Moon Cerelli is a military veteran, a fiber artist, a trained herbalist and a certified beekeeper. She has done her specialization in beekeeping free of pesticides, antibiotics or essential oils. Cerelli is also an apitherapist and gives treatments for chronic health problems to her non-allergic patients using bee venom. The treatment benefits those with autoimmune deficiency, arthritis and muscular dystrophy.

The treatment involves a bee to be placed at an acupuncture point of the body and once the bee strikes, its stinger penetrates and puts the venom in. Using bees and products from their hives for medicinal purposes is called Apitherapy or bee therapy. Apitherapy is a treatment based on bringing in use everything from honey to pollen to venom to somatic experiencing, where healing from trauma is provided by body sensations.

Bees and their products are believed to have potential of addressing chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder and various diseases, including arthritis, multiple sclerosis, migraines and skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and herpes.

Dr. Ellison Smith and his colleagues at Asheville Arthritis and Osteopeorosis Center said that bee venom reduces inflammation and pain. "The pollen profiles in the honey give you allergy benefits. Propolis can be tinctured and poulticed and has anti-cancer properties and powerful wound-healing properties. It's really good as a selective natural antibiotic", said Jon Christie, the owner of Wild Mountain Bees, an apiary in Woodfin.

Cerelli has to say that honey prevents infection from bacteria and it's also hydroscopic. So, after the wound heals, the skin grows back to its original position.

People who are interested in learning more about Apitherapy can grab the opportunity of studying with Cerelli at a two-day intensive on Friday, March 20, and Saturday, March 21, at Lenoir-Rhyne University.