SWARMS
It's a bee colony's reproductive behavior. Can you and should you stop it in your apiary? How to catch swarms, and more.
PREDATORS
Yes, bees have predators! Learn how to identify them and prepare your colonies for possible threats.
PREDATORS
Yes, bees have predators! Learn how to identify them and prepare your colonies for possible threats.
SOCIAL MEDIA
A great way to get information, both good and bad, from fellow hobby beekeepers.
SOCIAL MEDIA
A great way to get information, both good and bad, from fellow hobby beekeepers.
SOCIAL MEDIA
A great way to get information, both good and bad, from fellow hobby beekeepers.
WAX & OTHER HIVE PRODUCTS
Wax, propolis, pollin, bee venim for lip balm, tinctures, soap and more. It's not just about the honey!
PREDATORS
Yes, bees have predators! Learn how to identify them and prepare your colonies for possible threats.
SOCIAL MEDIA
A great way to get information, both good and bad, from fellow hobby beekeepers.
SOCIAL MEDIA
A great way to get information, both good and bad, from fellow hobby beekeepers.
PREDATORS
Yes, bees have predators! Learn how to identify them and prepare your colonies for possible threats.
PREDATORS
Yes, bees have predators! Learn how to identify them and prepare your colonies for possible threats.
PREDATORS
Yes, bees have predators! Learn how to identify them and prepare your colonies for possible threats.
PREDATORS
Yes, bees have predators! Learn how to identify them and prepare your colonies for possible threats.
SOCIAL MEDIA
A great way to get information, both good and bad, from fellow hobby beekeepers.
SOCIAL MEDIA
A great way to get information, both good and bad, from fellow hobby beekeepers.
SOCIAL MEDIA
A great way to get information, both good and bad, from fellow hobby beekeepers.
APITHERAPY
Medical uses of bees and their products. What a huge topic! One with thousands of personal anecdotes, but not a ton of parenthetical data yet. So as with nearly everything else in beekeeping, do your research, then draw your own conclusions.
MEDICAL HONEY
"Medical-grade" honey is often used for wound care when nothing else will work. Ancient Egyptians and Greeks used honey for this purpose and so have countless other groups over the ages. Today, the benefits of honey are moving it more into the mainstream of Western Medicine. It's antibacterial, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties have doctors and researchers stepping up to learn how to best use this valuable resource. Take a deeper dive here:
https://www.healthline.com/health/honey-on-wounds
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2686636/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7693943/
https://www.woundsource.com/product-category/dressings/medical-grade-honey
https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/manuka-honey-medicinal-uses
https://asapland.com/skin-allergy-treatment-with-honey/82192/
ALLERGY THERAPY
First of all, honey has not been scientifically proven to reduce allergies. However, many people have used it for their seasonal allergies and found excellent results... and others have not. The idea of desensitizing your system with long-term small exposures to allergens makes common sense and medical sense, after all that's the idea behind allergy shots.
Opponents say that it can't work because honey is made from nectar, but pollen is what people are allergic to. Proponents say there are ways to overcome that limitation. First, honey naturally has some pollen mixed in and if it is not finely strained that pollen remains. In order for it to work, the honey must be hyper-local (see your neighborhood beekeeper), it must not be finely strained, and must be RAW as cooking (pasteurizing) it kills the active pollen spores.
As a personal anecdote, my own honey has significantly reduced my seasonal allergies... but not all of them. It only works if the bees are pollinating things that I'm allergic to. If I'm allergic to rag weed and my bees are not pollinating it, then during ragweed season I may still be miserable. On the other hand, if I'm allergic to our local oak, elm, or dogwood and the bees are busy pollinating them in the spring, then their honey may greatly help those allergic reactions. Based on this principle I may get even more benefit from collecting and eating pollen from our bees... but I haven't tried that yet. Read more...
https://www.healthline.com/health/allergies/honey-remedy#what-to-know
https://www.popsci.com/local-honey-allergies/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6074882/
https://www.webmd.com/allergies/features/does-honey-help-prevent-allergies
https://www.wikihow.com/Control-Allergies-With-Local-Honey
https://www.goodrx.com/blog/does-eating-honey-help-prevent-allergies/
https://wholisticfamilycare.com/local-wildflower-honey-protocol-for-seasonal-allergies/
BEE VENOM THERAPY
What, you're going to get stung... on purpose?!!!
That's the response most people have when you mention bee venom therapy.
So what are the medical benefits? The first we heard of BVT was for treating Lyme Disease with patients claiming miraculous healing from the therapy. Other medical uses include "inflammation and central nervous system diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Moreover, bee venom has shown promising benefits against different types of cancer as well as anti-viral activity, even against the challenging human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)."
Now before you run out naked in the bee yard, do your homework and consult a medical professional trained in BVT. See these links for much more info:
https://www.beeculture.com/bee-venom-therapy/
https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-lowdown-on-bee-sting-therapy-88765
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6720840/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_Pdbxnc7Wc
https://www.verywellhealth.com/bee-venom-therapy-for-ms-2440481
If you would like to share an experience of the health benefits of honey or other
bee products, send your story to: Eric@HobbyBeekeepers.com