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Latin pharmacognostic name: Vespae Nidus

Alternate Chinese names: 蜂肠 fēng cháng; 大黄蜂窠 dà huáng fēng kē; 革蜂窠 gé fēng kē; 蜂房 fēng fáng; 露蜂房 lù fēng fáng

Kingdom: Animal

Origin in PRC Pharmacopoeia: Polistes olivaceus DeGeer; Polistes japonicus Saussure; Parapolybia varia Fabricius. (PRC Pharmacopoeia)

Origin (other sources): Polistes olivaceus DeGeer*; Polistes japonicus Saussure*; Parapolybia varia Fabricius*; Polistes mandarinus Saussure

Use: Medicinal

Category: External-use agents / Toxin-attacking, worm-killing, and itch-relieving agents

Properties: Sweet; balanced; toxic. (Some sources list acrid and warm instead.)

Channel entry: Stomach channels. (some sources add liver channel.)

Indications:

• Attacks toxin and kills worms: Flat- and welling-abscesses; scrofula; scabies; tinea capitis.
• Dispels wind and relieves pain: Wind-damp impediment (bì) pain; itchy dormant papules (urticaria); toothache.
• Fēng fáng can both dispel wind to relieve pain as well as dispel wind to relieve itching.
• Additional uses: Fēng fáng has recently been used for malignant tumors, often in combination with Quán xiē (全蝎 Scorpio , scorpion), Jiāng cán (僵蚕 Bombyx Batryticatus , silkworm), and é zhú (莪朮 Curcumae Rhizoma, curcuma rhizome).

Dosage & Method: Topical: often used externally as a powder mixed with oil or decocted for use as a wash or a mouthwash. Oral: 6–12g in decoctions.

Warnings: Unsuitable in patterns of qì-blood vacuity. Its Pinyin name is similar to fáng fēng (Saposhnikoviae Radix), and care must be taken not to confuse the two when filling prescriptions.

Quality: Nests the size of a fists that have flexible papery out crusts and small and that have no plant matter attached are best.

Product Area: Southern China.

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