Propolis Cream Used to Treat Fire Ant Bites

Despite Importance of Insect for Crops, Most Beekeepers Today are Hobbyists
By Peggy Ussery, Dothan Eagle, 2/7/2008

…Roslyn Horton has been a beekeeper for five years. From Horton Honey Farm in Dale County, she has developed products using propolis, or bee glue — a resin created by bees to construct and seal hives. It’s a mixture of tree resin and bee secretions and is recognized for its antibacterial benefits.

Horton created Fire Ant First Aid cream, which she has sold for two years, and is working on a Beemu — a mix of propolis and emu oil to treat rashes, bug bites and cracked skin. The fire ant cream was an accidental creation. Horton was actually trying to develop a natural remedy for her father’s psoriasis when her husband came in with up to 40 fire ant bites. Her propolis concoction was all she had handy, so she put it on her husband’s bites. The bites healed without even one pustule…