Apitherapy Products Could Help Alleviate Poverty

Bee Cultivation: A Good Job Option for Women
The New Nation (Bangladesh), 1/8/2009

Halima Begum of Tangail district was married off with a poor man of neigbouring Mymensingh district when she was only 13. Endured poverty in her father's house since her birth, Halima finds no change in her plight even after her marriage.

By the time they have got two daughters and their economic condition has worsened further. Then frustrated Halima has started thinking that now it is her turn to salvage their sinking family.

One day she came to know from one of her neighbours about bee cultivation. Later, she received training on it from Proshika, an NGO. Apart from her own capital of Tk 500, she took a loan of Tk 2,000 from Proshika to start bee cultivation. And that was the turning point. Soon she has overcome her economic hardship. Halima, in her late 20s, is now a happy woman…

BAA general secretary Abdul Alim Bhuiyan says four varieties of bee are available in Bangladesh. They are apis malifera, apis dorsata, apis serena and apis frolria. Of them, apis malifera and apis serena can be cultivated in boxes while the other two varieties are available in the natural environment…

Various flowers and fruits are available in Bangladesh due to geographical reasons. Bees collect honey from corn type flowers. The highest amount of honey is available from November to June. Mustard is the main source of honey. Besides, bees collect honey from litchi, sundari, keora, garan and different types of flowers…

Experts say honey is not only a good drink. It also resists different diseases. Besides, there are some important byproducts like bee poisons, royal jelly, pollen etc produced from bee cultivation. These byproducts are used in treatments of many serious diseases…

Apitherapy Lecture Jan. 10 in Pennsylvania

Master Gardeners to Cover ‘The 3 B’s’
The Herald (USA), 1/6/2009

Mercer County Master Gardeners are hosting “The Three B’s” from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Leslie N. Firth Learning Center, U.S. Route 19, Coolspring Township…

James Higgins will discuss, “Bees — Honey and More.” The beekeeper is president of the Highland County Beekeepers Association. He has trained bee venom therapists, teaches at the American Apitherapy Society’s annual school and has lectured in the United States, Canada and Cuba.

Bee Pollen Part of Diet Popular with Celebrities

US Weekly Names Tosca Reno’s Eat-Clean Diet as Top 5 Hollywood-favored

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eating Clean is becoming popular with Hollywood Celebrities, especially at this time of year when many red carpet events are right around the corner starting with the upcoming Golden Globe and SAG Awards shows.

US Weekly’s January 12th issue stated that Academy Award winners Nicole Kidman and Halle Berry are Clean-Eating fans of Celebrity Expert/Bestselling Author Tosca Reno’s Eat-Clean Diet.

The Eat-Clean principle is to eat 5-6 meals every 2-3 hours daily that combine lean protein and complex carbs at each meal (stabilizes blood sugar levels) with tons of water. It avoids all over-processed, refined foods, especially white flour and sugar. The Eat-Clean Diet incorporates 7 Super foods along with flaxseed, wheat germ and bee pollen that rev up your metabolism and give you endless energy…

Cancer Survivor Promotes Health Benefits of Honey

Cancer Survivor Toasts New Life with Sweet Biz
By Clem Richardson, New York Daily News, 1/5/2009

David Luks, owner of Honeydrop drinks, at the Wholefoods Market in Tribeca, which sells his product.

Two bouts of self-examination changed David Luks' life.

The second might not be bad for his wallet, either.

The first was physical. Early in 2006 a self-examination helped Luks, 34, learn that he had testicular cancer…

Luks was lucky. His cancer was in its earliest stage. The tumor was so small that doctors did not recommend chemotherapy or radiation treatments after his surgery.

But like any cancer survivor Luks must have regular medical exams to make sure there is no relapse. He also had to examine his lifestyle. With help from a community of doctors and nutritionists, Luks learned to live healthier.

"About eight months ago, one of my nutritionists gave me an article about honey," he said. Luks learned that honey contains antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and is a complex carbohydrate that can be a big part of a healthy life.

"I remembered when I used to run in Central Park the runners used to take a spoonful of honey before they ran and they had all this energy," he said.

Luks used to work for Pepsico, the giant soft drink bottler, so an idea came readily to his mind.

Luks and Skidmore College friend Steven Zimmerman, 32, founded Deluxe Honeydrop, a company that now produces four flavors of honey-infused water - Blueberries, Apples, Blood Oranges and Chamomile tea.

Launched last October at a Boston trade show, Deluxe Honeydrop is now available at all New York area Whole Foods markets...

Honey Recommended for Allergies

Of Bees and Caterpillars
The New York Times, 1/5/2009

To the Editor:

As a beekeeper, I was drawn to “The Buzz of Bees, though Benign, Halts Caterpillars’ Munching” (Observatory, Dec. 30) and pleased to learn of another benefit of the remarkable honeybee. From there my eye descended to the item on “Tormenting Pollens.” There is an important connection. Honey is the perfect antidote to those pollens. In much of the world, it is understood that a teaspoon of local honey daily can immunize sufferers from the bothersome sneezing, runny nose and weeping eyes. It is yet another way in which the honeybee and her products are a boon to humans.

Christine Lehner
Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.

Propolis Cuts Cold Sore Healing Time by Half

Ask the Experts: What’s the Alternative? Cold Sores
By Vicky Perks, Western Mail (UK), 1/5/2009

Cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus which enters the body and travels to the top end of the nerves, where it lies dormant.

During this inactive state there is no sign of infection. It is only when the virus is woken up – or activated – that the cold sore forms…

Most conventional cold sore treatments are only effective at the tingling stage, before the blisters occur. Once the blister has reared its ugly head it can take up to 10 days for the cold sore to run its course.

However, clinical trials show some herbal remedies can be effective at every stage of a cold sore.

Research published in Phytomedicine 2000 shows that Bio-Propolis from Bioforce can heal cold sores in just over three days, even after blistering has occurred.

Derived from a beeswax extract collected from a specific variety of Canadian poplar trees, Bio-Propolis helps to prevent the cold sore virus from replicating and reduces pain.

It is rich in amino acids, trace elements and flavonoids, which together have an antiseptic, antibacterial and antifungal effect. Indeed studies have shown that it can reduce healing time by up to 50%...

Video: Healing Wounds with Honey

Doctors are going back in time to treat wounds with something most people have in their kitchen cupboards.

New Manuka Honey Skin Care Line

Manuka Honey Handcreme & Gel from £12 (€13.35)
Independent (Ireland), 1/5/2009

For gentle, nourishing skin products, try this new apitherapy (treatment with honey) range.

And not just any honey either, it is certified UMF 16+ Active Manuka Honey, an ingredient with healing properties, including free radicals which help to fight the ageing process.

According to New Zealand professor Peter Molan, the antibacterial property helps improve skin texture and retain moisture and is of great benefit to psoriasis and eczema sufferers.

See http://www.simplymanuka.co.uk/ for more details…

Video: Honey May Help Heal Burns

Honey may be an effective alternative treatment for burns.

Review: Australian Jarrah Bee Pollen from Vivapura

By Mike Adams, Natural News Network, 1/2/2009

Natural health and nutrition advocates already know the many benefits of bee pollen: It's a remarkable superfood that's loaded with enzymes, amino acids, vitamins, minerals and healing phytonutrients. (That's why bees use it for food, too.)

Among bee pollen products, it's difficult to know which ones are superior, so I asked the raw foods enthusiasts at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center (http://www.treeoflife.nu/) who told me they used the Australian Jarrah Bee Pollen available from http://www.vivapura.net/

What's so special about this "Jarrah" variety of bee pollen? Jarrah honey is from Western Australia, and it is renowned for its ability to accelerate wound healing. It's likely similar to Manuka Honey, which has actually been approved by the U.S. FDA for use as a topical treatment for healing wounds and burns (http://www.naturalnews.com/023670.html).

Jarrah bee pollen, of course, is made from the same plants that Jarrah honey comes from, so it almost certainly has many of the same healing properties. Among raw foods enthusiasts, it is widely considered the very best bee pollen in the world…

Recipe for Honey Hair and Scalp Conditioner

Beauty Remedies from Kitchen, Garden
By Ronna Capili, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 1/2/2009

Hair Conditioner

Mix 3 tbsp of honey with 1/3 cup olive oil. Heat in microwave, then work in and leave on hair for 30 minutes in a shower cap. Shampoo and rinse afterwards. Squeeze juice from half a lemon and mix with a mug of hot water as a final rinse for hair. This clears up buildup and residue on scalp and hair and controls grease…

Royal Jelly Component May Have Antihypertensive Activity

Expression of Apalbumin1 of Apis cerana cerana in the Larvae of Silkworm, Bombyx mori
J. Agric. Food Chem, 2008, 56 (20), pp 9464–9468

Royal jelly (RJ) is a thick, milky material produced by both the hypopharyngeal and the mandibular glands of nurse honeybees. The main proteins of RJ, named apalbumins or major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs), have multiple biological functions. Apalbumin1 is the most abundant glycoprotein of RJ.

In this study, Bacmid-apalbumin1 was constructed for Apis cerana cerana using the newly established Bac-to-Bac/BmNPV baculovirus expression system (BES)…

The peptide Ile-Phe was identified from trypsin production of rAccapalbumin1. Such a peptide has been reported to have an antihypertensive ability. Our results have therefore potential applications in biomedical research and open new perspectives for the study of apalbumins.

Fake Malaysian Medicinal Honey Exposed

Orang Asli Used To Sell Fake Honey
By Sakina Mohamed

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 (Bernama) -- Several Orang Asli have been unwittingly exploited by certain parties to sell a syrupy solution which is being passed off as honey at Orang Asli stalls at the Sungai Perak rest area.

Those visiting the stalls, located along the North-South Expressway, could be easily lured into buying the amber-coloured, bottled solution, thinking that it is genuine wild honey harvested by the Orang Asli.

A Universiti Malaya biochemist chanced upon the scam after testing samples of the honey from the stalls.

Prof Kamaruddin Mohd Yusoff, who is from the Faculty of Medicine and specialises in the use of honey, said he bought the syrup intending to analyse the properties of wild honey harvested by the Orang Asli…

"People buy this honey thinking it is more potent than those in the market when it's not, and they may need it for medical use.

"There may also be foreign tourists who have bought this "honey", thinking it is pure Malaysian wild honey, and it would be very bad for Malaysia's image if by any chance they discover that they have been duped," he said…

Chinese Honey Scam Targets Australia

Stung by Honey-Launder Scam
Weekly Times Now (Australia), 1/1/2009

Australia has been caught up in an international "honey laundering" scam in which Chinese honey is disguised and sold as the product of another country.

The illegal scheme follows the collapse of bee colonies in the US and Europe, creating a shortage of honey and the bees necessary to pollinate crops, The Times and The Australian report

In the scam, drums of honey are shipped from China, usually to a distributor outside the country, who then repackages and re-exports it. In one case, drums of Chinese honey were marked "Polish Light Amber Honey"…

Buckwheat, Blueberry Honeys Most Active Against Wound Bacteria

Evaluation of Efficacy of Canadian Honeys Against Wound-Infecting Bacteria in vitro

[Note: The results of this study were presented at the recent convention of the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association in Niagara Falls, Canada.]

Authors: Katrina Brudzynski, Robert Lanningan
Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario, Canada

Honeys possessing antibacterial activity have been demonstrated to be useful as an adjunct topical treatment of infected wounds and burns. Canadian honeys have been shown to posses antibacterial activity against two standard bacterial species, Gram-negative Escherichia coli (ATCC 14948) and Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633), however their activity against wound-infecting bacteria have not been adequately investigated yet.

Purpose: To evaluate the susceptibility of seven clinical isolates from infected wounds to Canadian honeys in vitro.

Methodology: The isolates included four different strains of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), two strains of Vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecium and Escherichia coli. A broth microdilution method was employed to establish the MIC 90 for each isolate against seven honeys derived from different plant sources. Isolates were identified to genus and species and their susceptibility to antibiotics was confirmed using an automated system (Vitek R, Biomérieux R). The presence of the Mec A gene, Nuc gene and Van A and B genes were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction.

Results: The antibacterial assays showed that all bacterial isolates tested were susceptible to honey action. The most susceptible to honeys were two strains of MRSA (MRSA #3 and #5), the least susceptible was E. coli from wound. The antibacterial potency of honeys against clinical isolates depended on their plant origin, with the monofloral honeys (buckwheat and blueberry) reaching MIC90 values of 6.25 % (v/v) to 12.5% (v/v).

Conclusions: Canadian honeys showed efficacy against both the standard bacterial species as well as the antibiotic-resistant clinical isolates from wounds. Therefore, the mechanism of honey action did not discriminate against susceptible versus resistant bacterial species. Buckwheat and blueberry honeys were consistently the most active honeys suggesting that the phytochemical compound(s) might be responsible for the activity. These results strongly suggest that some monofloral Canadian honeys are promising antimicrobial agents in treatment of infected wounds including those infected with MRSA and VRE.