Health Blog

Honeybees are pretty amazing animals. Apart from providing a vital role in much of our food supply through their help with pollination, they also provide us with fantastic, natural, healthy bee products. Bee products have been used for thousands of years, and are now regaining there reputation as natural health remedies.

For most people, thinking of bee equals bee stings and honey.

In recent years honey has been regaining its reputation for its naturally healthy qualities. Aided by more research effort, this has been particularly led by the unique healing properties, proven by scientific research, found in some batches of New Zealand’s manuka honey.

However bees do produce another product, that they even use themselves, which makes a great natural remedy – propolis.

Propolis is a resinous substance. Made mainly from bees collecting tree sap, mixed with some pollen. It has antibiotic properties due from conntaining biologically active flavonoids.

The source of your propolis is important, as its actual content is affected by location, based on just what the bees in each area have available to them.

Natural medicine practitioners have commonly used propolis for the relief of various conditions, including inflammations, viral diseases, ulcers, superficial burns and scalds. It can also help with some fungal infections.

A common trick of 'old beekeepers' is to use a piece of propolis in the mouth as a remedy for their sore throat. This is now one of the more popular uses propolis products are aimed at, the winter ills such as sore throats, coughs and colds. You can of course now get a rather more pleasant tasting honey and propolis lozenge (or other flavour) to help with your sore throat.

Some people who are sensitive to bee products do need to take care, as it may cause allergic reactions in them.

Similar to the situation with many natural remedies, much of the evidence supporting it is still anecdotal. But with a growing number of scientific research studies underway around the world, a better understanding of propolis and what it can help with is occurring.

These days you have a wide range of propolis remedies available to you. You can choose from ones combined with honey, propolis soaps, and even propolis in a toothpaste.

So next time you are suffering from fungal infections or from some of winter’s ills, don’t forget there is another natural healthy bee product in propolis that can aid you. Be nice to that next bee that bothers you.