Beeswax ‘Ear Candling’ Gains Popularity

Wax In, Wax Out
Ear therapy gains popularity while some question its effectiveness
By Jennifer Vogelsong, Daily Record/Sunday News (USA), 3/13/2006

Mar 13, 2006 — Ann Heisler stretched out on a table in the dimmed light of the massage room, her head resting on a pillow, her body covered with a quilt.

A trickle of water from a relaxation fountain mingled with soothing sounds from the stereo in the corner. An orange flame flickered steadily from the candle protruding from her ear.

Candle protruding from her ear?

Well, more like a candle-shaped tube made from strips of muslin dipped in beeswax and infused with herbs. It's ear candling, or coning - an ages-old procedure that's gaining popularity with the acceptance of alternative medicine and traditional therapies.

Heisler gets her ears candled once a month because chronic allergies often make them feel clogged. It's a procedure she first learned of two years ago, when she went to Tranquil Touch Bodyworks in Red Lion for a massage…

History of Ear Candling
What it Does
Where to Find Them
Where to Get it Done
Precautions

Apitherapy Used to Treat Cerebral Palsy in Ukraine

International Clinic of Rehabilitation

Objective: Supporting the entire body thanks to the local action of the bee poison (apitoxin) (for improving circulation of the blood and the metabolism) and to the systemic action of the bee poison (stimulating metabolism, immune strength, hormone levels, circulation of the blood), which affects the entire body.

Method: The therapeutic properties of bee products such as bee poison, honey and wax have been known since medicine was practised in ancient times; today, they are researched as to their chemical composition and effective mechanisms.

Direct bee poison is not used in the rehabilitation centre; the sting is removed from the bee and introduced into the patient's skin where desired. This leads to a reduction in the patient's fear and pain factors and to a simpler dosing and determination of where the bee poison needs to be applied for exploiting its local effect. Beeswax is used therapeutically in the form of hot compresses, applied once per day on various parts of the body.

Doctor: Only Pure Honey is Effective Against Diseases

African News Dimension (South Africa), 3/12/2006

ONE of the most popular “drugs” in our society today is honey. Apart from having medicinal values, honey to many people is also a good food, especially those who doesn’t like sugar and the diabetics.

Honey also wards off many ailment and diseases and therefore, it has been regarded as a God-given drug, which has been proven to have various uses. Some even called it “universal medicine”.

But honey may not be able to fight any ailment or cure certain diseases if it is not pure. It thus means that whenever we want to use honey for any healing purpose, we should endeavour to look for the pure one.

These were the words of Dr. Nurudeen Animasaun when responding to a question on the reason why some type of honey are not effective in curing some ailments and diseases...

US Wound-Care Firm Signs Deal with NZ Medicinal Honey Producer

Wound-Care Company Announces Licensing Deal with Comvita
Medical Patent Week, 3/19/2006

Derma Sciences, Inc., (DSCI) announced that the company has entered into a long-term exclusive licensing deal with Comvita, Ltd., a New Zealand-based natural health products company.

The licensing deal, which includes patents and other intellectual property, covers the use of Comvita's Medical Manuka honey-based products for the management of chronic wounds, skin tears, post operative wounds, and burns.

Under the agreement, Derma Sciences will receive the exclusive manufacturing and marketing rights to the products throughout the Americas (North, Central, and South)…

Edward J. Quilty, president and CEO of Derma Sciences, said, "We are delighted to enter into this exclusive agreement with Comvita. Comvita has a strong reputation for utilizing raw materials from natural sources and is highly regarded in the natural health products industry. Honey has been used for its healing properties for thousands of years, and the unique qualities found in manuka honey have been shown in clinical studies to be effective in the management of leg ulcers, pressure sores, and post operative conditions. It's capable of treating some of the more antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, a significant and growing problem for hospitals."…

New Zealand Beekeepers Focus on Honey’s Antibacterial Properties

It's Such a Honey of a Buzz
The New Zealand Herald, 3/10/2006

Take up beekeeping and never be bored again - that is what Paul and Sheryl Steens did, building up their business from two to three hives to more than 6000.

It started 23 years ago when Paul Steens gave up his day job as a butcher and culminated in last year's purchase of a 2000-hive Wairarapa operation that will allow Steens Honey to produce between 200 and 250 tonnes of honey each year.

Their main business is supplying active manuka honey to Comvita, Honey New Zealand and other international outlets (active honey has antibacterial properties)…

The Steens got a Technology New Zealand grant to help with the research.

"We're looking into where the antibacterial activity starts and what we could do to enhance the activity. Also as part of that study, we'll be asking what the activity is."

The firm has a tracking system to monitor all production levels and trace where the honey comes from…

Instead of the time-honoured couple of litres of honey for permission to put hives on farms, Steens Honey pays landowners for putting their hives in manuka.

"We're looking at getting manuka plantations started so, in dollar terms, we pay quite a bit. Landowners get a percentage based on the antibacterial activity of the honey and the volume. It's more profitable and sustainable than pine trees and gives people a vested interest."

Worker Bees are Nature's Most Efficient Architects

Daily Press (USA), 3/7/2006

While there are many animal architects, one of the more impressive is the honey bee.

Working in the cavity of a hollow tree or other suitable space of about a cubic foot, honey bees can take pollen and nectar gathered from flowers and construct their hive.

All of the necessary tasks of building and maintaining a hive are done by the worker bees. Worker bees are the non-reproductive adult females that make up the vast majority of the hive's residents. Young worker bees between 12 and 18 days old are the ones whose job is comb construction.

The comb is the main feature of a bee hive. It consists of flat vertical panels of six-sided cells made of beeswax. Beeswax is secreted from four pairs of glands on the underside of worker bees' abdomen. The worker bees take the beeswax and form it into the cells using their mouths.

The cells of the comb provide the internal structure of the hive and are used to store the developing young bees and all the provisions used by the colony. The comb has these six-sided cells on both sides, each cell perfectly uniform in shape and built with a precise distance from other cells depending on whether it will be used for storing food (honey or pollen) or young bees (brood comb). This six-sided shape uses the least amount of wax for the volume of the cell and each wall serves two cells...

American Apitherapy Society Responds to Study on BVT and MS

AAS's Response to the Recent Article on MS in "Neurology"
American Apitherapy Society

A few months ago the Journal “Neurology” published an article with the title “A[…] Study of Bee Sting Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis,” written by a team of neurologists. Their idea was to examine how well bee sting therapy works for MS. . .

This work led the neurologists to the following conclusion:

“…we found that the sting therapy had no significant effect on disease activity as measured using….”

We apitherapists and health care providers have serious reservations about this team's design, the execution, and their conclusion.

Now, let me present some commentary about the response we sent to the Journal “Neurology,” the text of which follows this introduction.

Our first reservation regards their technique. They followed an approach of stinging exclusively on the thighs; this approach corresponds to nothing that experienced apitherapists do.

Our second reservation concerns the team's assessment of disease activity and the markers of disease they used: brain lesions as seen on an MRI. The patients in the second group (who had no treatment in the initial twenty-four weeks) developed four times as many lesions as they had developed in the preceding eight to nine years of their illness. We question, therefore, the relevance of the markers chosen.

Our last major concern addresses their statistics. Statistics are ways to evaluate the meaning of measurements. The results the team obtained had such a wide range of values that their statistics did not show significant differences between the beginning and ending measurements. This, however, may have been due to the type of statistical analysis that was done. . .

Apitherapy Workshop April 22 in Maine

Use of Products of the Beehive for Health and Healing

When: Saturday, April 22, 2006, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: Royal River Natural Foods, 443 US Route 1 Freeport, ME
For More Information: American Apitherapy Society

Bee-Collected Pollen Recommended for Hay Fever

Banish Hay Fever the Natural Way
By Erica Angyal, The Japan Times, 3/7/2006

As winter draws to a close, most of us are eagerly awaiting the first signs of spring. Other less fortunate people, however, are busy stockpiling antihistamines, eye drops, face masks, herbal remedies or anything else that will help get them through the anguish of kafunsho (hay fever), which will soon sweep through Japan.

When the runny nose and itchy eyes of hay fever strikes, stick to an anti-inflammatory diet, which includes olive oil and fish such as salmon. . .

Bee pollen may also be effective in alleviating hay fever symptoms. Take it a few weeks before the hay fever season starts. It desensitizes the body and can reduce hay fever symptoms. . .

New Japanese Drink Contains Royal Jelly, Propolis

Within each Potion bottle, you get 100ml of "herb drink," a subtle blend of Royal Jelly, Propolis Extract, Elderberry, Camomile, Sage, Thyme, Hyssop, Fennel, Marjoram, Rosemary, Basil and Melissa, not to mention carbonated water, caffeine and artificial coloring. . .

Greek Study Finds Honey Contaminated with Chemicals Used to Treat for Wax-Moths

Contamination of Honey by Chemicals Applied to Protect Honeybee Combs from Wax-Moth
Food Addit Contam, 2006 Feb;23(2):159-63

Greek honey was monitored during a three-year surveillance program for residues of chemicals used to protect honey-bee combs from wax-moth. A total of 115 samples purchased from stores (commercial samples) and 1060 samples collected from beekeepers (bulk samples) were analysed for 1,4-dichlorobenzene (p-DCB), 1,2-dibromoethane (DBE) and naphthalene...

During the first year of the study, 82.9% of the commercial samples had residues of p-DCB that exceeded the established limit of 10 microg/kg(-1), whilst during the second year 53.6% and during the third 30% exceeded the limit. The percentage of beekeepers samples that had more than 10 microg/kg(-1) decreased from 46.6 to 34.7% and 39.8% respectively during the three consecutive years of analysis. . .

Naphthalene was found in more commercial samples than in samples from beekeepers during the first year, but decreased to similar levels during the next two years. Honeys that are produced earlier in the season are more contaminated those produced later.

Immunostimulatory Effect of Honey Based on Royal Jelly Protein Content

International Immunopharmacology, Volume 6, Issue 2, February 2006, Pages 269-278

Abstract: Apalbumin1 (Apa1) is the major royal jelly (RJ) and honey glycoprotein having various biological properties. We have previously demonstrated that Apa1 is a regular component of honey and honeybee pollen and stimulates macrophages to release tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα). . .

It has been determined that recombinant N-terminal fragment of Apa1 is the most active elicitor of TNFα release in comparison to other three protein fragments of Apa1, as well as to the native Apa1 and rApa1.

Furthermore, it was found that native honey was able to stimulate TNFα secretion from murine macrophages, whereas the deproteinized honey had no effect on the release of TNFα. This result suggests that immunostimulatory effect of honey is based on its RJ-protein content, primarily on its dominant protein Apa1.

Corresponding author. Tel.: +421 2 5941 0203; fax: +421 2 5930 7416.

BVT Safe for Patients with MS

Honeybee Venom Extract is Safe for Patients with Multiple Sclerosis
Drug Week, 3/10/2006

Honeybee venom extract is a safe treatment for patients with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis.

According to recent research from the United States, "Although several reports suggest that bee venom may be an effective treatment for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), patients may be subjected to real risks of serious allergic reactions as well as emotional and economic costs. This study was conducted to evaluate the safety of bee venom extract as a possible treatment for patients with progressive forms of MS."

"A total of nine bee venom nonallergic patients with progressive forms of MS, who were 21-55 years of age with no other illnesses, were entered into four groups (A, B, C, and D) on a structured one-year immunization schedule," explained Henry J. Castro and colleagues at Georgetown University. . .

"Although no serious adverse allergic reactions were observed in any of the nine subjects, four experienced worsening of neurological symptoms, requiring termination in the study; this could not be ascribed to side effects of the therapy. Of the remaining five subjects, three felt that the therapy had subjective amelioration of symptoms and two showed objective improvement," reported Castro and his collaborators. . .

Castro and his coauthors published their study in Allergy and Asthma Proceedings (A phase I study of the safety of honeybee venom extract as a possible treatment for patients with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis. Allergy Asthma Proc, 2005;26(6):470-476).

For additional information, contact Joseph A. Bellanti, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Medical Center, 3800 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20057, USA. E-mail: bellantj@georgetown.edu.

Propolis Adds to Antimicrobial Effect of Antibiotics

Multifactorial Aspects of Antimicrobial Activity of Propolis
Microbiol Res, 1/18/2006

We investigated the antibacterial activity of sub-inhibitory concentrations of ethanolic extract of propolis (EEP), and its effect on the antibacterial activity of some antibiotics. . .Our results indicated that EEP had a significant antimicrobial activity towards all tested clinical strains. Adding EEP to antibacterial tested drugs, it drastically increased the antimicrobial effect of ampicillin, gentamycin and streptomycin, moderately the one of chloramphenicol, ceftriaxon and vancomycin, while there was no effect with erithromycin. . .

'Honey and Wellness' Brochure Available Online

Honey and Wellness
National Honey Board (USA)

Honey is very likely the world's most ancient sweetener and has been in use throughout the world across the millennia. Honey's popularity and versatility is evident from the variety of uses it has enjoyed throughout history.

From ancient times, honey has not only been used as a sweetener but as a natural beauty agent and has been employed by some cultures for its medicinal attributes. . .

Honey's Nutritional Profile

Honey is composed primarily of carbohydrates and water, and also includes small amounts of a wide array of vitamins and minerals, including B vitamins such as niacin, riboflavin, and pantothenic acid, along with minerals such as calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and zinc.

Honey as a Source of Antioxidants

It has been hypothesized that consuming more antioxidant-rich foods may help protect against cellular damage and possibly prevent the development of chronic diseases. Research indicates that honey includes numerous compounds with antioxidant potential. The amount and type of these antioxidant compounds depends largely upon the floral source/variety of the honey. In general, darker honeys (Buckwheat honey) have been shown to be higher in antioxidant content than lighter honeys (Clover and Sage honey). While the antioxidant content of honey may not rival that of some of the more antioxidant-rich fruits (berries and apples) and vegetables (kale and beans), on a gram for gram basis, honey may, nevertheless, provide an additional source of dietary antioxidants. . .

Propolis May be Therapeutic Agent for Asthma

Propolis Extracts Exhibit an Immunoregulatory Activity in an OVA-Sensitized Airway Inflammatory Animal Model
International Immunopharmacology, 2/28/2006

Abstract: Propolis, which has been used widely in folk medicine, has been shown to exhibit various biological activities but its immunoregulatory and anti-inflammatory activities in intact animals have not been well studied. We investigated these activities of propolis using an ovalbumin-induced asthma animal model. . .

The splenocytes from mice administered with propolis extracts (low- and high-dose groups) exhibit a strong inhibition of IL-10 secretion and up-regulation of IFN-γ secretion in splenocytes stimulated with concanavalin A (ConA). In addition, cytokine (IFN-γ, IL-6, and IL-10) secretion in OVA-stimulated splenocytes from the propolis groups was significantly lower than that in the control group.

These results suggest that propolis extracts may be a potential novel therapeutic agent for asthma.