Apis mellifica

by E. B. Nash — Leaders in Respiratory Organs

Historical reference for practitioners and students. The statements below reflect the named author’s homeopathic teaching and do not establish treatment effectiveness. This text is not medical advice and must not replace appropriate diagnosis or care.

LARYNGITIS.

Apis. If Belladonna fails where there is much redness, stinging or an œdematous condition of the throat, or submucous tissue of the larynx, suffocative cough and dyspnœa, feels as though every breath would be the last, < by lying down and warmth. Of course this is mostly in the acute form of the disease.

Apis mellifica across the other classic books

Apis mellifica appears in 21 of the 27 classic books on Similia. Each was written to do a different job — here is what each adds on this remedy, with the opening of its entry.

Allen HC — The keynotes that separate this remedy from its nearest neighbours.
“Poison of the Honey Bee (Apium virus.) Adapted to the strumous constitution; glands enlarged, indurated; scirrhus or open cancer. Women, specially widows; children and girls who, though generally careful, become awkward, and let things fall while handling them (Bov.). Bad effects of acute exanthema imperfectly…”
Allen TF — A compiled symptom record drawing on proving reports and other named observations.
“Apium virus. Poison of the honey-bee. Preparation , Tincture of the working bees (made by putting them alive into alcohol), or of the poison sac, carefully extracted. Authorities. [No. 2 to 8 , from proving of Central N. Y. Hom. Soc., 1852; 9 to 24 , from Hering's Amer. Arzneipruf.; (Bee-bread symptoms by Whitmore…”
Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“The Honey-Bee Acts on cellular tissues causing œdema of skin and mucous membranes. The very characteristic effects of the sting of the bee furnish unerring indications for its employment in disease. Swelling or puffing up of various parts, œdema , red rosy hue, stinging pains, soreness, intolerance of heat, and…”
Boger (GA) — Which general headings this remedy belongs under — the analytical scaffolding.
“AIR Open, Amel.:- IN ROOM, agg., air hunger, etc. BATHING, cold applications, etc., Amel. BLOOD VESSELS. BLOWS, shocks, thrusts, crash, explosions, etc. (Comp. Shattered): BURNING, STINGING. CHEST, right CONGESTION CYSTS DIRECTION of sensations, Diagonally ERYSIPELAS EXPRESSION, changed. EYES FEMALE ORGANS GLANDS…”
Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“CELLULAR TISSUE: EYES. FACE. FAUCES. OVARIES. SEROUS CAVITIES. SKIN. KIDNEYS. BLADDER. Nerves. Respiration. Heart. Blood. Right side; right to left. HEAT: ROOM. Weather. Drinks. Fire. Bed. Hot bath (Op.). Touch, even of hair. After sleep. 4 P.M. Pressure. Suppressed eruptions. COOL: AIR. Bathing. Uncovering. Slight…”
Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Apium virus. Honey-bee poison. N. O. Insecta. Tinctures are made of the whole bee; and of dilutions of the poison with alcohol. Abscess / Ankles, swelling of / Apoplexy / Asthma / Bladder, affections of / Carbuncle / Chancre / Constipation; of sucklings / Diarrhœa / Diphtheria / Dissection wounds / Dropsy / Ear…”
Dunham — The method — how symptoms are weighed before a remedy is differentiated.
“OPHTHALMIA; angina; erysipelas; diarrhoea; dysentery; cholera infantum; urticaria; haematuria; dropsy; intermittent fever; hydrocephalus; each accompanied by the characteristic absence of thirst and by drowsiness. Disposition. Depressed. Sensorium. Cannot collect nor direct his thoughts. Confusion of the head…”
Farrington — The differential diagnosis — remedy families narrowed through direct clinical comparison.
“HYMENOPTERA. From the order Hymenoptera, we derive Apis mellifica, Vespa, Crabro, Formica rufa, and Bombus. The local effects of the poisons from these insects are well known. The skin becomes red and swollen, with burning pain; finally even sloughing may ensue. In susceptible persons, or after the inception of…”
Guernsey — The leading characteristics — a compact bridge from repertory result to remedy study.
“Pains like bee-stings, with the thrust and the burning following; absence of thirst; scanty urine: shrill, sudden, piercing screams while sleeping or waking, form invaluable key-notes to the use of this remedy. Mental.--The mental symptoms are rich in unconsciousness, absent-mindedness, impaired memory, and slow march…”
Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Poison of the Honey Bee. Apium Virus. Among all our drugs this is the one of which we have the most different preparations. There is but one right kind. It is the pure poison, which is obtained by grasping the bee with a small forceps, and catching the minute drop of virus suspended from the point of the sting, in a…”
Hughes & Dake — The source evidence — provings and poisonings retained with their experimental context.
“APIS. Apit milHfica^ L, Honcy-bet. I. Provingt. — i, — a. Dr. F. Humphreys, 25th August, cook on tongue, at 2 p.m,, i drop of a tincture made by irritating bees in a bottle and then pouring alcohol on them. In 5 m. slight pain in L temple soon followed by contraction and gnawing in throat. 4 p.m. Whole border of…”
Kent — The mental and general picture — how Kent organizes the remedy’s historical symptom portrait.
“This remedy has so many symptoms on the surface of the body we will study the outer aspect first. All over the body is found a thick rash, sometimes of a rose color. It is rough and can be felt as a rough rash under the fingers. The patient at this time is greatly distressed by heat and the skin is sensitive to touch…”
Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“Burning and stinging pains. Great debility, as if he had worked hard, he must lie down on the ground. Great sensitiveness to the touch and to external pressure, especially on the abdomen. Sensation of soreness, as if bruised. Tension (over the eyes, behind the ears, in the neck, and a tension involving the head of the…”
Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Restlessness, continually changing his occupation. Delirium, (after suppressed scarlet eruption). Awkwardness, he breaks every thing. Jealousy, (in women). Giddiness when sitting, standing, lying, when closing the eyes, with nausea and headache. Congestion to the head, with suppressed menstruation. Pressing pain in…”
Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: the honey bee. Cancer of the tongue (Br.). BURNING AND STINGING PAINS. Scarlatina, dry nose and throat, with hydrocephalic symptoms (Hr.). A most important remedy in hydrothorax and also in basilar meningitis of children, after effusion (Fr.). SENSATION OF SORENESS, AS IF BRUISED (Arn., Bell., Lach.)…”
Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Burning, stinging pains (like bee stings); eyelids; throat; panaritium or felon, hemorrhoids, ovaries (especially right one), breasts (mastitis), skin (erysipelas, urticaria, carbuncles). Great œdema; general or local (face, ears, eyelids, especially lower); throat (diphtheria); genitals (especially scrotum); skin…”
Nash (Testimony) — The outcome — what the remedy did once the characteristic symptoms were matched.
“October 27, 1877, was called in consulation with Dr. Gulick, at Watkins, N. Y. Found the place passing through a very severe epidemic of diphtheria. Every person that had been attacked, forty in number, had died, and four were lying dead that day. Every physician of all schools had lost one or more. The homœopathic…”
Nash (Typhoid) — The course of the illness — which remedy fits which phase, and why.
“Apis mellifica has again and again rendered me such good service in advanced cases of cerebral typhus that I have learned to prize it very highly. Aside from anything laid down in the text-books in connection with this disease, I place apathy, or stupor, interrupted with occasional sharp screams, first and have…”
Roberts — Location, sensation, and modality — the three-fold basis Roberts used to separate remedies.
“In exanthematous diseases with rheumatic complications Apis is invaluable, especially if it has the peculiar wax-like, swelling of the joints, with prostration, fever but no thirst, together with the other concomitants. The eye symptoms are of importance. In chronic articular rheumatism it has proved of value with the…”
Tyler — The whole picture — temperament and leading symptoms drawn as one portrait.
“(IT was coming across the following that determined the choice of Apis for our present drug picture.) “In 1847, the attention of the writer was first directed to Apis mellifica as a remedial agent by the following unique cure. “A lad, aged about 12 years, had been afflicted for several months with ascites and…”

Apis mellifica in Kent's Repertory

Kent's Repertory lists Apis mellifica in 2,700 rubrics. These are the ones where it carries the highest grade — the symptoms Kent treated as most characteristic. Most of them sit in EXTREMITIES (408), HEAD (215), EYE (160), FEMALE GENITALIA (154), GENERALITIES (152).

CHILL - WARM - room - smothering in
COUGH - LYING - night - midnight,wakens him
EXTREMITIES - FELON (Onychia,Paronychia,Panaritium,etc.)beginning in nail - itching
EXTREMITIES - INFLAMMATION - Toes - erysipelatous
EXTREMITIES - STIFFNESS - Foot - night
EXTREMITIES - SWELLING - Toes - sensation of
FACE - ERYSIPELAS - periodic
FEMALE GENITALIA - HARDNESS - Ovaries - right
FEMALE GENITALIA - PAIN - burning - Ovaries - abortion,during
FEVER - WARM - room - heat of the room is intolerable
MOUTH - DISCOLORATION - Tongue - yellow - bright - shining
MOUTH - WATERY-LOOK,Gums
RESPIRATION - DIFFICULT - heated,when overheated
RESPIRATION - DIFFICULT - suppressed eruptions,from
RESPIRATION - STERTOROUS - stupefaction and crying out as with a sharp pain
STOMACH - ERUCTATIONS - food,tasting like - drinking water agg.
URINE - MILKY - hydrocephalus,in,very little but frequent discharges of milky urine with unconsciousness and delirium
VISION - WEAK - evening - using agg.
BACK - INFLAMMATION - cord - suffocation - worse in warm room
BACK - PULSATING - Cervical region - extending - shoulder

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Apis mellifica across the other classic books

Apis mellifica appears in 21 of the 27 classic books on Similia. Each was written to do a different job — here is what each adds on this remedy, with the opening of its entry.

Allen HC — The keynotes that separate this remedy from its nearest neighbours.

“Poison of the Honey Bee (Apium virus.) Adapted to the strumous constitution; glands enlarged, indurated; scirrhus or open cancer. Women, specially widows; children and girls who, though generally careful, become awkward, and let things fall while handling them (Bov.). Bad effects of acute exanthema imperfectly…”

Allen TF — A compiled symptom record drawing on proving reports and other named observations.

“Apium virus. Poison of the honey-bee. Preparation , Tincture of the working bees (made by putting them alive into alcohol), or of the poison sac, carefully extracted. Authorities. [No. 2 to 8 , from proving of Central N. Y. Hom. Soc., 1852; 9 to 24 , from Hering's Amer. Arzneipruf.; (Bee-bread symptoms by Whitmore…”

Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.

“The Honey-Bee Acts on cellular tissues causing œdema of skin and mucous membranes. The very characteristic effects of the sting of the bee furnish unerring indications for its employment in disease. Swelling or puffing up of various parts, œdema , red rosy hue, stinging pains, soreness, intolerance of heat, and…”

Boger (GA) — Which general headings this remedy belongs under — the analytical scaffolding.

“AIR Open, Amel.:- IN ROOM, agg., air hunger, etc. BATHING, cold applications, etc., Amel. BLOOD VESSELS. BLOWS, shocks, thrusts, crash, explosions, etc. (Comp. Shattered): BURNING, STINGING. CHEST, right CONGESTION CYSTS DIRECTION of sensations, Diagonally ERYSIPELAS EXPRESSION, changed. EYES FEMALE ORGANS GLANDS…”

Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.

“CELLULAR TISSUE: EYES. FACE. FAUCES. OVARIES. SEROUS CAVITIES. SKIN. KIDNEYS. BLADDER. Nerves. Respiration. Heart. Blood. Right side; right to left. HEAT: ROOM. Weather. Drinks. Fire. Bed. Hot bath (Op.). Touch, even of hair. After sleep. 4 P.M. Pressure. Suppressed eruptions. COOL: AIR. Bathing. Uncovering. Slight…”

Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.

“Apium virus. Honey-bee poison. N. O. Insecta. Tinctures are made of the whole bee; and of dilutions of the poison with alcohol. Abscess / Ankles, swelling of / Apoplexy / Asthma / Bladder, affections of / Carbuncle / Chancre / Constipation; of sucklings / Diarrhœa / Diphtheria / Dissection wounds / Dropsy / Ear…”

Dunham — The method — how symptoms are weighed before a remedy is differentiated.

“OPHTHALMIA; angina; erysipelas; diarrhoea; dysentery; cholera infantum; urticaria; haematuria; dropsy; intermittent fever; hydrocephalus; each accompanied by the characteristic absence of thirst and by drowsiness. Disposition. Depressed. Sensorium. Cannot collect nor direct his thoughts. Confusion of the head…”

Farrington — The differential diagnosis — remedy families narrowed through direct clinical comparison.

“HYMENOPTERA. From the order Hymenoptera, we derive Apis mellifica, Vespa, Crabro, Formica rufa, and Bombus. The local effects of the poisons from these insects are well known. The skin becomes red and swollen, with burning pain; finally even sloughing may ensue. In susceptible persons, or after the inception of…”

Guernsey — The leading characteristics — a compact bridge from repertory result to remedy study.

“Pains like bee-stings, with the thrust and the burning following; absence of thirst; scanty urine: shrill, sudden, piercing screams while sleeping or waking, form invaluable key-notes to the use of this remedy. Mental.--The mental symptoms are rich in unconsciousness, absent-mindedness, impaired memory, and slow march…”

Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.

“Poison of the Honey Bee. Apium Virus. Among all our drugs this is the one of which we have the most different preparations. There is but one right kind. It is the pure poison, which is obtained by grasping the bee with a small forceps, and catching the minute drop of virus suspended from the point of the sting, in a…”

Hughes & Dake — The source evidence — provings and poisonings retained with their experimental context.

“APIS. Apit milHfica^ L, Honcy-bet. I. Provingt. — i, — a. Dr. F. Humphreys, 25th August, cook on tongue, at 2 p.m,, i drop of a tincture made by irritating bees in a bottle and then pouring alcohol on them. In 5 m. slight pain in L temple soon followed by contraction and gnawing in throat. 4 p.m. Whole border of…”

Kent — The mental and general picture — how Kent organizes the remedy’s historical symptom portrait.

“This remedy has so many symptoms on the surface of the body we will study the outer aspect first. All over the body is found a thick rash, sometimes of a rose color. It is rough and can be felt as a rough rash under the fingers. The patient at this time is greatly distressed by heat and the skin is sensitive to touch…”

Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.

“Burning and stinging pains. Great debility, as if he had worked hard, he must lie down on the ground. Great sensitiveness to the touch and to external pressure, especially on the abdomen. Sensation of soreness, as if bruised. Tension (over the eyes, behind the ears, in the neck, and a tension involving the head of the…”

Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.

“Restlessness, continually changing his occupation. Delirium, (after suppressed scarlet eruption). Awkwardness, he breaks every thing. Jealousy, (in women). Giddiness when sitting, standing, lying, when closing the eyes, with nausea and headache. Congestion to the head, with suppressed menstruation. Pressing pain in…”

Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.

“Common name: the honey bee. Cancer of the tongue (Br.). BURNING AND STINGING PAINS. Scarlatina, dry nose and throat, with hydrocephalic symptoms (Hr.). A most important remedy in hydrothorax and also in basilar meningitis of children, after effusion (Fr.). SENSATION OF SORENESS, AS IF BRUISED (Arn., Bell., Lach.)…”

Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.

“Burning, stinging pains (like bee stings); eyelids; throat; panaritium or felon, hemorrhoids, ovaries (especially right one), breasts (mastitis), skin (erysipelas, urticaria, carbuncles). Great œdema; general or local (face, ears, eyelids, especially lower); throat (diphtheria); genitals (especially scrotum); skin…”

Nash (Testimony) — The outcome — what the remedy did once the characteristic symptoms were matched.

“October 27, 1877, was called in consulation with Dr. Gulick, at Watkins, N. Y. Found the place passing through a very severe epidemic of diphtheria. Every person that had been attacked, forty in number, had died, and four were lying dead that day. Every physician of all schools had lost one or more. The homœopathic…”

Nash (Typhoid) — The course of the illness — which remedy fits which phase, and why.

“Apis mellifica has again and again rendered me such good service in advanced cases of cerebral typhus that I have learned to prize it very highly. Aside from anything laid down in the text-books in connection with this disease, I place apathy, or stupor, interrupted with occasional sharp screams, first and have…”

Roberts — Location, sensation, and modality — the three-fold basis Roberts used to separate remedies.

“In exanthematous diseases with rheumatic complications Apis is invaluable, especially if it has the peculiar wax-like, swelling of the joints, with prostration, fever but no thirst, together with the other concomitants. The eye symptoms are of importance. In chronic articular rheumatism it has proved of value with the…”

Tyler — The whole picture — temperament and leading symptoms drawn as one portrait.

“(IT was coming across the following that determined the choice of Apis for our present drug picture.) “In 1847, the attention of the writer was first directed to Apis mellifica as a remedial agent by the following unique cure. “A lad, aged about 12 years, had been afflicted for several months with ascites and…”