Honeybees roasted for colic – “Mrs. May Kennedy McCord, of Springfield, Missouri, tells of a novel treatment for colic in infants. You just take nine honeybees, alive in a tin can, and roast them in a hot oven. When the bees are absolutely dry, grind them up into a fine powder and feed it to the baby in syrup. Mrs. McCord learned of this ‘cure’ from Mrs. George Roebuck, of Morrisville, Missouri, and Mrs. Roebuck had it from some elderly people in the Boston range of the Arkansas Ozarks.” ~Randolph OMF 149
Sting for arthritis – “I knew this guy crippled with arthritis, couldn’t hardly walk. He robbed a bee tree, them bees just covered him, stung him all over, just about put him in bed. He said when he got over them bee stings he never had no more arthritis. Poison in the bees, he claimed, killed the arthritis.” ~Carter and Krause HRIO 21
“A Sting by a bee is good for arthritis. Put the bee on that part of the body where the arthritis is and make it sting you.” ~Parler FBA III 2962
Sting as panacea – “Let a bee sting you every morning and you will never be sick.” ~Parler FBA II 1212
Carter, Kay & Bonnie Krause Home Remedies of the Illinois Ozarks (HRIO)
Parler, Mary Celestia Folk Beliefs from Arkansas (FBA)
Randolph, Vance Ozark Magic and Folklore (OMF)
