Hello American Apitherapy Society Friends,
Below is our recommended 2020 reading list from our AAS board members, Tina McDonald and Mike Szakacs.
Enjoy!
Dr. Beck Félix Bódog élete; by Körmendy-Rácz János
Kormendy-Racz- János is the President of the Hungarian Apitherapy Society and I had the pleasure of meeting him in Montreal Canada at Apimondia 2019. I was also gifted a copy of his book. He taught me how to use Google Translate where page by page we are able to take a photo of a page and instantly translate the entire page into English. I am very interested in learning more about this Hungarian bee venom therapist and apitherapy pioneer who practiced in New York in the early 20th century, writing a book in 1935 that many of us are familiar with: Bee Venom Therapy. Today reprinted editions of this book are titled “The Bible of Bee Venom Therapy”- the translating will be a bit time consuming, but I know it will be worth the effort. I wish I had asked Janos to sign my copy of his book though!
Bee Venom: I bought the book Bee Venom; The Natural Curative for Arthritis and Rheumatism at the silent auction at CMACC 2018. I promptly loaned it to a young woman with rheumatoid arthritis who had been getting great results with Bee Venom Therapy and joint pain. The book was recently returned to me and I am looking forward to checking it out! Although it was written in 1962, I am sure much of the information remains pertinent. In my experience, arthritis, bursitis and joint pain are almost always improved with bee venom.
Bee Propolis – James Fearnley from the UK was one of my favorite speakers at Apimondia 2019, where he presented an introduction to the ARC (Apiceutical Research Centre) and a new generation of medicines from the beehive. He has studied Apitherapy for decades, and discussed many different interesting projects that he has been working on and is involved with. He wrote this book Bee Propolis in 2001, and when I looked it up to purchase it, I discovered it was quite pricey. I finally found a used copy online and it was delivered to my house before I even returned home from Quebec. I have flipped through this little treasure, skipping around as it is a great reference with lots of research and experience put into it. I hope to try a few of the recipes and to learn more about ensuring the quality of the propolis that I use.
Folk Medicine: A Vermont Doctor’s guide to good health is a book that was recommended by AAS Vice President Patrick Fratellone at my first CMACC Apitherapy conference. He was such a wonderful speaker, full of so much great advice and useful tips and tricks so I wrote down this book recommendation. Later while reviewing my notes, I found the title and ordered a used copy. It is an older book originally published in 1958 with lots of interesting stories and anecdotes pertaining to folk medicine, including: honey, herbs, and apple cider vinegar. Jarvis, a physician, talks about learning from nature and animals with a scientific spin. I like it! As the New England cold starts to well and get colder, I am looking forward to more time to catch up on some of my reading and this book is on my list.
Following the Wild Bees: I have this wonderful signed copy of Tom Seeley’s Following the Wild Bees. I have read parts of this book and although engaging, I am looking forward to actually trying to practice what is in this book. So, this is more of a spring planning activity, kind of like thumbing through seed catalogs in the winter dreaming of next year’s garden. This spring I hope to find wild honeybees, track them, follow them, and learn from them. Possibly even lure them into a swarm trap and bring them home. A girl can dream…
If you’re interested in purchasing any of the above titles, please consider supporting The American Apitherapy Society via Smile Amazon. When you make a purchase on Amazon – Amazon will donate part of the proceeds to our non-profit organization.
Happy Reading!