RAFAH, Gaza (Reuters) – In the Gaza Strip town of Rafah, beekeepers harvest honey as hundreds of bees swirl around them – but the honey isn’t the only thing they’re after.
There is a center in Gaza City that treats its patients using bee sting which are said to have healing qualities.
“There are (around) 18 or 20 antibiotics in bees. So some doctors opened big centers in the world, some in Germany, some in Sinai, some in America and all the countries in the world. Centers that only treat using bees stings,” said beekeeper Ahmad Zuroub.
Rateb Samour sees 250 patients a day in Gaza City whose complaints range from hair loss to cerebral palsy and cancer. But he is not a doctor and has never worked in a hospital.
Samour inherited the skill of bee-sting therapy from his father, who used to raise bees.
Then in 2003, the agricultural engineer started to dedicate all his time to studying and developing the alternative medicine treatment of apitherapy, which uses all bee-related products, including honey, propolis – or bee glue used to build hives – and venom.
“We had people with 7 million and 300,000 viruses in one cm of their blood. After around four months, (after bee treatment) it was negative. Of course this is unbelievable. Not only with bees stings but also with bee products on a specific schedule. Thank God, many cases were completely healed,” Samour said.
The 58-year-old Palestinian said he makes bees sting patients at certain points in their bodies that he has carefully studied.
The Islamist-ruled Gaza is under blockade by neighboring Egypt and Israel, which restricts the movement of goods and people in and out of the territory. So Gaza lacks sophisticated medical equipment and has patchy access to medicines.
Seriously ill patients must travel to Israel, Egypt or beyond for specialist medical treatment.
Samour says he accepts that there are people who doubt his methods, but some of the patients at the centre said they had seen positive results.
“My son has autism. People told me about the bees. I’ve been treating him with bees for a year and a half now. He improved a lot, thank God,” said Gaza resident Mouneera al-Baba.
“Thank God, my health is good now, all is good. Although I was getting treated with bees and God healed me, thank God, but I will not leave this place, why? I got used to bees,” added Gazan Saado Aldaeefi.
Gazan Saado Aldaeefi.is made up of over 18 active substances that include enzymes, proteins and amino acids. It has anti-inflammatory elements that relieve pain.
Advanced bee venom treatment, developed in the 1990s in the West, has led to ways of generating venom without killing the bees. Most bees die after stinging, because of the loss of their venom sac and attached muscles that get torn in the process.