This Ontario farm uses bees for relaxation therapy. Is it a buzzkill for stress?

Half a million bees are buzzing in a southwestern Ontario farm to offer visitors a way to help them relax and reduce stress.

Inside a small hut on Diana Graham's 28-hectare Comber-area farm, where she runs Bees and Bloom Wellness, four beehives are underneath each of two wooden beds, with screens separating the insects from clients who lie over them to experience bee bed therapy.

Graham and others who offer the therapy say it can be beneficial in reducing anxiety and stress.

But there’s still a dearth of scientific evidence around it.

Graham said sleeping while surrounded by bees is therapeutic, and her visitors have reported feeling “amazed” and “breathing better” after spending time in the presence of bee pheromones. She said it’s built perfectly safe, so the insects can’t sting her clients.

“The pheromones from the bees help with your immune system, lungs and their buzz, the frequencies, helps with anxiety, depression, PTSD, sleep disorders and overall health,” Graham told CBC News.

“Your anxiety will go down because the hum of these bees is absolutely amazing.”

The air inside the cabin is rich with honey and beeswax scents. Graham said it adds to the wellness.

Christine Brady of Petrolia, a town southeast of Sarnia, is among visitors to Graham’s farm who were contacted to talk about their experiences there.

Brady, who recently was at the farm with her mother and recommends the therapy, said she's elated there's a bee bed facility in Ontario. 

Before she came across Graham's far, Brady said, she could only find one in Italy. 

“I just went there to kind of zone out and relax. It was just more for the vibration, the smell and the frequency of the bees,” she said.

“I probably got into an almost meditative trance. You kind of go into that mental zone where you're aware, but you have kind of gone within.” 

Annette Bourassa of Barrie, Ont., visited Graham's farm a couple of weeks ago and plans to go again with her friends in the fall.

“It was incredible. I can see the benefits of doing it often. I wish I lived closer because I would probably go once a week to get this,” she said.

Source: Read the original article on www.cbc.ca