Bee venom is a liquid that a bee produces in its body. It is used in medicine to treat various kinds of diseases in a way of apitherapy for many years. The basic function of bee venom is to protect a bee itself and also a whole colony. Bee venom is produced by young bees until the 18th day of life. After it is produced bee venom is placed in a special bladder until the end of her life or until the attack of some predator in which case the bee delivers venom from her bladder in the amount 0,3-0,5 mg.

Bee venom is a dense liquid with a specific smell and bitter taste. It is known that bee venom is 30% more active than snake venom. However, the amount of snake venom delivered by a snake’s bite is much higher (for example, one bite of a viper snake equals 350 bee bites).

Bee venom is a complex mixture of proteins that cause local inflammation on the spot of a bee’s bite and also act as anti-coagulants. One bite of bee delivers 0,1 mg venom in human’s skin. It could be deactivated by alcohol. About 1% of the human population is allergic to apitoxin.

MELITTIN makes up about 52% of all peptides in the venom. Melittin is a strong anti-inflammable agent and causes the secretion of cortisol. It is one of the main components for determining the quality of bee venom.​

Other substances presented in smaller quantities in bee venom:​
Apamin, adolapin, phospholipase A2, hyaluronidase, histamine dopamine, protease inhibitors.

Mixtures of these components cause different impacts on human organs. In most cases, bee stings are just annoying but sometimes cause strong pain or even an anaphylactic shock (treated with adrenaline injection). Generally, 300-400 stabs are considered a lethal dose for humans. Research shows that beekeepers acquire immunity to bee venom through the years and new insights suggest that there is an allergen trigger in every organism. This tells us that even a beekeeper who has received more than a hundred or a thousand stings so far without a major physical reaction could become allergic.