A bee starts producing venom just after hatching and is filled up in the bee's venom bladder. After about 20 days, the venom bladder is filled and contains a maximum of 0.3 grams of venom. When it's filled, the production permanently stops. 

​A bee sting contains only 50-100 micrograms of bee venom. Only the worker bees and the bee queen have bee venom, although the queen's venom bladder shrivels during her first year and the content in the venom bladder gets solid. 

The most common uses for bee venom are in cosmetics, research, and pharmaceuticals.
Studies indicate positive results for treating Lyme's disease treatment, arthritis treatment, rheumatic treatment, chronic inflammatory diseases, and can be used for bee venom desensitization.

Lab analysis shows that bee poison has a complex chemical composition.
It consists of more than 50% of different proteins and calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus.

The component with the most significant toxic effect is melittin, which affects the blood circulation in humans and animals. Other ingredients are apamin that affects the nervous system and histamine that causes pain.​ See below for a more detailed list of the components.

STORAGE

The venom is placed in a freezer in tightly closed containers ​at a temperature of -20°C.
​It can be stored that way for at least five years, keeping its healing effects offered.

Write down, date, locations, hives, and even weather conditions and other factors that could be of interest and divide the bee venom into batches based upon that system. ​Using the batch system is useful if for example a batch's quality should does not meet the quality standards or differs from the others. That way, you can pinpoint possible problems easier.  ​​Conditions for safe storage of bee venom Short-term storage: 25 - 30° C for 3 weeks Medium-term storage: 4º C for 3 months Long term storage: -20° C up to 5 years