A multiple sclerosis patient who has been self-medicating herself with bee venom will speak Thursday at an annual event sponsored by the Central Texas Beekeepers in Brenham.
Alice Daley and her husband, Bill, said they initially learned about venom therapy in 1995 during a support group meeting for MS patients.
"When we heard about the bee sting treatment, we thought, 'We've got nothing to lose, so let's try it!'" Bill Daley said.
Central Texas Beekeepers President Michael Kelling said he invited the Baytown couple to speak at the beekeeping school after hearing Bill Daley discuss it at another event.
"There was about 30 people there, and they were asking a lot of questions," Kelling said. "They seemed pretty interested."
Bill Daley administers the venom once a week to his wife, who suffers from the autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. She has received more than 17,000 stings since beginning the treatment. Some use venom in a cream, ointment or injection form, the latter of which is used on her.
"I have a record of every sting I've ever given her," Daley said. "I give her 32 stings every week; five on each arm and leg, nine on her back, one on her neck and two on her chest."
Alice Daley said that while the treatment isn't commercially available or medically approved, it works for her.
"It keeps me out of the hospital," she said. "I get bee stings every week, and I haven't yet had a crash."
And, not only is she more mobile, she said, but doctors at her last neurological appointment could no longer find lesions that had been present on her brain.
Bill Daley, who is a certified reflexologist, also uses bee venom on some of his patients.
"I sting a handful of people for arthritis and energy," Daley said. "There's one guy who gets stung just to feel better."
Kelling said bee venom therapy is not uncommon, though people should make sure they're not allergic to bee stings before trying it.
"I've heard my whole life about people with arthritis who had used stings on their knuckles," Kelling said. "It relieved people of the condition for a while."
While Kelling said he's not sure of the medicinal value of bee venom, he's been stung many times while working with his bees.
"All I know is I don't have any aches," he said.
The Daleys will share their story beginning at 7 p.m. in the VIP Room of the Washington County Fairgrounds in Brenham.
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