Beekeepers are known to be healthy, and many live to a ripe old age, retaining their physical energy and clarity of thought to the very end. The bees themselves contribute a great deal to this because they demand concentration and calmness from their
master. Even the fragrance from the hives that the beekeepers inhale while working or resting in the bee house is pleasant and
beneficial. However, even more beneficial to their health is the regular consumption of honey and other bee products, whose
composition and characteristics are well known to every beekeeper. Why not use them when they are always on hand and
health is our greatest value? Beekeepers do not even avoid the bee stings – it is well known that beekeepers are less prone to
various rheumatic diseases than other people, largely due to their exposure to bee venom.

People have greatly appreciated bee products for centuries.More recently, the word “apitherapy” has come into frequent
use. This refers to the study of medical applications of honey bee products. Honey and other bee products are not medicines, but they can serve as an important and beneficial part of medical treatment and as dietary supplements.

The origins of apitherapy can be traced back several thousand years, to the time of ancient civilizations. Information on the use
of honey goes back to religious sacrifices, and the oldest record of a medical prescription listing honey as one of the ingredients can be traced back to Sumer in 2000 BC.

Today apitherapy is a widely-established discipline, serving as a beneficial supplement to traditional medicine. It is interesting
that the founder and first promoter of apitherapy was Dr. Filip Terč (1844–1917), a physician from Maribor. He was of Czech descent, but spent most of his life in Maribor, where he is buried. He worked as a general practitioner, but was a beekeeper during his free time and the long-standing president of the Maribor branch of the Styrian Beekeepers’ Association. While treating one of his patients, Terč discovered that the patient’s rheumatism was less painful when he was stung by bees.
He therefore focused on studying the influence of apitoxin (honey bee venom) on healthy and ill people. During his career, Terč
successfully cured 543 patients out of a total of 658. He treated them by placing bees on the patients’ sore spots; the bees then stung the skin and left their venom inside. He wrote articles about his successful treatment in professional journals and drew a great deal of attention in international medical circles. Terč established a reputation in medical and beekeeping history
as a figure that Slovenians can be proud of. We can be especially proud of the fact that his birthday (30 March) is now commemorated as international apitherapy day.

Several decades ago, the Medex company was already breaking new ground in apitherapy in Slovenia by organizing three
international symposia on this subject as part of Apimondia (the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations). More recently, Medex has raised its profile with new products and especially with its new original honey packaging. At the Apimondia congress
held in Ireland, it received the three highest awards (the golden, silver, and bronze medals) for its original packaging.
An apitherapy committee has recently started operating as part of the Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association.
Its members include both physicians and experienced beekeepers. The committee’s goal is to help transfer findings about
the beneficial effects of bee products on the human metabolism into practice and thus further enrich Slovenia’s range of tourist
services.Bee stings can be dangerous or even fatal to many people. One out of 200 Slovenians is believed to be allergic to bee stings and must seek medical assistance if stung by a bee,
wasp, or hornet. It is therefore necessary to provide protective hats and gloves to visitors that wish to observe bees in front of the hives or the beekeeper managing them. It is also recommended that beekeepers have appropriate first aid kits available at all times.