Propolis Used to Treat Colds in UK

Cold Cure is Bee’s Knees
By Rachael Clegg, The York Press (UK), 4/4/2007

There's no cure for the common cold - or is there?

A honey farm in North Yorkshire may have a surprising answer to this age-old conundrum.

For the industrious bee has become a major player in the health industry - thanks partly to a Thirsk venture, which has helped put a substance called propolis on the sector's map.

Propolis is collected by bees from buds and trees, which is blended with wax flakes secreted from glands on their abdomens.

The natural antiseptic substance, which is pliable and sticky when warm, is then used by bees to line the interior cells of hives, creating an area protected from outside environments, in preparation for the queen's egg laying.

With humans it can be equally useful, acting as a remedy for eczema, sore throats, the treatment of burns - and also for the common cold.

Mike Spencer, manager of Bee Health honey farm in Thirsk, said: "We have thousands of customers who say they have been taking propolis for more than ten years, and haven't had a cold since."...