Honeybee shipment. Bee keeper decanting live honeybees ( Apis mellifera) into a container for shipment to patients undergoing bee venom therapy (BVT). It is thought that BVT can help alleviate symptoms caused by rheumatism, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and other diseases. Patients self- administer venom, by holding a live bee in a pair of tweezers and allowing themselves to be stung at specific points on the body. The bee dies after it has stung the patient, leaving behind the sting and venom sac. The medicinal use of honeybee products, such as venom, honey, royal jelly and beeswax, is known as apitherapy. Photographed in Pebadale apiary, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, UK.