It's totally amazing what the bees provide for us. In this day of drug store dependence we forget that some of the most powerful ways to be healthy is to simplify and utilize nature.
Bees gather pollen and bring it back to their hives. They store it in the breeding combs to feed on throughout the year. They often times gather more pollen than they need, so many beekeepers harvest the extra pollen from their bees by using a contraption that the bees crawl through when they back from foraging. Some of the pollen gets brushed off of them and drops into a collection tray below.
Health benefits from pollen have been known for hundreds of years. In a world filled with largely unsubstantiated claims of miraculous "super foods," bee pollen appears to be the real deal. Many people take daily doses of bee pollen granules as a dietary supplement, since it does contain nearly every element required for healthy living, including B-complex vitamins, folic acid, free amino acids and proteins. Raw bee pollen is also high in carbohydrates, and may even contain natural antibiotics.
The medicinal value of bee pollen is still being studied, but so far there have been credible claims of improved fertility, weight loss, allergy reduction, improved hemoglobin production and lower LDL cholesterol levels. Bee pollen has also been shown to improve allergic conditions such as hay fever, if taken at least 6 weeks before the start of allergy season. There is also anecdotal evidence that regular ingestion of raw bee pollen may improve migraine headaches, digestive tract ulcers, and certain urinary tract infections. Bee pollen's natural antibiotic properties may be responsible for these results, or it may be a case of desensitization to allergens as a person builds up a tolerance for plant pollen.
There are also claims that ingredients in bee pollen can curb a person's appetite while also providing additional energy for exercise and natural increases in metabolism.
One of the easiest ways to get pollen into your body is to eat unprocessed honey from a local beekeeper. Try your local farmers market or purchase honey from a small family farm (try online) for the freshest honey. Unprocessed honey is simply not pasteurized or heavily filtered. Pollen continues to float in the honey. This does make the honey susceptible to cloudiness and crystallization, but the health benefits are real. If your honey crystallizes just place the jar in warm water. The crystals will then melt.
Honey has been known for its well-established antioxidant and antimicrobial effects, which may be responsible for its wound healing properties:
How honey kills bacteria
Times of India, Jul 1, 2010
Scientists have identified a secret ingredient in honey that kills bacteria.
They have found that bees make a protein that they add to the honey, called defensin-1, which could one day be used to treat burns and skin infections and to develop new drugs that could combat antibiotic-resistant infections.
"We have completely elucidated the molecular basis of the antibacterial activity of a single medical-grade honey, which contributes to the applicability of honey in medicine," said Sebastian A.J. Zaat, a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Medical Microbiology at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam.
"Honey or isolated honey-derived components might be of great value for prevention and treatment of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria," he added.
To make the discovery, Zaat and colleagues investigated the antibacterial activity of medical-grade honey in test tubes against a panel of antibiotic-resistant, disease-causing bacteria.
They developed a method to selectively neutralize the known antibacterial factors in honey and determine their individual antibacterial contributions. Ultimately, researchers isolated the defensin-1 protein, which is part of the honeybee immune system and is added by bees to honey.
After analysis, the scientists concluded that the vast majority of honey's antibacterial properties come from that protein.
This information also sheds light on the inner workings of honey bee immune systems, which may one day help breeders create healthier and heartier honey bees.
The study has been published in the July 2010 print edition of the FASEB Journal .
Another amazing byproduct of the bees is the propolis they make to plug up holes and cracks. Propolis is a natural antibiotic that is fast gaining in popularity in the application of home remedies! What exactly is propolis?
Some trees and conifers produce sticky resins as part of their immune system to defend themselves against disease. Honey bees collect these substances that ooze from the buds of these plants. After chewing them and mixing them with their saliva and other substances, propolis is formed. This nutrient-rich substance is of vital importance for the survival of the honey bees in the beehive. It is created to sterilize the hive and protect it against diseases and infection. Not only does it help to inhibit the spread of bacteria, virus, and fungi that would otherwise pose a significant threat in the closely-knit quarters, it also and help fight against climatic changes, such as wind and cold. It is also used as a "putty" to seal cracks and openings in the hive and to strengthen and repair honeycombs, and for this reason is also known as 'bee glue'. Another fact that amazes me is that honey bees also use this sticky substance to embalm or "mummify" the carcasses of larger insects that invade the hive. Such intruders are immediately stung to death but because the defending bees can't transport such heavy corpse away from the hive, they embalm them rather than allowing them to decay. The ancient Eygptians observed this and used propolis as one of the embalming agents for their exquisite mummies!
Propolis contains approximately 50-70% resins, 30% wax, 10% etheric oils and 5% pollen. It is especially rich in amino acids, important for immune system function. It has a high vitamin content (Vitamin A (carotene), Vitamin B1, B2, B3, biotin) and is extremely rich in bioflavonoids (Vitamin P) which are believed to have numerous immune building properties and health benefits. Bioflavonoids are the natural pigments in fruits and vegetables and are found in abundance in oranges. This bee glue contains almost 500 times more bioflavonoids than is found in oranges! It also contains an array of albumin, calcium, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus. Like Royal Jelly and Bee Pollen, it contains a number of unidentified compounds which work together synergistically to create a balanced, nutritive substance.
Many thanks to the following site, and for more information about the health benefits of bee products please visit http://www.benefits-of-honey.com
recipes:
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a home remedy for colds, cough and congestion:
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamonMix the two together and eat once a day until symptoms disappear.
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A face mask that the ladies will enjoy: 1 egg yolk
1 or 2 tablespoons honeyMix the two together very well until it is creamy. If it's too thin, add a little more honey. When first mixing, it will look separated. Keep mixing with a spoon - it will blend very well. Apply to the face avoiding the eye area. Leave on for 20 minutes and then rinse off. You won't believe how soft your skin will be. This is also great for wrinkles.