bees are incredible beings,” Mihura says, taking his hands off the hive and sitting down at his desk.
Mihura, 77, uses honeybees to treat patients for a variety of ailments by applying bee stingers to the acupuncture points established by traditional Chinese medicine. To do this, he presses a bee on a patient’s body until its stinger has penetrated the skin.
When a bee stings, it loses a third of its abdomen, leaving it to die a harsh death, he adds. To spare them needless suffering, Mihura kills the bees once he has used them.
In the back garden of his office, he has another 25 hives, each of which contains a colony of at least 50,000 honeybees. He alternates the hives to provide a supply of bees for his practice.
This physician and acupuncturist, who specializes in gynecology-obstetrics, infectious diseases and otolaryngology, has a sacred bond with the insects, he says.
“Before using the bees, I ask the beehive for permission in a sign of respect,” he says.
He makes the request silently, without ritual.
Mihura has practiced apipuncture – acupuncture using bees – for over 30 years. The treatment combines the therapeutic properties of bee venom with the stimulation of energy points identified in traditional Chinese medicine.
The only doctor in Buenos Aires practicing this hybrid therapy, Mihura has treated hundreds of patients for ailments ranging from hypertension to cancer.
Honeybee venom, known as apitoxin, contains melittin, phospholipase and histamine, all of which have anti-inflammatory, analgesic and immune-activating effects, says Dr. Julio César Díaz, co-author of the book “Apitherapy Today in Argentina, Cuba, Uruguay and Colombia.”
Bee venom is suitable for treating pain, inflammation, hypertension, arthritis and rheumatism, he says. It can also be used to treat cancer and various allergies.
There is evidence of the therapeutic use of bee venom as far back as ancient Egypt, China and India, Díaz says. But in the West, apitherapy has only been used since the 17th century.
More than 3,000 apitherapists are practicing worldwide, according to the International Federation of Apitherapy.
In Argentina, there are about 15 therapists who inject bee venom subcutaneously, says Díaz, who lives in Buenos Aires and practices in Córdoba, La Pampa, San Luis and Mendoza as well as Buenos Aires.
But Mihura is the only apitherapist in Buenos Aires who applies bees directly to acupuncture points.
Mihura began investigating apipuncture while seeking to ease his own pain, which was caused by rheumatoid arthritis and gout. Traditional medicine offered him no relief, he says.
In addition to curing Mihura of these diseases, bee venom eradicated a tumor on his tailbone, he says. Furthermore, it has enabled him to keep a cerebral tumor under control for seven years.
Díaz hails Mihura as a leader in their field.
“To be a doctor, to know in depth the acupuncture points, and to have your own beehives are qualities very difficult to find,” Díaz says.
Carlos García, 64, a Buenos Aires resident, underwent apipuncture to relieve age-related bone pain. Having a natural preference for alternative medicine, he never sought traditional medical treatment for his pain, he says.
After hearing about Mihura from an acquaintance, García had 10 sessions. Mihura applied about 20 bees in each session.
The treatment eliminated his pain, García says.
“Not only did it stop hurting me, but my general well-being also improved noticeably,” García says. “I feel stronger, more animated.”
Natalia Mihura, 28, is Osvaldo Mihura’s daughter and disciple. She is a chiropractor, a doctor who treats ailments of the nervous and musculoskeletal systems, including headaches and back, neck and joint pain.
She calls the elder Mihura her professional grand master. In addition to passing along his medical knowledge, he has shown her how to treat patients with love, she says.
“My father’s life is his bees and his patients,” she says. “The bees are his world, his being.”
Apitoxin is not registered as a medication in Argentina.
The National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology has not recognized the application of apitoxin as a medical procedure, María Martínez, the agency’s press secretary, says in a phone interview.
A substance is registered as a medication only when scientific proof warrants it, she says.
Nonetheless, it is lawful for medical practitioners to administer apitoxin.
Dr. Carlos Daniel Cupesock, a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology and the chief on call at the Marie Curie municipal cancer hospital in Buenos Aires, says he knows of no scientific study that proves the effectiveness of animal venom in treating cancer.
However, animal venom has been proven effective in treating hypertension, Cupesock says, and apitoxin does have at least one ingredient in common with snake venom: phospholipase A2, an enzyme categorized as an anti-inflammatory and inflammatory mediator.
Mihura points to his own body as living proof of the effectiveness of apitherapy and apipuncture.
In his old age, he regrets that he won’t live long enough to see wide acceptance of the power of bees.
“There is not much time left,” he says. “I am already waiting for death.”
But Natalia Mihura has learned how to perform apipuncture and plans to continue her father’s mission, she says.
GPJ translated this article from Spanish.
