Beehive yourself! New therapy house available for Kraków hospital patients

The residents undergoing psychiatric treatment in the Dr J. Babiński Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Kraków, southern Poland, can now attend beehive therapy sessions in a special facility located in the hospital’s park.

A wooden house is situated on four beehives inhabited by a species of harmless bee. During an hour-long session, patients sitting inside the building will relax by breathing the air coming from the beehives through small holes in the floor.

“It is some kind of a bee spa - one just has to take deep breaths and inhale, which will have a tranquilising effect,” said Barbara Łysoń, the CEO of the “Apikultura” foundation that implemented the venture.

According to the foundation, the house will not be focused on honey production, however, a couple of additional beehives were placed on the premises of the hospital, solely for that purpose.

Ms Łysoń stressed that the Dr J. Babiński Neuropsychiatric Hospital is the first facility in Kraków offering beehive therapy that, according to the apitherapy specialists, has a positive effect on the nervous, respiratory and cardiovascular systems (it stabilises blood pressure and increases the chance of a good sleep).

Beehive air is antiseptic - it has no bacteria, viruses or fungi. The person undergoing therapy is also affected by energy produced by bees, and, above all, volatile substances contained in the hive air, derived from propolis, honey, bee pollen and wax.