Bodog Beck
Encyclopedia
Bodog Beck was an American
physician
. He became famous for his studies about apitherapy
.
Beck was a product of the central European world of the late nineteenth century that produced such other therapeutic pioneers as Sigmund Freud
, Ignaz Semmelweis
, the father of modem antisepsis, and Phillip Terc, M.D. of Marburg
, Austria
, who has justly been identified as the father of modern apitherapy
.
He was fascinated with nature as a boy. His early years involved him taking on the task of raising his own honey bees. This, in turn, led him deeper into what would become a life-long exploration into all aspects of the world of the honey bee
.
He served in his nation's armed forces during World War I
, after which he emigrated to the United States
where he settled in New York City
. By the early 1930s, when Charles Mraz encountered him, he had established a thriving Park Avenue practice among the elite of New York's upper east side. Though he was on the staff of a local hospital. Saint Mark's, as a medical practitioner, his first love was apitherapy
and it was to this discipline that he assiduously devoted himself until his death.
. However he did not consider apitherapy
a panacea any more than any other approach, no matter how powerful, could be so considered.
Bodog Beck, besides being a highly renowned physician, was also a scholar in his chosen field, apiculture. He had an enormous personal library with books and materials in many languages from every part of the world. He had dedicated himself for years to collecting everything he could find (monographs, journal literature, personal notes, pictorial matter, ephemera, etc.) related to bees and especially bee venom therapy. He was personally fluent in all of the languages of his collection which, besides most modem European tongues, also included Latin and Ancient Greek. He also devoted himself to amassing a collection of Napoleonic materials with Napoleon's honey bee emblem.
Honey and other bee products were also of great interest to Bodog Beck who learned quite a bit about their history and medicinal uses. Much of this knowledge he later passed on to us in a highly original work, Honey and Your Health. An enlarged edition co-authored by Doree Smedley was issued sometime later and has been republished by Health Resources Press.
In the early 1930s he utilized several bee journals to circulate a questionnaire to bee keepers around the world. It consisted of ten questions dealing with such topics as sensitivity to venom in people who are repeatedly being exposed to and being stung on a daily basis by bees, the nature of their symptoms resulting from being stung, treatments for bee stings, the effect of the bee stings on their overall health as well as the effect on any specific pre-sting disease conditions, their knowledge of these matters as pertains to others they know, including cases of paralysis and cancer, personal and other cases of mortality and morbidity relating to honey bee stings, and any additional related details.
In 1981, almost 40 years later, L.A. Doyle reissued the original work complete with two introductions; one written by him and the other by Charles Mraz, a longtime student of Beck who in the early 1930s had been successfully treated by Beck as a patient. This volume, like its antecedents, quickly sold out.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
. He became famous for his studies about apitherapy
Apitherapy
Apitherapy is the medical use of honey bee products. This can include the use of honey, pollen, bee bread, propolis, royal jelly, apilarnil and bee venom....
.
Beck was a product of the central European world of the late nineteenth century that produced such other therapeutic pioneers as Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
, Ignaz Semmelweis
Ignaz Semmelweis
Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis was a Hungarian physician now known as an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures. Described as the "savior of mothers", Semmelweis discovered that the incidence of puerperal fever could be drastically cut by the use of hand disinfection in obstetrical clinics...
, the father of modem antisepsis, and Phillip Terc, M.D. of Marburg
Marburg
Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, who has justly been identified as the father of modern apitherapy
Apitherapy
Apitherapy is the medical use of honey bee products. This can include the use of honey, pollen, bee bread, propolis, royal jelly, apilarnil and bee venom....
.
He was fascinated with nature as a boy. His early years involved him taking on the task of raising his own honey bees. This, in turn, led him deeper into what would become a life-long exploration into all aspects of the world of the honey bee
Honey bee
Honey bees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis...
.
He served in his nation's armed forces during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, after which he emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
where he settled in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. By the early 1930s, when Charles Mraz encountered him, he had established a thriving Park Avenue practice among the elite of New York's upper east side. Though he was on the staff of a local hospital. Saint Mark's, as a medical practitioner, his first love was apitherapy
Apitherapy
Apitherapy is the medical use of honey bee products. This can include the use of honey, pollen, bee bread, propolis, royal jelly, apilarnil and bee venom....
and it was to this discipline that he assiduously devoted himself until his death.
Beck's apitheraphy studies
Over the many years during which he practiced apitherapy he treated thousands of patients with many varied medical conditions. He, as much as anyone else utilizing bee venom for therapeutic purposes, came to understand the potential uses and definite limitations of this approach to therapy. According to Charles Mraz, he was fond of saying that when he didn't know what else to offer patients to help alleviate their condition he could always turn to apitherapyApitherapy
Apitherapy is the medical use of honey bee products. This can include the use of honey, pollen, bee bread, propolis, royal jelly, apilarnil and bee venom....
. However he did not consider apitherapy
Apitherapy
Apitherapy is the medical use of honey bee products. This can include the use of honey, pollen, bee bread, propolis, royal jelly, apilarnil and bee venom....
a panacea any more than any other approach, no matter how powerful, could be so considered.
Bodog Beck, besides being a highly renowned physician, was also a scholar in his chosen field, apiculture. He had an enormous personal library with books and materials in many languages from every part of the world. He had dedicated himself for years to collecting everything he could find (monographs, journal literature, personal notes, pictorial matter, ephemera, etc.) related to bees and especially bee venom therapy. He was personally fluent in all of the languages of his collection which, besides most modem European tongues, also included Latin and Ancient Greek. He also devoted himself to amassing a collection of Napoleonic materials with Napoleon's honey bee emblem.
Honey and other bee products were also of great interest to Bodog Beck who learned quite a bit about their history and medicinal uses. Much of this knowledge he later passed on to us in a highly original work, Honey and Your Health. An enlarged edition co-authored by Doree Smedley was issued sometime later and has been republished by Health Resources Press.
In the early 1930s he utilized several bee journals to circulate a questionnaire to bee keepers around the world. It consisted of ten questions dealing with such topics as sensitivity to venom in people who are repeatedly being exposed to and being stung on a daily basis by bees, the nature of their symptoms resulting from being stung, treatments for bee stings, the effect of the bee stings on their overall health as well as the effect on any specific pre-sting disease conditions, their knowledge of these matters as pertains to others they know, including cases of paralysis and cancer, personal and other cases of mortality and morbidity relating to honey bee stings, and any additional related details.
The Bible of Bee Venom Therapy
In 1935, D. Appleton-Century Company, issued Beck's book The Bible of Bee Venom Therapy. Seven years later the author died. This work was a summation of his career devoted to exploration of the nature and use of honey bee venom.In 1981, almost 40 years later, L.A. Doyle reissued the original work complete with two introductions; one written by him and the other by Charles Mraz, a longtime student of Beck who in the early 1930s had been successfully treated by Beck as a patient. This volume, like its antecedents, quickly sold out.
External links
- The Bible of Bee Venom Therapy (Health Resources Press)