In the rural areas, a popular alternative treatment for 'beke' (mumps) consists of a combination of sundry ingredients: earthen material from an insect's nest, powdered blue dye (tinang asul) and vinegar.

The main ingredient is derived from an earthen nest which is made up of soil carried and accumulated piece-by-piece by a 'mason' bee (hakot-hakot).

The concoction is made by mixing the soil obtained from the nest with 'tinang asul' (a powdered blue dye). Vinegar is added in an amount sufficient to achieve a pasty consistency. An optional additional ingredient to this mixture is a teaspoon of juice from the pounded leaves of the plant "dilaw." Applied daily to the 'beke' (glandular parotid swelling, mumps), it is believed to hasten the subsidence of the swelling and pain and prevent the occurrence of fever.