Posts Tagged ‘Propolis’

As you learned from an earlier post, I want to tell you more about this remarkable immune system food substance made naturally by the bees to protect their hive from invaders.

What other alternative therapy brings together such a phenomenal array of curative properties to be found in propolis, including anti-fungal antibacterial, anti-inflammatory antibiotic, antacid and anti-tumour.

The Russians have probably carried out most of the research at the Kazan Veterinary Institute in 1947 to discover the amazing properties that this substance embodies. So much so that propolis came to be known as ‘Russian Penicillin’ prior to this date it was applied to slow healing wounds during the Boer War and again during the Second World War in Russia.

Reports in the use of this incredible substance have become legendary. Dr. Bernard Jenson Ph.D. visited the Caucasus people in Russia he found that in his own words” All the oldest men in the area were and had been beekeepers and used raw honey AND hive scrapings which contained propolis as a regular part of their diet.” He interviewed one of the beekeepers Shirali Mislimov who was reported to be 157 years old. It is a known fact that the incidence of Cancer in beekeepers is reported to be ONLY one in a thousand.

Unlike antibiotics, we can take propolis daily as an immune system food to strengthen our immunity to a vast array of illnesses without the destructive side effects.

With a fortified immune system we can keep ourselves healthy in even the most virus and germ infected environments. There are testimonials from people who used to come down with colds and flu every year. Since taking propolis they’ve breezed through the colds and flu system without sneeze, ache, sore throat or sniffle. Medical researchers, for whom modern synthetic drugs were once a Holy Grail, have tried to determine why propolis is able to treat not only immune disorders but also a vast array of other medical conditions.

Researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland have attempted to isolate the various chemical properties of propolis in the hopes of finding one active component that is responsible for its effects.

Because it has more than 150 chemical properties and because these components also depend on the botanical source, propolis is difficult to analyze. Nevertheless, researchers have found that no one component is responsible for its curative effects. In fact, when the chemical structures of propolis are isolated, they do not work effectively. Rather, propolis combines all of its properties to create a synergistic effect.

Colds and Coughs

In 1989 Polish researchers gauged the effect of propolis on groups with the common cold. The group treated with propolis had the infection for a shorter period with complete recovery within 3 days. The untreated group took 5 days to recover. Researchers into its use showed that it is more effective as a prophylactic i.e. as an immune system food to prevent rather than cure. The old adage ‘prevention is better than cure’ rings true.

Many people, including myself take propolis regularly for general health maintenance, thus decreasing the incidence of colds, bronchial infections and flu.

It is important to note that propolis may cause an allergic reaction in some people. Take small quantities at first to gauge any reaction. You are more likely to have an allergic reaction if you have a severe allergy to bee stings or you are allergic to bee pollen or honey. You should avoid using propolis if you are pregnant or nursing.

Do not stop using prescribed medication without consulting your physician

Bees are very essential insects because worldwide, they provide pollination service which is very important to agriculture and biodiversity conservation.  Aside pollination, bees also provide hive products which are nutritious and medicinal such as honey, royal jelly, beebread, propolis, wax and many more.  Most people however perceive all bees to be stinging and dangerous. This is entirely not the case because there are some bees which are harmless and very friendly to the extent that they could be kept on porches, study rooms, etc.  These bees are known as Stingless Bees.

Stingless bees also known as Meliponines are a group of bees with non-functional stings.  They are tropical bees of African origin which have dispersed to other tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world.  There are about 500 species of stingless bees, and they are the only highly social bees aside the common honeybees (Apis mellifera L.).  Stingless bees usually live in permanent colonies that consist of the queen and the drone as the reproductives and hundreds or thousands of workers (depending on the species).

The colonies are found in all forms of nest with the most common being in tree cavities. A few species however build underground nests and some also build exposed nests surrounded by hard and brittle layers, hanging over tree branches in the air.  The bees use all forms of materials including resin, sand particles, excrement, etc in building their nests, which are waterproof and highly resistant to predators.

Even though stingless bees have non-functional stings, they have various and efficient means of defence within and without their nests.  Some species adopt aggressive ways of external defence like biting, releasing caustic mandibular secretions, unpleasant oduors and irritating by crawling into eyes and ears of intruders.  The most external tactic of defence of the bees is making their nests invisible.  Internally stingless bees use a substance known as propolis to embalm intruders.

Stingless bees and pollination

The transfer of pollen grains to the stigma of flowers thus pollination is very crucial for plant reproduction and therefore, seed and fruit production.  Plants depend on agents called pollinators to effect pollination.  Bees constitute the principal pollinators, ensuring the survival of many plant species including plants that provide food security to innumerable rural households.

Most species of stingless bees exhibit some characteristics that enhance their potential as pollinators.  The bees are polylectic or generalist flower visitors, visiting and adapting to a broad range of plant species.  They also demonstrate floral constancy whereby the workers visit only one plant species on a single trip.  Floral constancy is linked with pollinator efficiency because the collection and deposition of a mixture of pollen from two or more plant species tends to contaminate the stigma with the wrong pollen.

Meliponiculture (stingless beekeeping)

Transferring stingless bee colonies into artificial nests boosts the potential of the bees for crop pollination because the hives could be transported where and when needed for pollination.  Stingless bees were kept by man centuries ago but unlike Central and South America and parts of Asia, the practice did not evolve in Africa.  Currently in Africa, meliponiculture exists only in Tanzania and Angola on small to medium scale.  Stingless bee honey in Africa is mostly harvested destructively from feral colonies.

Stingless bee keeping has some advantages over honeybee keeping. For instance the colony could last permanently as long as no damaging disaster occurs, by replacing the old queen with a virgin queen.  Also stingless bee queens and workers generally tend to live longer that of the honeybees.  Aside the longevity of their colonies and castes, stingless bees have not yet been found to be affected by the disease and the Varroa mite problems that are plaguing the honeybee keeping industry.  In addition stingless bees do not sting making them the golden and friendliest bees of the world. The stingless attribute also makes them harmless to man and therefore easy to handle and manage. This means that stingless bees could be kept as close as possible to our homes, on the porches, backyard gardens, and study rooms etc as pets. Thus stingless bees are the only pets that provide additional benefits of pollination, honey and other hive products to enjoy.

Stingless bee hive products

The hive products of Stingless just as that of the common honeybees include honey, propolis, pollen (beebread) and wax.  The hive products, some of which have antioxidant, antimicrobial and antifungal properties have been used in the food and cosmetic industries as well as in medicine.  Stingless bee honey has a higher medicinal value than that of A. mellifera.  It is either taken in its pure form or as a component in both in traditional (including herbal extracts especially in Africa) or conventional medicines.

Threats to stingless bees

In recent times bee population densities are declining below points of sustaining pollination services in both agro and natural ecosystems.  This decline is as a result of habitat loss, land management practices, agricultural and industrial chemicals among others.  Most feral bees and for that matter stingless bees require safe and undisturbed habitats for nesting and foraging.  The elimination of these resources by lumber exploitation, clearing of natural vegetation, wild bushfires, land degradation, literally starve and kill the bees. 

Most pesticides and other chemicals used in agriculture also kill bees directly, decreasing their populations significantly.  Stingless bees are particularly affected by these threats especially in Africa where meliponiculture is virtually non-existent.  This is further exacerbated by the destructive harvesting of the stingless bee honey from the wild colonies.

There is the need for more research and education on stingless bees, their importance and the need for meliponiculture as means of conserving this very important resource; the stingless bees.

Of all of the hive products it is propolis that is probably the least understood. Propolis is a resin-ous substance collected by the foraging honeybee from the bark and buds of specific trees and plants. This resin is mixed with the saliva of the honeybee and packed away into her hip pockets or pollen bas-kets. It is here that the mystery begins. And what a mystery! Literally millions of dollars have been spent trying to discover exactly what makes up propolis and how mankind might synthesize this “bee glue”. But try as we might, it cannot be done. Propolis is just too complex. A virtual cocktail of organic compounds including caffeic acid, acacetin, ketone and benzoic acid, all of which are known fighters of inflammation and infection and histamine reactions. Propolis also is rich in vitamin P or Bioflavanoids. These remark-able compounds are being found to heal leaking capillaries and blood vessels among a multitude of other benefits including attacking viruses and tough medically resistant bacteria. Studies from around the world have shown propolis to be healing to teeth and gums, healing to burns and infections and even, to be a killer of cancer cells!

Honeybees use this wonder within their own hive as a building material and a tool for sterilization within the hive. For smaller gaps and cracks in the structure of their hive, these are filled in by the worker bees with propolis. Propolis is used to “glue” the boxes together making them impervious to wind and is also used to “glue” the frames of comb in place making them permanent structures in the mind of the hive.

But perhaps the most remarkable use of propolis by the honeybee is how she uses this amazing substance for sterilization of the hive. Worker honeybees literally line the inside of the hive with propolis and polish the insides of the comb cells there by leaving the cells operating room sterile! Sterility within the hive is of upmost importance and the queen will not lay any eggs unless the cells within the brood comb are sterilized by propolis. The worker bees will also put down a layer of propolis on the “landing pad”, where the foraging bees will enter the hive. This is designed to disinfect the feet of the bees as they enter the clean confines of the hive and minimize the risk of infection from the outside world!

It was my father who first taught me the benefits of propolis to the mouth. He began experiencing pain in several teeth and was eventually told by his dentist that he needed to have five root canals. Not one to be excited about visiting dentists or doctors, he began to suck on the propolis which he would scrape from his hives during hive inspections. He had learned from one of his farmer’s market customers, a research doctor visiting from Poland and working at one of Chicago’s premier hospitals. This doctor informed my dad that in Eastern Europe, persons suffering from tooth pain packed their problem tooth with propolis to not only provide relief but to heal the tooth. His experience was no different than what the folklore reme-dies relating to propolis promised. When he went back to his dentist one year later for a cleaning, the dentist, remembering the sad state of dad’s teeth, was amazed that he had never received the root canals prescribed. In fact, the dentist was utterly amazed that dad’s gums did not even bleed when the dental hygienist cleaned his teeth! When the dentist asked what dad was doing differently, dad told him about his propolis and always having some in his mouth. This angered the dentist particularly since dad told him that he sleeps with propolis stuck to his teeth at night. The problem with using hive products medicinally is that it flies in the face of modern and sophisticated medicine. What has worked for centuries, the readily available and inexpensive, folk-lore remedies, just don’t excite the elitist modern medical movement, results be hanged!

When I first began studying propolis and the other hive products, I came across an article in a main stream bee journal describing a scientist studying honeybees opening up a hive and finding a dead mouse. Knowing how obsessive compulsive our beloved friends are when it comes to cleanliness within their hives, the scientist left the dead rodent to see what the bees would do to compensate for the source for decay and bacteria now laying on the bottom board of their hive. On the next visit to the hive, our intrepid scientist discovered that the honeybees had completely em-balmed the mouse in… propolis. The propolis sealed the mouse completely from the hive. After in-vestigating her observations, the scientist found similar stories from old timer beekeepers and then, after digging around in her research found that the ancient Egyptians not only incorporated the use of propolis into their embalming process, but first learned this art from the honeybee and her use of that natural preservative that is propolis. And Propolis is a great preserver, hence the embalmed mouse and pharos. It has also been discovered that propolis was used by a seventeenth century instrument maker named Antonio Stradivari. It seemed Mr. Stradivari understood propolis to be a superb preservative resin and added it to the finish for his famed instruments.

One of the amazing qualities of propolis is that samples from areas of varying flora yield unique products. In recent years, a growing number of apiaries in Brazil have turned away from honey production and toward propolis production in order to feed a ravenous Japanese market. It seems that the Japanese have been studying the effects of propolis on cancer cells and have been impressed with the results. According to their published results, propolis from the jungles around Sao Paulo in Brazil is among the most potent. Known as Brazilian Green this special concoction of rainforest and honeybee goodness has a sweet and pungent aroma that can quickly give even the most ardent admirer a splitting headache. It is only collected by the Africanized honeybee of Brazil.

Hives that have been set up near coniferous forests also yield a propolis with plenty of chutzpa. When I first began my research in developing a better tool for harvesting propolis, I noticed that one particular apiary of my father’s produced a propolis that was so hot in flavor that it was difficult to keep a small piece in one’s mouth. This sample came from hives located along the Rock River in South Central Wisconsin where pine trees abounded as well as nettles, scrub brush, honey-suckle and virgin Oak trees. Propolis samples from these hives tended to clear one’s sinuses much quicker than samples from most any other location. In spite of its peppery flavor, the propolis had an earthy, sweet and floral bouquet that was truly a delight to the pallet. The hot taste of this propo-lis is due to the presence of a large amounts of bioflavonoids within the propolis. This is a very good thing and makes propolis from this location that much more potent!

The beauty of propolis is that unlike the synthetic treatments of modern medicine which do not necessarily only target sickness but will often lead to damage in surrounding tissues and sys-tems, damages that we are told are “only mere side-effects, and nothing to worry about”. Propolis is known for its nourishing and support of healthy cells and tissues while at the same time, some of its components are actually capable of inhibiting growth of malignant cells and can even stop the proliferation of these same cells.

Propolis has been trusted and depended upon for thousands of years by even the most re-veared of medical practitioners. One noted European doctor wrote that western medicine would take the gifts from the honeybee more serious were they simply not so tasty! Another famed doctor who relied upon the healing powers of propolis wrote, “Pollen is for health and propolis is for life!” This noted physician was none other than Hypocrites, author of the Hipocratic Oath and father to modern medicine!

As honeybees buzz from blossom to blossom and back to the hive, they may be creating some of the most powerful natural ingredients effective in promoting good health. Supplying the queen bee with the nutrients she needs to outlive and outgrow the average worker bee, the bees also protect the hive from outside invaders through their steadfast work. Take advantage of all their work and promote your own health through all four ingredients created by bees: royal jelly, bee pollen, propolis and honey. Read on to learn more about how these ingredients may improve your daily and overall health.

Royal Jelly

Live like a queen! Royal jelly is produced by the worker bees solely to feed the queen bee, resulting in impressive longevity and reproductive capabilities in the queen. By taking this natural elixir, many people have laid claim to an enhanced physical condition, with claims of increased energy and the ability to fight off infection. In addition, the enjoyment of many other benefits is commonly noted, such as asthma, cholesterol, depression, high blood pressure, arthritis, and diabetes.

This magical creation of the worker bees cannot be recreated by humans, thus, like the queen bee, we must rely on them for its production. A natural source of many essential nutrients that are needed for our bodies to maintain good health, Royal Jelly is a liquid made up of approximately 67% water. To minimize the risk of contamination likely in such a state, it needs to be processed within a few hours of removal from the hive, a method that may include treating the product with a chemical preservative, freeze-drying the product, combining it with a natural preservative such as honey, or freezing or refrigerating it. If Royal Jelly is lyophilized, or freeze-dried, the quality of the nutrients is not affected. In fact, this process preserves the nutritional viability for up to four years and reduces the possibility of contamination during the encapsulating and bottling process, whereas Royal Jelly in its liquid state must remain frozen or refrigerated to avoid contamination.

Rich in B vitamins, fatty acids, folic acids, aspartic acid (for optimum tissue regeneration), amino acids, minerals and natural hormones, royal jelly provides many harmonizing health benefits throughout the human body.

Bee Pollen

Yet another product from the hands of worker bees, bee pollen has been coined “The Food of the Gods” for its superb health benefits and nutritional composition. Within the blossom of a plant, the stamen produces male seed, or pollen, which is collected by bees using their tongue and mandibles, transferred to their second pair of legs as a now-sticky substance, and stored on their body and legs for transport back to the hive. Commercially, mesh wire substitutes for the small chambers in the hive used for collection of honey and pollen. As the bees fly into the hives through small openings in the wire, the pollen is scraped from their legs and falls into a tray which can be removed by the beekeeper for collection. The pollen is often kept in its pure form after the removal of any foreign particles, packaged and then frozen. Pollen can also be consumed in capsule form, which extends its shelf life, usually 3 or 4 years, but, if processed correctly, the pollen loses none of its wonderful nutritional composition.

Vitamins C, A, and E, carotenoids, folic acid, B vitamins, collagen, lecithin (often associated with weight control), amino acids, rutin (a strong antioxidant), and minerals such as magnesium, calcium manganese, and copper all combine to form this complete food. Some believe that life can sustain itself solely on consumption of pollen and water. As for its apparent health benefits, the list is long: increased energy, weight loss, antibiotic properties, controlling asthma, immune system enhancement, regulation of prostate diseases, desensitization toward effects of hay fever, stress reducer and regulation of the digestive system.

When considering where your bee pollen comes from, choose domestic pollen, which is plentiful. Imported bee pollen, often from China, may be procured from unregulated facilities, increasing the likelihood of contaminants in the granules.

Propolis

Considered by many to be nature’s antibiotic, Propolis, created by honeybees from a resinous material in tree bark and leaves, protects the beehive against infection and any foreign organisms. For centuries, humans have used propolis for the same purposes – to fight infections – but also to increase energy and to promote healing.

Quite different than other products created by bees, propolis can be applied externally, as well as taken orally. Using its antibiotic properties, propolis can be applied to cuts and other skin abrasions to sterilize the wound. It is also taken orally as a natural alternative to more modern pharmaceuticals, such as penicillin and other antibiotics. Sporting another advantage over conventional medicines, propolis has shown an ability to maintain its effectiveness, while many antibiotics become ineffective as viruses and bacteria build immunity against them.

The nutritional content of propolis is as varied as that of pollen and royal jelly. It is rich in amino acids and bioflavonoids, promoting healthy immune systems. It also has a high vitamin content, consisting of all known vitamins, except Vitamin K. And it contains fourteen of the 15 minerals required by our bodies for normal function.

Again, being similar to other products from the hive, propolis is associated with promoting healthy body systems. It has been shown to fight against allergies, skin irritations, oral irritations (such as canker sores), respiratory illnesses, fatigue, inflammations and the everyday cold and flu.

To process propolis for human consumption, some will package it raw and freeze it, or the active ingredients can be removed and added to water or alcohol through a specific process, resulting in a liquid form or a dried and capsulated product. Due to its effectiveness, propolis may soon be available in many more products.

Honey

We are all familiar with honey, often thinking of it only as a natural sweetener. But like other products from the hive, it may have many medicinal qualities, including the ability to treat infection and provide energy more quickly than sugar. While sugar is made up of sucrose, honey contains glucose and fructose. Because all carbohydrates must be converted to glucose before our bodies can absorb them, honey, being made of glucose, is more easily converted to energy for our bodies, providing a quicker source of get-up-and-go than other carbs.

In addition to glucose and fructose, honey contains a large array of nutrients like its sister products from the hive, including vitamin A, C, D, E, K and the complete line of B-complex vitamins, minerals, amino acids, betacarotene and antioxidants. As J.S. Taylor notes in the book “Power of the Beehive”, “Bee pollen and propolis enzymes are present in even the purest of raw honey. These possess anti-viral and antibacterial properties that work from within the honey to sterilize wounds and assist healing.” The list of known nutritional benefits from honey keeps growing.

Reap the benefits from the work of thousands of honeybees by taking bee products daily and potentially increase your chances of maintaining an overall good state of health.