Keeper Claims Bees
Bee
Relieve Stress, Aches, Pains
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
CATASAUQUA (Lehigh Co.)
Lee Schleicher of Catasauqua
admits his beard gives him a “bug
gy, crawly feeling.”
It’s no wonder. His beard, which
reaches almost to his waist, is
formed by about 3,000 honey bees.
To grow a bee beard, Schleich
er, who is 57, said that a queen bee
is stuck into a small cage with a
screen. Strings attached to the cage
are tied around Schleicher’s ears to
hold the cage on his chin. Colonies
of bees are released and settle on
Schleicher’s face so that they can
be near the queen bee.
Cotton is stuffed in Schleicher’s
ears and nose to keep the bees from
entering.
“Sometimes I need to spit a few
out of my mouth,” Schleicher said.
“I guess I’m either daring or
crazy to do it,” Schleicher said,
“but at bee conventions there are
usually more volunteers who want
to participate than needed.”
The purpose of forming a bee
beard is to prove to the public that
bees are not as dangerous as people
believe. Consequently people
won’tkill a bee every time they see
one.
He regrets that many bee con
ventions no longer sponsor the
event because they can’t get insur
ance to cover it Still, Schleicher
maintains that the feat is not
dangerous.
“The secret to keep from getting
stung is to remain calm and move
slowly,” he said.
If he gets a few stings in the pro
cess, Schleicher is not alarmed.
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“It’s healthy for you,” he said.
So healthy, Schleicher believes,
that he offers therapeutic bee
stings to people who suffer from
rheumatory arthritis, bursitis, gout,
and sore joints.
A bee’s venom supposedly
causes the body to produce an anti
inflammatory agent that will coun
teract the poison and has the pain
killing effect of cortisone.
Schleicher heard about the heal
ing powers of bee venom in 1985
when he had a degenerate hip and
needed to use a cane. Following
the suggestions from a speaker he
heard at a bee seminar, Schleicher
held a bee at his hip and knee joints
to sting him every other day.
“After a week or two, I had no
more pain and no longer needed a
cane,” Schleicher said.
He admits that most people are
skeptical of the unorthodox
method of treating illnesses, but he
has a loyal following from those
who have tried his method and
found relief.
Schleicher’s most prominent
patient is University of Charleston
catcher Jack Goddess who opted
for the bee remedy in 1989. The
baseball catcher had suffered an
injury diagnosed as rotator cuff
impingement in his right shoulder.
Frustrated with the agony of pain
and of missing out on the playing
season, Goddess sought medical
treatment but found no relief.
His father, a railroad engineer
who works with Schleicher, told
his son about the bee sting theory.
“I’ll try anything at this point,”
Goddess said.
Schleicher placed a few bees
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from his bee hives in a jar. With a
tweezers, he captured one and held
the bee on Goddess’s shoulder,
which had previously been cooled
with an ice cube.
“Ice takes the initial shock of a
sting away even though you can
still feel the penetration,” he said.
After a 20-minute wait to make
sure that Goddess did not have an
allergic reaction, Schleicher admi
nistered three more stings.
“Generally a person can take
500 to 800 stings before the venon
kills a person, but all it takes is one
sting if the person is allergic,” he
said.
Schleicher gave Goddess a jar
full of bees so that he could apply
the bees himself. Goddess’s
friends were amazed and eager to
administer the stings. After cutting
the daily dosage back to about
three or four stings a sitting, twice
a week, Goddess returned to the
playing field and moved from
ninth place to fifth in the batting
order.
“I know it sounds outrageous,”
Goddess said, “but I feel 10 times
better.”
While many countries recognize
bee stings as a viable cure to treat
pain, Schleicher said that the U.S.
is slower in endorsing this method.
Schleicher is pleased that many
M.D.’s will be attending a Boston
convention, American Apitherapy
Society Incorporated, this summer
to leam about the method.
While the medicinal values of
bee stings for humans are debated,
Schleicher is more concerned with
the diseases that are afflicting
bees. Schleicher, who has 43
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With about 3,000 forming his beard, Lee Schleicher said,
“It’s a buggy, crawly feeling ” To keep from getting stung,
Schleicher said that the main thing Is to remain calm and
enjoy K.
Beekeepers perform the bee beard stunt to show the
public that bees are not as dangerous as many believe. “We
don’t want people killing a bee everytlme they see one,”
Schleicher said.
hives, said that he lost 15 colonies
this year to tracheal varroa mite.
The parasite lives in the throat of a
bee and weakens it until the bee
dies. According to Schleicher the
larva started in Europe, was
brought to the southern states, and
has now traveled north
“I don’t buy bees out of state
because it’s too dangerous,” he
said, “but the mite got here
anyway.”
With the help of the extension
agent and a state bee keeper exa
miner, Schleicher plans to have the
cones treated with menthol so that
they can be reused.
“A 3-pound starter hive kit costs
$lO9 to $150,” Schleicher said.
With 43 hives, Schleicher some
times gets more than one ton of
honey from the bees. He heats it in
an 80-gallon stainless steel tank to
130 degrees and strains it with a
nylon mesh. The honey is stored in
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 13, 1991-B1
five gallon buckets and bottled
when needed. Although his wife,
Carolyn, doesn’t help with the
bees, she did take a short course in
beekeeping from Delaware Valley
College. Her husband took a bee
keeping course from Penn State.
In 1991, Schleicher’s honey
won first prize at the Pennsylvania
Farm Show in the extracted light
honey division.
Schleicher makes beeswax can
dles from the cappings of the
honeycomb.
“Beekeeping is a good past
time. It keeps me out of trouble,”
Schleicher said. “When you’re
working with the bees, you need to
concentrate on what you’re doing.
Bees are a good way to get nd of
stress, aches, and pains.”
Schleicher may be contacted at
308 Walnut St., Catasauqua, PA
18032, or call (215) 266-1772.
II