Most people will do just about anything to avoid being stung by a bee. But that's exactly what patients are lining up for at the Kang Tai Bee Clinic in Beijing. The clinic uses "shen fen" or "miracle bees" to treat rheumatism, arthritis and even a common cold. Bee sting therapy has a 3000-year history in China, though the treatment itself was only legalized in the country in 2007. The key is the toxin in the bees' stinger. Doctors use tweezer to pick up live bees from the hive, placing them one by one on various pressure points all over their patients. The bees instinctively sting its enemy and dies. The stinger is then left in the body to help ease discomfort. Most patients turn to bee sting therapy when other Chinese and Western medicine has failed them. They say it works wonders, and doesn't actually hurt that much because the doctors perform a special technique on the bee that reduces the pain of the injection.
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