The Inquisition

The Inquisition was regaled recently with a marvelous tale by a country fellow of great repute. He recounted how a mouse found its way into a beehive and was unable to escape. After it gorged itself on the heavenly nectar it died. When the keeper opened the hive the following spring, the mouse’s carcass remained exactly as it had been on the day it died. Due to being inside the hive, and encased in honey, no bacterial or enzymes had broken it down. Apparently this is how Lenin is preserved; hmm, right…

Honey has been a hugely popular foodstuff and folk-remedy for untold millennia so there must be something to it.
In recent times it has been the subject of much scientific research, which has in large part, re-affirmed the traditionally held beliefs in its antiseptic and antibacterial properties.
A quick Google search or Wikipedia rummage will tell you exactly how these properties work. In layman’s terms they relate to honey’s acidity and the effects are strong enough to possibly (nothing is ever definite with scientists even though they constantly bang on about empirical values) mitigate against MRSA. Raw honey wound-dressing gels are commercially available so you’d have to assume someone is putting their money where their mouth is in relation to all this.

Kind of Active Ingredient

Propolis is put forward in umpteen naturo-herbalist-alt-lifetyle-gillian-mckeith-remedy books as a magical life-giving elixir. Well it is believed that this product of honeybees is produced to sterilize their hives and protection against bacterial intrusion.
Much like urine, the interiors of beehives are usually bacterially sterile. This is thought to be due to this propolis stuff which the bees use to seal entrances and disinfect.
Humans can ingest propolis or use it topically. It is basically a natural antibiotic which micro-organisms cannot build resistance to. It is variously linked with solving most of our ills: natural antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, allergies, cancer, sore throats, colds / coughs /flu, fatigue, respiratory / sinus, acne and skin disorders, cuts, burns, rashes, infections, dental cavities and mouth ulcers. Some of those claims you’d have to consider a little suspect at the least.

Bibliography
Talk about concentrating your area of expertise, these guys claim to be ‘The Internet’s Best Source of Information About the Medicinal Use of Bee Products’. You don’t mess with that.
Hate linking to Wikipedia, but it has everything in there
Buy your Propolis here after reading more about it
Forever Living health advice
Health at the University of Michigan
Ilog Maria Honey Farms brochure on Propolis
New York Times

This post is tagged agriculture, animals, food, honey, medicine, natural world, Science