Latin Names:
Honeybees:
Apis mellifera spp.
Apis dorsata
Common Names:
Honey, miel (Spanish)
Pollen
Propolis
Royal jelly
Superfood Type:
Honey
Pollen
Royal jelly
Propolis
No bees, no honey; no work, no money.
The history, legends, and mythology surrounding bees and bee products are so grand that they could fill volumes of books. The only food that comes close to bee products in overall richness of history and legend is chocolate (cacao).
Scientists and archeologists have discovered caves in river valleys of Southern France and Northern Spain that are abundant with paintings and etchings depicting human life in a prehistoric era. Most of the paintings represent large game animals such as deer and bison. One painting found in a cave near Valencia, Spain portrays two men stealing honey from a beehive. The men are balanced on a handmade ladder leaning against a rocky hillside. One of the men is removing the honeycomb from the hive and fighting off an angry swarm of bees as the other man waits below for the honeycomb to be passed down. The bees are depicted many times their normal size to explain and emphasize the events taking place.
Ancient Egypt is where our present-day beekeeping sciences began. The Egyptians were among the first peoples on Earth to keep bees, as recorded in temple wall carvings, and in hieroglyphics on papyri scrolls. Symbols of the bee and beehive appear everywhere throughout Egypt. The symbols are found in jewelry, inscribed on temple walls and tombs, woven into fabrics, carved on the famous Rosetta Stone, and next to the signature of the pharaoh on official documents. The Egyptians offered honey and bee pollen to the gods. Bees and bee products were featured in almost every ritual.
Honey products were also broadly used in Greco-Roman civilization. In both the Iliad and Odyssey, Homer repeatedly refers to honey and pollen. The famous ancient Greek vegetarian Pythagoras enjoyed honey daily, as did his students. Honey and honey water featured prominently in the ancient Olympic games of Greece; they were used as food and beverage, and for body and skin care during the games. The famous Roman writer Pliny the Elder described a village in the Apennine Mountains near the River Po where the majority of people lived to over one hundred years old due to their consumption of honey and pollen. Pliny’s Natural History contains a book almost entirely devoted to bees and beehives:
Book 11: Insects—Bees, hives, the sources of honey, the organization of bees, honeycombs, drones, queen bees, portents provided by bees, bee-stings, the silk-moth, silk production, comparative zoology, and taxonomy: eyes, heart, anthropoid apes, bad breath of animals.
During ancient times the British Isles were known as “The Honey Isle of Beli” for the large quantities of honey they produced. Long after the fall of Rome, honey was used throughout Europe in religious ceremonies, as a medium for barter and exchange, and to pay taxes.
In Arabia, Mohammed, the prophet of Islam, taught that honey brought a person good luck and health. He was quoted stating: “Honey is a remedy for all diseases.”
Consider the following facts about bee products:
A hive of bees flies 55,000 miles to make one jar of honey.
An average worker bee makes 1⁄12 of a tablespoon of honey in her life.
All worker bees are female.
Bees communicate to one another by dancing, which they can understand even in complete darkness.
A queen bee can lay up to 3,000 eggs in one day—at a rate of 5 or 6 a minute. That is equal to 175–200 eggs thousand annually.
One hive may hold up to 80,000 bees—one queen, a few hundred drones (males), and the rest female workers.
When Alexander the Great died, he was carried back to Greece in a golden coffin filled with honey.
One gallon of honey equals the combined bee flight distance of going to the moon and back.
Bees fly an average of 13 to 15 mph.
Bees from the same hive visit about 225,000 flowers per day. One single bee typically visits between 50 and 1,000 flowers a day, but can visit up to several thousand.
The average hive temperature is 93.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
Beeswax production in most hives is about 1½ to 2 percent of the total honey yield.
Bees eat about eight pounds of honey to produce one pound of beeswax.
Honeybees are the only insects that produce food for humans.
A bee’s life span ranges from 3–6 weeks.
The brain of a worker honeybee is about a cubic millimeter but has the densest neurological tissue of any animal.
Honeybees are almost the only bees with hairy compound eyes.
A bee travels an average of 1,600 round trips in order to produce one ounce of honey; up to 6 miles per trip. To produce 2 pounds of honey, bees travel a distance equal to 4 times around the earth.
Bees have a magnetic band around their brains to help them navigate.
Bees gather from only one kind of flower at a time. When two different flowers of the same dark purple color grew side by side, bees were noted to nearly collide in air, but never did a bee touch the pollen of the wrong flower.
Bees are the chief engineers of cross-pollination.
The honeybee can pollinate at the rate of 30 flowers per minute.
It takes one bee working eight hours a day for a month to gather 1 teaspoon of bee pollen pellets, which contain over 2.5 billion grains of flower pollen loaded with micronutrients, trace elements, minerals, and antioxidants.
According to the planetary geological sequence and dating theory, bees are estimated to have survived on Earth for over 150 million years. There are now over 30,000 different bee species.
Bees produce the only food that will never spoil. Edible honey has been found in Egyptian tombs.
Bee products are considered to be one of the most spiritual and magical foods on the planet, as well as one of the top superfoods and sources for concentrated nutrition. Consuming high-quality bee products on a regular basis is highly recommended. Bee products (especially from wild plant and wild tree flowers) are an amazing class of superfood that can complement our health for the rest of our lives.
Honey, in its organic/wild, raw, unfiltered state is rich in minerals, antioxidants, probiotics, enzymes, and is one of the highest-vibration foods on the planet. Honey is also an extremely healing food that provides a very digestible and soothing form of sugar (energy) to the body.
Bee pollen is the most complete superfood found in nature. Containing vitamin B-9 and all twenty-two essential amino acids, it is a delicious-tasting, energy-rich source of complete protein.
Propolis is the substance that seals the hive. It is the protector of the hive. Propolis literally means “for the city.” Propolis is a waxy, highly medicinal, immune supporting, and antibacterial substance collected and produced by bees, and has a long history of herbal and alchemical use.
It is important to be aware that the bees from which nonorganic and non-wild honeys and pollens (especially if they are not raw) are collected are often inhumanely treated by corporate honeymakers. This includes feeding the bees high fructose corn syrup (rather than leaving them a portion of their own honey to consume), smoking out the hives, spraying toxic nicotine-based pesticides on the plants/trees from which the bees gather pollen, and a variety of other unsustainable practices.
In light of the recent bee colony collapse disorder and pollination crisis, which, by the way, is primarily affecting the nonorganic bee industry, it is important to support those beekeepers that interact with their bees kindly and lovingly by using organic (nonchemical) methods of beekeeping.
Made from the nectar that bees sip from flower blossoms, honey is a universal medicine, sweetener, and nutrient resource. The tremendous amount of research conducted on honey in Russia indicates that raw, unprocessed honey is nature’s richest source of live healing enzymes and that it increases reflexes, mental alertness, and even IQ! Some types of Lehua and Noni honeys from Hawaii (NoniLand™), Manuka honeys from the New Zealand rainforests, and Sidr honeys from Yemen have been shown to have antifungal, antibiotic, and antiviral effects.
Whenever possible, we recommend that you choose wild honey. We don’t have enough wild food in our diet, and wild honey is easy to come by, easy to store, easy to consume, and easy to travel with.
Fresh, wild food has more vitality and more rejuvenating factors. Ten thousand years ago we all ate 100 percent wild food—we just foraged for whatever we could find, we didn’t grow anything, there was no agriculture. We know that our teeth and bone mineralization were vastly better in those days. Since the advent of agriculture, our bone mineralization has been gradually decreasing.
All honey should be eaten raw, as cooked honey has no enzymes. Honey can be taken with other mineral-rich superfoods to increase mineral absorption.
Honey has been shown to provide relief for, or to cure, a number of different disorders, including, but not limited to: diarrhea, ulcers, infections, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gastrointestinal problems, cancer, and staphylococcus (staph) infections.
Infectious diseases caused by bacteria that honey has antibiotic effects upon include the following: anthrax, diphtheria, urinary tract infections, ear infections, meningitis, respiratory infections, sinusitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis, infected animal bites, typhoid, dysentery, abscesses, boils, carbuncles, impetigo, tooth decay, puerperal fever, scarlet fever, sore throat, and cholera.
Honey can also be used topically to heal wounds (especially Manuka honey—the higher the “active number,” the more healing and nutritious). A number of different types of wounds have been successfully treated with honey, including abrasions, abscesses, bed sores, burns, burst abdominal wounds following cesarean delivery, cancrum, cervical ulcers, chilblains, cracked nipples, cuts, diabetic foot ulcers and other diabetic ulcers, a fistula, foot ulcers in lepers, infected wounds arising from trauma, large septic wounds, leg ulcers, malignant ulcers, sickle cell ulcers, skin ulcers, surgical wounds, wounds to the abdominal wall and perineum, and varicose ulcers.
The medicinal benefits of honey are due to honey’s antibacterial properties and its moisture-retaining properties. Side effects: None.
However, honey is inappropriate for children under the age of one due to potential contamination with botulism. And toxic honeys are possible if collected from toxic pollens. Though it is rare, if you are new to keeping bees, please check with your local beekeeping association to see if the potential for toxic pollen exists in your area.
Our cells convert food into energy (ATP) in part by glycolysis. Some people (slow oxidizers) have a slow glycolysis cycle, so they need more carbohydrates due to a lower production of glucose and pyruvate.
The glycolysis cycle of “fast oxidizers” is fast. It is recommended that fast oxidizers reduce foods high on the glycemic index (hybridized foods and food extracts too rich in sugar) and increase high-purine foods, which include high-protein foods such as chlorella and bee pollen.
Special Note: If you have a blood sugar problem or are suffering from a critical health condition, it is a good idea to stay away from honey, agave, sucanat, high fructose corn syrup, evaporated cane juice, any sweeteners, and any kind of sugar for at least two or three months and then reevaluate at that time. It is never a good idea for anyone with a history of cancer to have a lot of sugar in their diet of any type, even from a raw source such as fruit, honey, or agave.
Bee pollen is an alkaline food considered by nutritionists to be one of the most complete foods found in nature. Benefits of bee pollen include:
Potent aphrodisiac and fertility-improving properties. Pollen can reduce prostate problems as it rejuvenates sexual organs due to its content of seminal substances. People who suffer from low blood pressure can be subject to deficiencies in sex glands. Pollen increases blood pressure in these types of individuals, especially when taken with kelp, and may increase hormone levels and sexual strength.
Bee pollen increases strength, endurance, energy, and speed. It provides a quicker recovery from exercise; returns heart rate to normal; and improves endurance for repeat exertion. Bee pollen increases muscle growth and definition. The British Sports Council recorded increases in strength by as high as 40 to 50 percent in those taking bee pollen regularly. Even more astounding, the British Royal Society has reported height increases in adults who take pollen. Antti Lananaki, coach of the Finnish track team that swept the Olympics in 1972, revealed, “Most of our athletes take pollen food supplements. Our studies show it significantly improves their performance. There have been no negative results since we have been supplying pollen to our athletes.”
Pollen reduces the production of histamine, thus neutralizing many allergies.
The extraordinary presence of B vitamins in pollen builds up our stress-defense shield, increases longevity, helps clear acne, and assists in reversing aging and wrinkling.
Helps relieve type 2 diabetes symptoms by restoring mineral and metabolic deficiencies.
More than forty research studies document the therapeutic efficacy and safety of bee pollen. Clinical tests show that orally ingested bee pollen particles are rapidly and easily absorbed since they pass directly from the stomach into the blood stream. Within two hours after ingestion, bee pollen is found in the blood, in cerebral spinal fluids, and in urine.
Pollen has also been noted to assist in helping the following conditions: anemia, constipation, colitis, sinusitis, asthma, and bronchitis.
Pollen is a source of eighteen vitamins, including nearly all B vitamins (except B12) as well as C, D, and E; rutin (an enzyme catalyst par excellence); carotenes including xanthophyll and beta-carotene; lecithin/choline; all the essential amino acids (twenty-two amino acids in total); fourteen fatty acids including essential fatty acids; eleven carbohydrates ranging from polysaccharides to simple sugars; nucleic acids such as RNA, DNA; steroid hormone substances, a plant hormone similar to the human pituitary called gonadotropin; 15 percent lecithin, and we are still discovering more.
According to research by doctors from France, Italy, and the USSR, pollen is one of the richest sources of bioavailable protein in nature. Pollen is approximately 25 percent protein. Gram for gram, pollen contains an estimated five to seven times more protein than meat, eggs, or cheese. Because the protein in pollen is in a predigested form, it is easy to assimilate.
Longevity, Bee Pollen, and Russia
Long lives are attained by bee pollen users; it is one of the original treasure-houses of nutrition and medicine. Each grain contains every important substance that is necessary to life.
—Dr. Naum Petrovich Joirich, chief scientist at the Soviet Academy in Vladivostok (1975)
In 1945 a report from Russian biologist Nicholas Tsitin was published stating that of the one hundred and fifty Russian centenarians who replied to a questionnaire inquiring about their age, occupation, and principal foods, all replied that honey was their main food staple. Further investigation by the Longevity Institute of the USSR revealed that they ate not only honey, but bee pollen and other hive products as well.
Honeybee pollen is the richest source of vitamins found in Nature in a single food. Even if bee pollen had none of its other vital ingredients, its content of rutin alone would justify taking at least a teaspoon daily, if for no other reason than strengthening the capillaries. Pollen is extremely rich in rutin and may have the highest content of any source, plus it provides a high content of the nucleics RNA [ribonucleic acid] and DNA [deoxyribonucleic acid].
—Institute of Apiculture, Taranov, Russia
Pollen is the reproductive material of the plant world. It is made up of noble substances (trace mineral elements) that have been drawn up, or levitated into, the seminal point of the plant (the flower). Pollen is also abundant in major minerals and trace minerals. It may contain up to sixty elements, including barium, boron, calcium, copper, gold, iodine, iron, magnesium, iron, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, silicon, sulfur, sodium, and zinc.
In 1981 gold was found in honeybee pollen in amounts as high as 0.9 parts per million (dry weight). Two plants (in British Columbia, Canada) were isolated that could conceivably provide gold in the diet, either to honeybees or perhaps directly: Phacelia sericea and Dryas drummondii, which carry twenty-five to fifty times as much gold as any other plants with which they are associated.
The overall mineral makeup of pollen is still open to scientific debate. Most researchers on the subject now agree that a fraction of pollen ranging from 1 to 3 percent of the dried mineral matter consists of unidentified compounds and mineral material. I believe that even the identified fraction of minerals may be misrepresented as carbon when it really consists of something else. That “something else” consists of compounds containing Ormus minerals probably present in polysaccharide carbon chains. These Ormus elements are the mineral elements discovered by David Radius Hudson and now known to occupy a third, newly discovered dimension of Mendeleev’s Periodic Table of the Elements. These elements are metals in extremely small atom clusters where the Coulomb force becomes strong enough to overcome forces that cause metal-to-metal atomic covalent bonding. This flips the metal into a substance that appears to the eye to be more like silicon. These Ormus elements possess extraordinary longevity, healing, rejuvenation, neurological, and psychic-enhancing properties.
At least 2 percent of the contents of honeybee pollen has yet to be isolated and identified. The individual pollen grain is encased in two protective coatings. The exine, composed of sporo-pollen and cellulose, is known to be acid-resistant, and has withstood temperatures in excess of 300 degrees C. Beneath this is the thinner, intine layer, which preserves oil and starch.
Pollen contains up to eleven different major enzymes, including diatase, phosphatase, and transferase, as well as high amounts of catalase, amylase, and pectase (a pectin-splitting enzyme), all of which aid in digestion. Just 130 milligrams of bee pollen can help assist in the digestion of three pounds of food, thanks to pollen’s enzymatic properties. Experiments show that those who take bee pollen decrease their daily intake of food by 15 to 20 percent.
Synthesized from the combination of pollen and honey within the bodies of a special group of young nurse bees, royal jelly is one of the most magical and least understood superfoods in the world. Secreted from the pharyngeal glands, royal jelly is a thick, milky substance that is the only determining factor in the development of a queen bee from an otherwise ordinary larva. Of all of the superfoods, royal jelly is definitely one of the most intriguing, both nutritionally and effectively! Consider the following:
The greater nutritional significance of Royal Jelly is the fact that the anatomical and functional differentiation of the female larvae is totally dependent upon the nature of their diet in their early development stage. In the larvae stage, they are absolutely identical and feed on Royal Jelly for the first three days after hatching. The fertilized eggs give rise to females which are either sexually immature small worker bees or large, fertile Queens. From the fourth day on, only the special larvae selected to become the Queen continues to be fed with Royal Jelly throughout her entire life, while the worker bees are fed on regular honey and pollen. The fascinating discovery by apiculturalists was that nutrition was the only distinctive difference between the worker bees and the Queen. The Queen Bee is a mother of a quarter of a million bees, and amazingly lays over 2,000 eggs in a single day, a total more than twice her own body weight. The life span of the Queen lasts four to five years, contrary to the considerably shorter life of workers—an average of 3 months or less.
—Excerpted from the article “Fresh Royal Jelly” by Y.S. Royal Jelly and Honey Farm (available on their website, www.yahwehsaliveandwell.com)
Throughout history, many cultures and traditions worldwide have considered royal jelly to be “the fountain of youth and beauty.” It is rejuvenating and regenerating for the body, inhibiting the aging process, maintaining skin tone, promoting sexual vitality, alleviating arthritis pain, and acting as an antidepressant, along with many other significant health benefits:
Royal jelly is the second-richest natural source of pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) and contains as much as 50 percent protein, 20 percent carbohydrates, and 14 percent fat.
Royal jelly is the richest source of acetylcholine, an important fluid in the regulation of nerve impulses between nerve fibers, which enhances our ability to think clearly. Royal jelly is so effective in this area that it is known to help those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Royal jelly is also extremely effective in treating glandular and hormonal imbalances, including those caused by menstrual or prostate problems. In addition to its rejuvenating effect on sight and memory loss, royal jelly aids in the fight against heart disease, including arteriosclerosis and angina.
A study published in 1960 by the American Association for Cancer Research Inc. found that “whole royal jelly, when pre-mixed with tumor cells before inoculation, has been shown to inhibit completely the development of transplantable AKR leukemia and of three lines of mouse ascitic tumors.” This is a significant result!
Royal jelly is so complex in its nature that although many investigations have been conducted into its chemical composition and pharmacological properties, scientists have not yet been able to fully analyze nor synthesize it in a laboratory. Royal jelly remains scientific mystery in many regards.
The potential for disease to spread inside a hot, crowded hive is high. Millions of years ago, bees solved this problem by gathering the sticky resins, which we know as propolis, from tree buds and bark. Trees exude this resin in order to heal and repair damage and prevent disease. The bioflavonoids in propolis have powerful antibiotic, antifungal, and antibacterial effects. Bees use it to varnish the cells of the honeycomb, as a glue to seal up cracks, and to create doorways. Propolis protects the bees against bacteria and viruses, and is collected by humans for use as an antibacterial, antifungal, and antibiotic. Unlike penicillin, propolis is all natural and will not produce bad reactions. In biblical times propolis was known as myrrh and was highly prized for its medicinal properties.
Propolis has long been used as a natural remedy and it is thought that it’s the numerous flavonoids which it contains that account for its wound healing benefits. Some studies suggest that it may be used against bacteria and viruses and other microorganisms when applied to infected areas topically. Propolis has antimicrobial action on both gram-positive and gram-negative microorganisms. It contains constituents that increase membrane permeability and inhibit bacterial motility. It is commonly used for wound infection and other illnesses.
—Excerpt from NaturalNews.com’s article, “Bee Propolis: Nature’s Healing Balm With Immune Boosting Properties” by Katherine East
Propolis is a rich source of minerals, amino acids, fats, vitamins C and E, provitamin A, and B-complex. Propolis is also extraordinarily rich in bioflavonoids and amino acids. The bioflavonoids mend and strengthen the blood vessels and capillaries. In the congested beehive, propolis and royal jelly employ their antibiotic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties to inhibit undesirable bacteria and promote helpful bacteria. These are all properties that have all been supported by scientific research.
Hundreds of chemical properties have been identified in propolis, which differs from hive to hive, depending upon the environment in which the bees live and the time of day the propolis was collected. All these factors make propolis exceedingly complex, which is why no one has attempted to synthesize the product. It is natural and cannot be patented, and therefore research into the substance is limited regarding its clinical benefits. Consider the following:
A study was done on the effects of bee propolis on Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis (RAS)—also known as canker sores—at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Canker sores are an ulcerative disorder of the oral cavity. They have no cure and medicine used to prevent further outbreaks and relieve pain comes with its own set of dangerous side effects. Bee propolis was evaluated as a potential remedy to reduce the number of mouth ulcer outbreaks. There were two groups of patients, one group who took a placebo capsule and the other group who took a propolis capsule. Patients who took the propolis capsule showed a significant decrease in the number of outbreaks of mouth ulcers. Another great effect of the propolis was that the patients reported a definite improvement in their quality of life. This would likely be due to the immune boosting effects that propolis has with its high levels of B-vitamin complex and notable quantities of vitamin C, E, and beta-carotene.
—Excerpt from NaturalNews.com’s article “Bee Propolis: Nature’s Healing Balm With Immune Boosting Properties” by Katherine East
Propolis has also been used to treat a wide variety of other conditions ranging from arthritis to allergies to asthma. It has even been shown to be effective against MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant bacteria that endangers patients in many hospitals.
Honey: the great spiritual, alchemical gift that Mother Nature offers us. Select honeys that are raw, preferably organic, and packaged in glass.
Unique Honey Varieties and Bee Product Types:
NoniLand™ honey: This is the greatest of the dark, amber-colored honeys. This type of honey is found only on the north shores of the Hawaiian Island chain. It is rich in antimicrobial material derived from noni pollen, lehua pollen, and in Ormus minerals in other local north-shore pollens.
Manuka honey: Manuka honeys from New Zealand sometimes are labeled with Active 8+, 10+, 13+, etc. ratings, which are indicators of topical antibiotic power. The higher the rated number, the more powerful the antibiotic effect of the honey when applied to the skin. Look for a high Active + rating if you are using the honey to treat burns or are ingesting the honey to fight back ulcers or an H. pylori infection of the stomach.
Honeydew honey: This is another New Zealand honey that is made entirely from tree sap instead of pollen.
Honey with cappings: This honey is capped with bee pollen, royal jelly, propolis, and some beeswax (pieces of the hive). Children tend to love it.
Bee pollen (fresh or dried): Bee pollen is essentially all of the mineral matter inside of flowers that the honeybees gather (they play around inside the flower to collect it) and bring back to the hive on their wings and legs. Pollen grains are microscopic in size and bees collect millions of these individual grains, connecting them with nectar into small pellets. Beekeepers collect the pollen from the bees by placing a mesh collection device at the entrance to the hive that the bees go through. This device gathers between 10 and 50 percent of the pollen that the bees are carrying into a tray below, leaving a sufficient amount for the hive’s needs.
When choosing pollen, choose either fresh pollen or look for pollen that has been dried at a hive’s natural temperature or less (not above 38° C or 96° F) by the use of dehumidifiers and air coolers in an airtight room. This way the pollen retains its complete nutritional value. Dried pollen needs to be dried to less than 10 percent moisture to stop natural fermentation and spoilage.
Bee pollen, as sold, appears as granular particles that are usually the size of sesame or flaxseeds. Fresh bee pollen is a delightful treat. Fresh bee pollen often has a soft, light, fluffy texture and the taste is full and rich. Dried bee pollen is dehydrated and its grains become harder in texture.
Fresh or dried bee pollen can be preserved in a highly nutritious state if stored in the freezer. The pollen will keep for up to eleven years. This means that bees can still use frozen pollen as food for up to eleven years! The pollen does not actually freeze, possibly due to its low moisture content of 3 percent. Refrigerated pollen does not keep as well because its moisture content can increase, especially if removed regularly from the refrigerator.
The best pollen has a variation of colored granules, ranging across the color spectrum.
Royal jelly: Fresh royal jelly can be frozen or at least refrigerated to preserve its healing and nutritive properties over weeks and months.
Propolis extracts: These product types are usually liquefied in alcohol or extracted in alcohol then put into glycerine. These are usually sold as immune system boosting products.
Propolis eyedrops: This is an excellent eye-cleansing product for individuals looking to use a natural product instead of synthetic eyedrops.
Honey is generally not recommended for children under the age of one. Rarely, honey can be contaminated with botulism. This is an organism that can be dangerously toxic to children under the age of one. Even though this is an extremely rare phenomenon, caution is still advised.
Honey can be applied topically to all degrees of burns and abrasions. The labeling of certain New Zealand honeys with Active 3+, Active 10+, Active 18+, etc. ratings is done to denote the topical strength of these honeys.
The aforementioned high Active #+ rated honeys are more effective against Heliobacter pylori, a pathogenic microbe organism that has been shown to cause ulcers. Three tablespoons of this type of honey on an empty stomach would be the dosage at least once a day, preferably twice a day, to improve ulcers.
Bee pollen can be mixed with honey (and/or royal jelly), consumed by itself as a snack, or blended into smoothies, elixirs, and desserts.
Start by using one tablespoon of bee pollen each day for children over five or adults. Increase serving if desired. Bee pollen blends well with smoothies or other drinks, or it may be eaten plain as a snack food by the spoonful. For an especially sweet and energizing treat, try dipping a cacao bean in honey, and then sprinkling it with bee pollen and maca!
The Healing Power of Bee Stings
I personally know of many who believe the best and fastest arthritis relief comes from honeybee venom. Some arthritic beekeepers actually annoy bees into stinging the hurting parts of their bodies—ankles, knees, hands and wrists, particularly. Beekeeper Charles Mraz investigated many cases of bee-sting treatment for arthritis and found no recorded instance of allergic reaction to the venom. He believed that most arthritics are not usually allergic to bee venom. From around the world have come thousands of testimonials and reports from doctors, beekeepers, and ordinary people from all walks of life, claiming relief from the symptoms of rheumatic conditions and arthritis by the use of bee sting venom. Why bee venom works this way is not well understood. Some scientists say the bee venom triggers a reaction in the body in which chemicals and perhaps antibodies are released to neutralize the poison and counteract its effects. The assumption is that the body’s biological response to the bee venom relieves the symptoms of rheumatic conditions and arthritis, almost as a “side effect”—a desirable side effect. Researchers are trying to find out why bee venom works so they can duplicate its effectiveness in a more controlled and systematic way.
—Bernard Jensen, PhD, Bee Well Bee Wise with Bee Pollen, Bee Propolis, Royal Jelly
Warning: On first trying pollen, some people may occasionally experience minor gastrointestinal irritation and a laxative effect due to the richness of the substance. Another potential, yet rare, allergic reaction can involve swelling, heart palpitations, and minor to moderate difficulty in breathing. For those who are new to enjoying pollen, it’s wise to start out with a small dosage, about ¼ teaspoon, and work up from there.
Royal jelly is extremely potent. Consuming just half a teaspoon daily is effective to achieve longevity and to receive a solid dosage of B vitamins—especially vitamin B5.
Propolis extracts (in alcohol or glycerine) can be added to water by the drop, or droppered directly into the mouth to improve the immune system, especially during a bout of the flu or during a throat infection. Propolis eyedrops are also available and can be used to replace conventional eyedrops. Because propolis products vary in concentration, use each product as directed.
1 tbsp. bee pollen
1 tbsp. açai berry powder
¼ tbsp. purple corn extract powder
¼ tbsp. mesquite meal
½ tbsp. spirulina
1 tbsp. coconut cream (not oil)
1 tsp. raw honey (solidified, white honey works best)
If desired, add ½ tsp. cacao powder for chocolate flavor
Mash all ingredients together until a crumbly paste is achieved. Spread on a sheet and dehydrate in a dehydrator or oven until they reach cookie consistency. (The dehydrator should be set at 115 degrees Fahrenheit and let to run until the crumbles are dry. If you have an oven, set it at the lowest temperature and check the crumbles every 10–15 minutes until they are dehydrated.)
Serves: All Lovers
In a food processor lightly blend:
¼–½ cup dried mulberries
1 cup hempseed
After just a few seconds, just until they are partially soft and grated, place the mixture in a large bowl and add:
8 oz. raw coconut butter (not oil)
½ cup shredded dried coconut flakes
3–4 tbsp. maca and/or red maca
1 tsp. cinnamon powder
¼–½ tsp. Celtic sea salt
powder from 12 capsules of cistanche
½ cup cacao nibs
½ cup tocotrienols
½ clove of nutmeg (grate fresh)
3–4 tbsp. bee pollen
1 tbsp. royal jelly
2 tsp. suma powder
¼ cup lucuma powder
1–2 tsp. ginseng powder (or several squirts in tincture form)
Powder from 6 capsules of cordyceps mushroom
Powder from 6 capsules of ho shou wu
4 squirts Ocean’s Alive Marine Phytoplankton
¼ cup coconut oil
3 raw vanilla beans (scrape out powder inside, do not use outside skin)
Massage all ingredients together by hand until the consistency of cookie dough. If necessary, add a splash or two of spring water or more coconut oil so everything sticks together.
Roll into golf-ball-sized balls, dip each ball in one of the following toppings and feed to the lucky person of your choice:
Maca powder
Coconut flakes
Cinnamon powder
Cacao nibs
Bee pollen
1 dropperful of Ormus Gold
1 dropperful propolis tincture
1 oz. Gold Rush™ Colloidal Gold
2 tsp. fresh pressed ginger juice
1–2 tsp. raw NoniLand™ honey healing honey
1 tsp. bee pollen
1 oz. Orgono Living Silica
1 squirt Dr. Patrick Flanagan’s Crystal Energy
1 dropperful Ocean’s Alive Marine Phytoplankton
Optional for extra magic: 1 dropperful of goji berry extract tincture or 1 tbsp. goji berry extract powder
Mix all ingredients together in a glass (not a blender), stir, drink it down, and you are gold to go!
2 tbsp. bee pollen
2 tsp. royal jelly
2 tbsp. raw NoniLand™ honey
2–4 droppersful of propolis tincture
Mix all ingredients together in bowl and enjoy!
High-vibe variations: Add in a few spoonfuls of whichever of the following ingredients strike your fancy—let your creative culinary genius go wild!
Cacao nibs (or whole beans)
Wild jungle peanuts
Brazil nuts (chopped)
Hempseed
Shelled pecans
Goji berries
Hunza raisins
Dried mulberries
Dried (chopped) figs
Dried (chopped) dates
Place each of the following six ingredients in their own bowls, and decadently dip away with the cacao bean!
cacao beans
Manuka or NoniLand™ honey
royal jelly
maca
bee pollen
spirulina
On top of your favorite flax crackers, or raw/sprouted bread, spread:
1 tbsp. Manuka or NoniLand™ honey
1 tsp. royal jelly
And then sprinkle on:
1 tbsp. hempseed
and a pinch of your favorite spice(s), including, but not limited to: cayenne, cinnamon, ginger, curry, Italian seasoning, etc. (optional)
16 oz. spring water
2 tbsp. NoniLand™ honey (or more, to taste)
juice of 1–2 lemons
1 pinch of Celtic sea salt
2 tbsp. NoniLand™ noni powder
Combine all ingredients together in a jar and stir until completely mixed together. Chill in refrigerator (or even freezer if you want a sorbet) for an extra-refreshing treat!
“True,” he continued, “the Path of Pollen has its dangers, for before there is birth there is labor—if honey, then also sting. But at its completion, it confers upon those who attain it extraordinary control over physical conditions. These include the ability to transmute matter, to heal all diseases, and to prolong the span of human incarnation. The Path of Pollen is our yoga, our means of union and communion with the incredible hidden universe and this beautiful blue-green jewel that is our Earth.”
—The Bee Shaman Bridge speaking to Simon Buxton in The Shamanic Way of the Bee
