Honey bee as apitoxin, carries several active components, the most abundant of which is melittin, and the most biologically active are enzymes, particularly phospholipase A2. Bee venom is under laboratory and clinical research for its potential properties and uses in reducing risks for adverse events from bee venom therapy, rheumatoid arthritis, and use as an immunotherapy for protection against allergies from insect stings. Bee venom products are marketed in many countries, but, as of 2018, there are no approved clinical uses for these products which carry various warnings for potential allergic reactions. With an increased number of honey bees in a specific
Evolution of snake venom protein found in the venom had undergone a deletion of two nucleotide bases which made the venom 50-100 times less toxic than it had been previously. This change was correlated with a change in diet from fish to a diet consisting almost entirely of fish eggs, suggesting that the adaptation to an egg diet had removed the selection pressure needed to maintain a highly toxic venom, allowing the venom genes to accumulate deleterious mutations. A similar venom degradation following a shift to an egg-based diet has been found in the Common egg-eater "Dasypeltis scabra", whose diet consists entirely of birds'