Bee products uses

[Summerbee]

OK, I was not sure where to put this, so I put it in the main forum...

  Ever since I started keeping bees, everyone is asking for honey, (understandably  :roll: ), but then I have many, many, MANY people asking about honey, pollen, propolis etc for holistic purposes.  I have people swearing that a drop of honey daily will fend off their allergies (Aunt Edna told me so!),  that pollen in your drink will act as a laxative (I don't even know where that one came from), how honey and pollen together speeds up weight loss, and that beeswax is good for chewing gum.

  Now I must confess that I have tasted my hive .  The beeswax is semi-sweet if it has honey in it, but I have a feeling that if you had dental work that it would mess it up.  Propolis is rock solid and I only tried it once (yuck).  I can see where thepollen in thehoney might acclamate one's immune system to the pollen in the area, and relieve allergies some.  But of course I've no idea...

   I was wondering if anybody has ever even heard of this kind of stuff, and if there's any documentation on it (if any).  

Thanks!

[Kris^]

I've had many people buy my raw local honey because they believe it will help with allergies -- besides just tasting better than store-bought blends.  People who seek out local raw honey are generally more knowledgeable about the health benefits of honey over other sweeteners than your average shopper.  I haven't had anyone specifically ask about pollen or propolis yet, but I've been thinking about gathering and packaging some for people who might be interested.  I've seen pollen sold as a food supplement and for allergy treatments.  I've also seen tinctures of propolis used as dressings for small wounds, as honey is used, too.

-- Kris

[Jerrymac]

Here is a blog spot dedicated to this stuff

http://apitherapy.blogspot.com/

[Piper]

Many people swear by taking local raw honey as a means of combatting allergies.  It also helps to support your local beekeepers and tastes great.  :D Likewise some use pollen for much the same reasons, but I would be hesitant to try that method if severely allergic, plus the taste is not reputed to be very appealing.  Have also heard of making a tincture of propolis and alcohol to use as a kind of liquid bandage.  Early American settlers used beeswax and sap (I think) to make a chewing gum... but I think I'll be sticking with the more common uses of beeswax myself, like candle making, soaps and balms.  That's more than enough to keep me entertained!

[rsilver000]

The allergy story may be related to the idea that small amounts of something you are allergic to, will with exposure over time, desensitize you to that substance.  In the case of seasonal allergies, pollen is usually the culprit.  So the idea of ingesting raw honey is to gradually desensitize yourself and improve your problems.  

Not much in the medical journals about this, except warnings that it can cause anaphylactic reactions in people who are highly allergic to pollen and pollen byproducts.  Even so, that is a very, very rare reaction.

The tincture of propolis story for improving cuts etc is probably as much related to the alcohol in the tincture and its ability to kill/destroy bacteria as much or more than the propolis itself.
Rob

[BEE C]

I'm taking a beekeeping course with a local beekeeper.  He showed us some of the research on propolis and royal jelly, that he did for his doctorate degree in Apiculture.  Propolis is known to be anti viral, antibacterial, and anti fungial.  Has anyone seen a propolised field mouse in a hive?  Not cute, but the bees will propolise any large objects including mice that they can kill but not remove.  If propolis is powerful enough to chemically embolm a mouse in a hot summer hive to protect the hive from disease as it decomposes...Royal jelly interestingly enough has a % of mystery substance.  The chemical structure of royal jelly includes an unknown substance.  My instructors research showed that melatonin is a fraction of the mystery substance.  Also some research with mice again where half of two groups of mice injected with mouse leukemia cells were fed royal jelly.  The untreated group died within 2 weeks, they all had massive tumours.  The treated group were dissected after 90 days and none had any cancer cells or tumours.

[Michael Bush]

Some propolis is hard as a rock.  Some is soft like chewing gum.  Some is stickly like flypaper.  The soft stuff I will chew from time to time.  Some tasts really nice.  Some is bitter.

[rsilver000]

I did a medline search on propolis and came up with 300 hits over the last 75 years.  Most of the reports are case studies, (ie the patient had a problem and I gave them propolis and xyz happened).  Very few real studies where the patient and doctor are blinded to the substance given (placebo vs propolis).  It has been suggeste/shown to have anti-inflammatory, anti-infectous and a multitude of other properties.  Distillation of propolis with various solvents have shown over 40 different compounds present.  Interestingly, propolis from different geographic area and different varieties of bees show different effects.  This is probably due to the souce of propolis collected by the bees.

One area of concern, dermatologist have started to notice a rise in allergic reactions to products that contain propolis.  In patients with allergic dermatitis up to 6% are patch-test positive for propolis allergy.  They are also now routinely testing people with fragrance allergies for the propolis antigen.  It apparently is quite common in this subgroup of people.

So, if you work your bees and notice a rash on your hands soon afterwards, have a fragrance allergy, or get rashes after using products with propolis in them such as hand creams etc.., you may want to get patch-tested for a propolis allergy.  

I wonder what the implication is for us selling products we produce for sale to the public , ie lip balms, tinctures, hand creams with propolis?  I hate to give the lawyers another area to plumb.
Rob

[Understudy]

I am allergic to work. I don't think honey or pollen will help me though.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[Summerbee]

Thanks everybody, this is really interesting!

[melliphile]

there's lots of stuff on the internet about apitherapy.  be careful of sources, though.  Outragoues claims have done their damage to our noble calling.  Lot's of anecdotal evidence, not much hard science, though.  Propolis is showing some promise in the colon cancer area.  Also, some research indicates that propolis is effective against staph and strep( some viruses, too).  As for the honey/allergy connection, the Chinese have a saying,"treat the mind before the body".  I don't think it's really effective, but as you believe, so it shall be.

[kensfarm]

Last month's(cover had a picture of multi-colored pollen) Bee Culture had an article about it.

[BEE C]

More interesting than case studies are testimonials from people who have had optimum health over long periods of time from using hive products.  I'm always fascinated by elderly people who swear by hive products and are in excellent health for their age.  Particularly beekeepers.  I swear by propolis myself now.  I have taken 500 mgs of propolis for a while now and have never felt so good.  Even better is fresh from the hive.

[JKJ]

  I was wondering if anybody has ever even heard of this kind of stuff, and if there's any documentation on it (if any).

A testimonial rather than scientific research, but perhaps interesting:  There was an article in the Connecticut Post entitled "Bees may help with allergies", but its free period is up and they want a few bucks to access the archives.  Search for "Jerry Soltisiak" in the archives:
http://www.connpost.com/search/?vertical=archive

I saved a copy but it probably wouldn't be appropriate to post it here.

JKJ

[TwT]

it is a known fact that pollen causes allergies so if the honey collected with in 50 mile from the hive it is taken from has raw pollen  in it because it is taken from the plants (the same plants) that people are allergic to so it is like taking a pollen shot.... but a lot of older folks here think its in the comb honey, take a bite a day and keep the sneezing away...... just my 2 cents!!!

[BEE C]

Working on hives doing splits in the rain is a great way to get your arthritis shots too :D We had to move a hundred hives out of a cranberry farm and do splits at the apiary i work at, and after work I picked fifty stings off of my gloves (they were wet), I was lucky the poison sac stayed on the outside of the gloves, mostly, but my hands feel like i've been rubbing hot peppers.  Of course I don't think I'll ever get arthritis if this keeps up.  For some reason the bees love to sting me through my suit at the knees as well... :o I used to get stiffness in my hands on wet days occasionally but I never feel it now.

[Brian D. Bray]

Bee C,

I can't testify that bee stings ward off arthritis as I am riddled with it.  The arthritis, in my case anyway, is more likely from the injuries I received on duty that forced me to retire from Law Enforcement.  
As it is I'll be having a knee replacement next year, the it's a tossup whether we do an ankle or my hips after that.
To answer a question you had on a different topic: No, I don't do a linear hive--to old fashioned for that but I do use a lot of innocations that I've developed over the years to make it easier.  Medium 8 frames works fine for now--though wrestling a super off the hive and onto my lap can be a little challenging at times.

[heidip]

I will definitely attest to the fact that taking honey (raw honey, not heated) and pollen does indeed help with allergies...it has worked for me and it's part of the reason that I've become a beekeeper to get honey and pollen from my immediate area! I also use the beeswax as a great moisturizer!

By the way, does anyone know how to harvest the raw honey???

[Apis629]

Harvesting "raw honey" is easy...just uncap, extract and skip pasturazation.