Honey is the food of gods in all its various colours of brown and gold. Pure organic honey can sweeten a wide variety of food and drinks. It’s much better for you than refined sugar.
Antioxidants in honey help to keep body cells healthy and the pollen content may desensitise hay fever, bronchial and asthmatic symptoms. Honey contains various sugars, minerals and vitamin b1, b2 and yeasts. It has beneficial properties when applied to skin in creams and may also help heal abrasions and burns.
HOW TO KNOW IF HONEY IS PURE?
Place a teaspoonful in a glass of cold water. It should sink to the bottom and not dissipate like other sugary products.
Pollen is richer in protein than any other animal source. It is particularly concentrated in all elements necessary for life. Vitamin C and all the B vitamins except vitamin B12 are present. Folic acid and various minerals are represented depending on the soil conditions where flowers grow.
Pollen is collected by bees and packed into cells ready to feed bee larvae. It is one of the most recommended energy foods and very precious to bees as it takes one hard working bee a month to collect one teaspoonful of pollen.
Health giving properties of pollen:
1. It can help to restore body weight during convalescence.
2. It can regulate the intestine.
3. Infectious diseases like the common cold can be prevented.
4. Levels of cholesterol can be reduced
5. It may have anti-cancer properties.
6. In anaemic patients the level of haemoglobin in the blood is considerably increased.
7. Hay fever and pollen induced allergies can be reduced.
8. Ulcers, migraines, colitis and urinary tract disorders may be alleviated.
9. It can help with the side effects of chemotherapy by reducing nausea and hair loss.
10. Athletes taking pollen supplements have 25% improvement in strength and stamina.
Bee bread is also known as ambrosia (food of the gods) or perga. It is a natural substance created by the bees as a potent food source for feeding their young. It is the alchemical mixture of about 25% honey and 75%pollen. This mixture is stored along with enzymes found in bee saliva, which infuse the pollen with a broad range of natural probiotic bacteria and yeasts, and begins the process of fermentation and predigestion - making the end product highly bio-available for both bees and humans.
In comparison to bee pollen, bee bread has 4 times the bio-availability, and due to its rich content, bee bread is one of the oldest known dietary supplements in the world and has been used and reserved for millennia. According to the American apitherapy society, it is used by almost every Olympic athlete in the world. Early Egyptians and ancient Chinese believed it to be a rejuvenator and a medicine.
Propolis is a brown sticky substance that the bees collect from the buds and bark of trees. Inside the hive bees use it to seal up draughts, to sterilise brood cells and to mummify intruders like mice. It wards off infections. Propolis contains ethereal oils, phenolic acid, beeswax, terpenes and flavonoids.
When harvested, propolis can be made into tinctures or lozenges for easy use. Applications of propolis could be:
It has antiseptic, anti fungal, antibiotic and antibacterial properties that can be helpful in treating cold sores, skin infections and fungal problems
Side effects causing irritation to the skin and mouth or respiratory symptoms are possible.
Royal jelly is fed exclusively to nurture queen bee larvae. The milky mixture of proteins, sugar, fats, vitamins, salts, and amino acids fed to the larva produces a queen bee twice the size of worker bees. Similarly it can stimulate growth in people. This exclusive product may improve the symptoms of asthma, hay fever, liver disease, insomnia, skin disorders, lower cholesterol, stomach ulcers and pancreatitis and can help to prevent the development of hardening of the arteries.