Apis Melifica , is a familiar household name in my family. My father, a staunch practioner of homoeopathy used to stock this medicine in the house. I always carried this medicine whenever I go on trips into the forest . We carry this for any insect bite. The few insect bites that I have experienced left faint rashes on my skin .
The love for nature Rajesh and I carry in our heart has prompted us to own a small peice of land in Panavalli , Mananthavady along with few other cousins and uncles. We call it "Ettaekkar Ecospace" (http://www.ettaekkar.com/ )(8 Acre Eco space is the English translation) - the idea is to primarily afforest the land. The 8 acres we have is devoid of trees - thanks to the efforts of the earlier care taker prior to us owning the land . He wanted to make some quick buck and chopped off 8 truckloads of trees !!!
Operation Bee Sting
8th Jan 2011 was a special day, we were on our routine trip to "Ettaekkar Ecospace" - an attempt to show this space to my parents and brother . My brother, who is on his vacation from US, was elated to see the new planting of indigeneous trees on this land. Some space was dedicated for growing vegetables without any chemicals or pesticides. We were able to pluck "payaru " from the garden.
Around 1pm in the afternoon we started from Ettaekkar to visit a small paddy field we had bought recently . The paddy field is close to the Kabini river - the same "papanassini " that flows from the famous Thirunelli temple. We parked our car near the bridge and decided to walk on the paddy field. Since the sun was on our head, my mother decided to walk with a large umbrella. The caretaker, Rajesh and I were leading the way - I noticed a small bee on my duppatta and was about to carefully take it off without hurting ; suddenly I realised there was a swarm of bees above my head and they were all set for their sting operation on me. Before I could lift my head, I could feel the buzz inside my ear, closer to my eyes - nature gives you instincts and inner voices - all one needs to do is to listen to those instincts - there is no prior learning in such instances and every experience is fresh . My inner voice told me to protect my ears and eyes and I used my hand, my duppatta as shield. I saw Rajesh running towards a small room and we realised that running doesn't help - the bees can follow you with much more vigour. I could feel the sting on my hands, face and head. The caretaker's inner voice told him to go towards the Kabini river ; he called out "jump into the river" - we followed him . I could feel that more than the pain it was a sudden pang of hunger that overpowered me. The hunger gave me a feeling that the river was far away for me to reach - frankly the pain was nothing compared to the hunger. After some struggle that felt longer than the absolute sense of time, we managed to touch the cool waters of Kabini - aka Papanasini (meaning that which washes your sins away !). Dipping in the water I thought, may be the bees were a reason for me to wash my sins away ... In the network of Karma, who knows what is in store for my soul ! The few minutes I spent in water , was definitely one step ahead for my soul - we are insignificant in front of the bees - a well orchestrated team work of these magnificent creatures, carriers of pollen and biodiversity can wipe out people.
Importance of bees in the eco system and their collapse :
I was reminded of the Avaaz campaign that I had signed a few days back - it said bees all over the world are facing extinction due to the rapid use of highly toxic pesticides. 90% of the plants we grow are pollinated by bees. Bee populations are found to be recovering in countries where these chemicals are banned. The avaaz campaign was to push US and EU to join the ban. Scientists speculate environmental change-related stresses, malnutrition and pesticides (e.g.. neonicotinoids such as imidacloprid), cell phone radiation and genetically modified (GM) crops with pest control characteristics, for the colony collapse syndrome (CCD) or honey bee depopulation syndrome ( HBDS).
I went to check the name of the sub species that had attacked us . It was Apis Dorsata ! supposed to have the most ferocious sting on earth - Awesome to have stung by this magnificent being and to be alive to tell this story to all of you !
Bees do not attack unless you disturb them - it was a group of naughty school children who decided to play a prank...
After effects of bee sting
After we got out of the water exhausted and relieved from the attack, we assesed the damages - The care taker, Rajesh, myself, my father were badly stung. My mother and brother survived couple of stings - thanks to the umbrella that my mother carried ; my brother proved that though he lives a sedantary life in USA, he is still capable of running 1 km non-stop , in case of an emergency that has a direct impact on his life :-)
The remote of our car was malfunctional after Rajesh came out of the river. I lost my eye glasses and one slipper - the cost of my expensive glass felt neglible. We got into our car and sped towards a homoeo dispensary nearby. We took Apis Melifica 200, which is made from the sting of the bee species Apis Mellifera. Soon three of us who were badly stung (Rajesh, my father and myself) started vomitting everything that we ate immediately after the sting. My hunger that overpowered me made me to hog on to peanuts and til laddoos. We could feel the medicine had started acting on us , homoeopathic way of expelling poison is through the extremities. Vomitting was followed by diarreah . I happened to see my face on the mirror of the car - my lips had swollen.
Thanks to the efforts of the care taker and his family, he got us out of the mess we faced with the immobiliser of the car, we were on our way back home by 7:30 PM in the evening. The car refused to start in the afternoon and as a blessing in disguise, Rajesh and my father could take complete rest at Mananthavady. A badly stung Rajesh was fit and fine to drive the car.
Symptoms of Apis
My father who is an asthmatic, complained of breathlessness immediately after the sting. He looked up the symptoms of the medicine in materia medica, and saw that the sting affects mucous membrane !
I started day 2 with a swollen face , the day was spent lethargic occassionally sleeping. The pain was not extruciating, the swelling was on the finger tips and palm. Day 3 , I could feel the swelling move down to my feet and after a mid day nap, the swelling had completely disappeared. Day 4 went quite normal. Day 6 afternoon onwards, there was itching sensation on both the palms. The itching woke me up at 1:30 AM in the night . When I discussed this with Rajesh and my father in the morning , they also shared the same symptom. We changed our medicine to Ars Alb 200 , which would expel the toxins. I started doubling the quantity of water I intake to expel the toxins, I can see that the treatment is working on me.
Modern doctors, mostly in Eastern Europe and Korea, still practice bee sting therapy. A patient may be stung up to 80 times in a session. This treatment is used to treat arthritis and diabetes. I got the answer to the reason for my sudden pang of hunger - if the bee venom is a treatment for diabetes, it must have reduced the sugar levels in my body !
Human Insensitivity
Only nature can cure us of our chronic disease of ego. In front of the magnificence of mother earth, we are mere links in the web of life. We need to learn to respect her creations . Greed does not take us anywhere, nor would powerful positions. The bees are not to be blamed for this - the mistake is ours , we were insensitive to the presence of the swarm of disturbed bees. The five senses that nature has created us with , were not utilised to the fullest extend to be "aware" of the danger ahead. Everything in nature survives with this awareness . Human beings have come a long way that we mask our senses with the overuse of mobile phones and music playing through ear phones. Long way for us city dwellers to learn to live in the present and be aware of the air, water and earth we depend on ! I can claim that beyond the name Apis Mellifica, I understand the species more from this experience.
View link for pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/meera.rajesh/8thJan2011MananthavadyBeeSting#
