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Big Bee Farm

Directions: Big Bee Farm, 41/10 M.3 Pattaya (nearly opposite the Regent’s School. Head for motorway 36 that leads to Rayong and it’s down there on your left. A huge model bee outside is a giveaway for its location.
Contact: 038 172 001-2 / 081 889 8772
Website: www.bigbeefarm.com

The lady looked up from her desk and asked: ‘would you like me to sting you?’ Now, avoiding getting stung in Pattaya is something we’re used to, but this was different.

For starters, she was a doctor. And secondly, while most stings tend to be bad for you, this one was decidedly helpful. The Big Bee Farm uses the insects’ venom as part of an acupuncture programme. So that’s bee poison stuck in you with a sharp, pointy needle. Not a place for one with phobias, you feel.

Apparently the treatment is extremely popular, and very effective in soothing all kinds of aches and pains. But even if you don’t want treatment – known as apitherapy - bee farm has a lot more to offer. It’s all a part of the Thepprasit Honey Shop, which was founded in 1999, which focuses on wild and natural bee products taken from flora sources in the mountainous areas of northern Thailand.

The farm shop makes and sells bee products under the Thepprasit Honey brand name. It’s been so successful that it now has a network, or honeycomb, of more than 50 bee farms.

The Big Bee Farm is run by the Thepprasit Honey Shop and opened in January 2010. It is Thailand’s biggest educational bee farm and covers ten rai of land.

On the farm there is a Thai honey bees’ ecology garden, a museum, honey-based restaurant and shop. If you want to take some of the produce away with you, the farm sells a range of products, including chocolate, rice crackers, soap and vinegar – all with honey.

Outside is a large garden area with several old wooden hives on display. A variety of bees make their home, and honey, here. Every hour or so the ‘bee man’ does a show. This involves placing the queen bee on his chest, which then attracts a few thousand other bees that cling on to him. For the best photo op, visit early in the morning before it gets too hot.

At that time, the bees will be placed around the face, whereas later in the day the bees become too agitated by the heat and can only be put near the chest in case they sting.

Inside the main building is a small museum with English and Thai subtitles. It explains the various uses of honey through displays and video footage in a modest, but well-designed room. Apparently when a poor man offered honey to the Lord Buddha, he was rewarded by being made a king. It even gets a mention in the Bible – Palestine is described as ‘a land of milk and honey’, while the prophet Mohamed said ‘honey is a remedy for every illness and the Qur’an is a remedy for the mind.’ So if you do like honey, you’re in good company.

The main shop has a large variety of goods, and also the country’s biggest hive, now kept inside a display box and standing about 5ft high. There are free chocolate samples in the shop, or for something more substantial there’s a restaurant in a separate building that serves up Thai food, obviously with a honey theme.

The acupuncture side of things is growing in popularity, and they offer a free test (which also sees if you’re allergic to the venom). Apitherary, because we didn’t know what the word meant either, is the name of the treatment that relies almost entirely on the use of bee venom. It is said to help arthritis and other degenerative diseases. Bee venom has several active compounds that have proven therapeutic properties. Medical researchers have found that the venom can help bring back the normal function of the endocrine system.

And here’s the science behind it. Bee venom has a long tradition as a folk remedy for arthritis and other degenerative diseases. As in the case of many natural folk treatments, bee venom contains active compounds that have therapeutic properties. In the same way that plants offer what we need to make pharmaceutical drugs, many of the bioactive ingredients in bee venom are a valuable part of Nature’s pharmacy.

Bee venom is administered by trained therapists in the form of a direct bee sting or a variant, or else by injection of a venom extract. In several studies, bee venom therapy helped treat diseases which conventional pharmaceuticals could only partially help. Bee venom has potent analgesic and immuno- modulatory properties that help reduce inflammation and promote healing. It also has anti-inflammatory compounds including melittin and adolapin.

Medical researchers in Russia have found that bee venom helped restore the normal function of the endocrine system. Case studies suggest that bee venom can improve the symptoms of rheumatoid arthitis, gout, osteoarthritis, tendonitis and multiple sclerosis.

Wichan Chareontungwittaya founded the company back in the Sixties. A major beekeeper in the north, he has kept thousands of colonies over the years. In 1999, he went beyond just farming and started to manufacture and sell honey-related products.

When it comes to bees, Mr Wichan knows his stuff. He has won awards in the World Bee Expo, has an ISO number and also a Quality Goods Mark from the Ministry of Agriculture.

All this runs under the umbrella of the Thai Organic Bee Keeper Association (TOBA), which receives help from the government and private investment to help promote and improve Thailand's bee production.
The place is great for children (local schools pay regular visits) and it’s also possible to book your own DIY honey class, where you get to collect honey and make products with it.

Honey Products
Mature Honey: Special pure honey that comes from herbal flowers in the Golden Triangle mountains. It’s clinically proven as a treatment for mouth ulcers, stomach ulcers and even insomnia.

Snakeroot of Thailand: This is tropical white snakeroot, and is a herb. The honey of snakeroot is light in colour. Its used to help digestive organs and arterial action.

Litchi Honey: Tasting a little like fruit, the litchi honey is common and fully organic.

Mikania Honey: Mikania cordata is a wild herb. The honey is amber in colour and has a light floral aroma.  It is thought to have antibacterial and antifungal properties and its leaf can help with nasal problems.

Bee Pollen: Pollen is the reproductive spore of the plant and is packed with nutrients. These include free amino acids, fatty acids, Omega 3s, minerals and whole vitamin complexes.

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