The Honorable Honeybee and Her Helpful Products

by: Christie Malcolm

Everyone has heard the old adage “busy as a bee,” but many people are not aware of the wealth of helpful products we can get from these active little creatures. The ancient art of the use of these products medicinally is referred to as apitherapy, and humans have been using these gifts as far back as 7,000 B.C.  In fact, a Sumerian tablet, possibly dated 3,000 B.C., prescribes honey to treat an infected skin ulcer. Muhammad, the Muslim prophet, recommended honey to treat diarrhea, and the Koran mentions the curative properties of honey. (Traynor x)

 Honey is not the only helpful thing that we gather from the bee. We can use pollen to help treat allergies and increase energy, and propolis because it “is the strongest antibiotic known to man” (Balckinstone 241). Royal jelly can be used for the health and improvement of our skin. Bee venom has been used for a long time as a successful treatment for arthritis. Beeswax is used to make candles, used in lotions and creams for the skin, and also in furniture polish. In addition to the tangible gifts that the honey bee provides, there is also plant pollination. It is believed that more than two thirds of the fruits and vegetables that humans consume would be lost without the help of the honey bee (Blackinstone 3).

Interestingly, Americans may not have been informed about these natural remedies because the honey bee is not native to the U.S., and therefore, has not been studied as much here as in Europe. “Many in the American medical community still look at honey as well outside the mainstream of medicine and are reluctant to even experiment with it for fear of being ostracized by their peers” (Traynor xi).Dr. Joseph Broadman, M.D. was amazed by the results he was achieving with bee venom therapy in his arthritic patients. He wrote many articles that were never published, so in 1962 he wrote his book titled Bee Venom Therapy. It is in this book that he records case study after case study where bee venom cures arthritis, bursitis, neuritis, myositis, and even helps fevers and migraines. He goes on to tell us that “Except in America, bee venom is widely accepted as a curative agent for arthritis and rheumatism. The leading medical journals of many European countries have reported on the extensive research and clinical work accomplished: different university centers in the U.S.S.R.,

Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, and Czechoslovakia, for example, have tested this cure. The results show that bee venom, adopted on a wide scale, can give relief or, in many cases, complete cure. Why bee venom results have not been accepted in the U.S. makes enlightened reading for those of you who still believe those persons in control of orthodox medicine are constantly searching for the cure for arthritis, no matter what the source of the cure.”

 Also another reason may be that as “shrewd” Americans, we believe that if anything seems to be too good to be true, it probably is.

The most common thing people associate with the honey bee is… well… honey. Often referred to as the “food of the gods,” honey was used by our ancestors as a food sweetener. Then someone along the way decided that he would try it for other ailments.  It is commonly understood that local honey will help with allergies, and it will, but it needs to be unheated, unfiltered honey from a local beekeeper, herb store, or natural food market. But this is only the tip of the iceberg in the healing properties of honey. Here is one example gathered from Fred Malone’s book Bees Don’t Get Arthritis “When I first got into the bee business I was also working as a welder. I had an accident with the torch one day and burned an area on my left forearm here about three inches by five inches. The welding torch was at about 2,500 degrees and it just cauterized itself. I didn’t even feel any pain for several hours. The hospital dressed the area and told me to come back in the morning. The next morning and thereafter I just put honey on that burn. A nice big scab formed, and it didn’t flake off around the edges like most scabs do. When it was ready to come off, it just lifted right off, and the skin underneath was pink and good. Look here, no scar” (Malone, 87).

 Honey is also good for healthy skin. “Honey’s antimicrobial properties make it useful for the treatment of minor acne flair-ups. Also, unlike some acne treatments, honey doesn’t dry the skin.” (Traynor 26) Honey has also been found to be a remedy for antibiotic resistance.  “Honey’s mode of action in suppressing microbes is far different and more natural than that of antibiotics, and therefore, germ resistance is less likely with honey. Much of honey’s antimicrobial activity is bacteriostatic (freezing the bacteria in time and preventing them from spreading) rather than bactericidal, or killing the bacteria” (Traynor 33). Honey also helps hangovers, cramps, coughs, colds, and flu. What an amazingly great sweet!

Bee pollen is also an important portion of apitherapy. Bee pollen is known as the world’s perfect food. “It contains most of the known nutrients, including all of those necessary for human survival. When compared to any other food, it contains a higher percentage of all necessary nutrients. Bee pollen is approximately 25% complete protein, containing at least 18 amino acids. In addition, bee pollen contains more that a dozen vitamins, 28 minerals, 11 enzymes or co-enzymes, 14 beneficial fatty acids, 11 carbohydrates, is rich in minerals, and the full spectrum of vitamins and hormones. It is low in calories.”(Indianchild.com)

Lyle Hurd in Total Health Magazine tells us of a United States Department of Agriculture study where bee pollen delayed the onset of mammary tumors. Cancer cellular growth slowed to half the original rate in mice.  

Bees get pollen from plants, pack them into pollen baskets on their legs, mix the granules with enzymes, and store the pollen in the hive for food. Humans obtain bee pollen by using specially made pollen traps. These traps gently remove some pollen from the bee’s legs and trap the granules to be removed by the beekeeper. (Blackinstone 213)  Total Health Magazine tells us of a tribe of beekeepers in Soviet Georgia in which 200 individuals were over 125 years old. They were healthy and most of them still worked every day. They sold all the clean honey, but they kept the dirty honey for themselves. This dirty (unfiltered) honey was confirmed by lab analysis to have bee pollen in it. Bee pollen is also used by athletes for endurance and fast recovery.

Propolis, often called bee glue, is a resin collected by the bees from trees.  The bees mix resin with wax flakes, and use it to glue up holes in the hive. They also use it to mummify unwanted intruders that are too large to remove by themselves. The bees also use it to line the brood cells to provide the larvae with a sanitary place to begin life. “Propolis offers antiseptic, antibiotic, antibacterial, antifungal, and even antiviral properties. It is the strongest antibiotic known to man. It has no toxic side effects, no contraindications, nor upper limits of ingestion” (Hurd). A person can make a propolis tincture, for the treatment of minor cuts, rashes, and abrasions by mixing equal parts 100 proof vodka or grain alcohol and propolis. However, this mixture must be heated in a closed heat-proof bottle in a 200 degree oven, and the mixture must be shaken every 30 minutes, continuing until the propolis is dissolved into the alcohol (Blackstone 242).

Royal jelly is a secretion from the hypopharyngela gland in the head of the nurse bee. She feeds the royal jelly to the baby bees and the queen. It is believed that this is what gives the queen a long life and the ability to lay around 3,000 eggs per day. It is also what makes an ordinary worker bee larvae become a queen bee. (Blackistone, 27) Steve Meyerowitz in Better Nutrition confirms that with this statement: “Royal Jelly is believed to increase vitality. It improves the health of the skin, heals wounds, and may stave off skin aging and wrinkles. RoyalJelly also has potential as an anti-cancer and anti-tumor agent. It stimulates the production of spleen and lymph cells, which makes more antibodies available to remove toxic substances and fight the spread of disease. Royalisin, a protein in royal jelly, suppresses certain types of bacteria including staphylococcus and streptococcus.” (Meyerowitz)

Bee Venom is the product of a bee sting. It has been used for decades as a cure for arthritis and general inflammation.” Only lately, November 11,1933 in one of the Duluth, Minnesota, papers an article appeared which stated that August Halgren, 73 years old, who had been badly crippled with rheumatism 17 years ago, started a bee farm at the time because bee stings were supposed to cure rheumatism. It worked, he reported. Not only did it work, but it provided Halgren with a prosperous business. He now maintains a farm of 157 hives. All comers are supplied with enough bee stings to cure their rheumatic pains. A Duluth grocer, virtually crippled when he first visited Halgren’s farm, credits his bees with a complete cure.”(Beck, 20)

Dr. Joseph Broadman tells us that “Bee venom attacks the contributing causative factors of arthritis and rheumatism: it does not merely treat symptoms as do the so called “wonder” drugs. It attacks at the cellular level where every disease begins.” More recently, there has been some progress using bee venom therapy as a treatment for multiple sclerosis. In the previously mentioned book Bees Don’t Get Arthritis by Fred Malone the author travels the United States gathering information on bee venom and all the products of the bee. He found that only one beekeeper he contacted had even known one person who died of cancer. What an interesting fact to ponder, apparently the bees don’t get cancer either.

Beeswax is produced by the bees to create the comb and cap off the honey. Beeswax is used in lip balms, lotions, creams and furniture polish. Soap makers use it in homemade soap to produce a hard, long lasting bar. When used for skin care products, the natural, unbleached version of bees wax is better because it still contains some bee pollen. Beekeepers say that burning a pure beeswax candle with a natural wick can purify the air in a room.

So, those are the products of the honey bee. These great little gifts from God have given us a wealth of wares to harvest, and in the words of Dr, Broadman, “I tell you that a solution to your problems is within your grasp. It is your right to be free from pain and crippling transformations. You must demand that freedom - even if you have to educate your doctor to get it.” The next time you are in a garden and spot a honey bee, don’t swat at her, but instead, thank her for all her hard work, and send her on her way. 

 

Works Cited

Beck, Bodog F. The Bible of Bee Venom Therapy. Silver Springs: Health Resources Press, Inc, 1997

Blackiston, Howland. Beekeeping for Dummies. New York: Hungry Minds Inc., 2002

Broadman, Joseph, M.D. Bee Venom Therapy Health Resources Press, Inc,1997

Hurd, Lyle. “Health from the Honeybee” Total Health Volume 22, No 3

Malore, Fred. Bees Don’t Get Arthritis. New York: Thomas Congdon Books, 1979

Meyerowitz, Steve. “Will You Bee Mine?” Better Nutrition; May 2002 Vol. 62 Issue 5 p54

Traynor, Joe. Honey, The Gourmet Medicine. Bakersfield: Kovak Books, 2002

Unknown Author. “Bees” Indian Child Online. 16 Feb. 2005 http://www.indianchild.com/bees.html