Dogs May Be Mans Best friend But Bees Are Mans Best Workers
Bees are natures work force in the garden, they fertilize many of the plants we need for food. Imagine if you have to grow a veggie patch especially choko or zucchini without the help of bees in the garden then you will know what I mean. A good choko vine will yield a ute load of fruit if the elements are kind, but without bees they will not yield one fruit. Fertilizing by hand would be time consuming and quiet often dangerous as chokos grow up and over everything including big trees and fences, try hand pollinating them without a ladder and you won’t get very far. It is the same with zucchini or any other marrow the work, back breaking and the yield disappointing without bees.
Honey bees are as essential for the self sufficient gardener as they are for all mankind Albert Einstein said “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live”? So the more people who keep bees, the better the chance we have of never loosing them – which is a real threat at the moment as bees are dying all over the world, some from unknown causes.
Another great attribute of bees other than their ability to fertilize the plants that grow the food we eat, is the honey they make. It has been called “Nectar of The Gods” and not for any small reason. Honey in the kitchen as a food and natural sweetener is well known and many great books have been written on the subject.
Honey – Natures greatest gift for self sufficient first aid.
For thousands of years mankind has used bee honey to stop infection and heal wounds. Only now with modern science can we understand why honey is so marvelous, the healing attributes of honey can no longer be fobbed off as an old wives tales. The research has been done the results are in. Hundreds of medical papers have been written and dozens of medical trials involving thousands of patients have concluded that:
Raw (Not Heated) Honey made by bees gathering specific tree pollen is effective as a topical ointment and dressing in the treatment of a huge range of injuries.
These include but are not limited to burns, surgical wounds, infected wounds, ulcers and pressure sores as well as eczema, nappy rash, dry eye, and even dental wounds. Honey is also effective in cleaning wounds as it breaks down dead tissue while feeding and giving nutrients to live tissue, which helps wounds heal faster and reduces scarring. While this is remarkable in it’s self that’s not all:
Honey is a great anti-inflammatory and as a result an analgesic, which is to say it helps make pain go away. So not only will it kill germs and assist in healing of cuts ulcers and abrasions, it will ease the pain – so therefore it works on stings, bites – (especially wasp), sunburn, ray-burn from welding, blisters, and rashes. Honey’s incredible anti bacterial qualities make it one of the few things that will kill golden staph as Staphylococcus aureus is resistant to most antibiotics. Honey is therefore useful not only as a treatment but also as a preventative from further infections.
In summary; Honey is a nutritious food we eat, has health benefits used both internally and topically and there are no worry’s about overdosing or other nasty drug related side effects.
Why haven’t I heard about this you say?
It’s all about money… Honey.
No-one can patent honey, the drug companies can’t make big bucks so there is no incentive to spread the word on natural remedies because the money is just not in it. So medical-honey (honey produced by the bees feeding on flowers of the leptospernum bush) gets shoved in the same category as snake oil and all that other alternative stuff – even though the medical trials have been done research is in and Medihoney owned by Australian honey manufacturer Capilano are approved by the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods – paving the way for use by community nurses and hospitals – the news on the street is slow.
So when you start your bee hives as surely you must, as there are too many reasons not to. Plant a few rows or clusters of leptospernum bushes for the bees to feed off, this will increase the antibacterial properties of your honey and give the bees a great food source.
Even though leptospernum are really beautiful bushes don’t be tempted to plant them too near the house or sheds as the are not a good choice if you live in a fire prone area as they will burn very well and very hot even when green, you will find photos and growing information for; Leptospermum polygalifolium (Au)
and Leptospermum scoparium, (NZ & Au) here http://www.anbg.gov.au/leptospermum/index.html
Nutritional Facts of Honey
Honey is 80% sugars however it has a lower GI ( Glycemic index) than other sugars, which
means the rich array of different types of sugars is slower to be absorbed into the blood
stream and less likely to give you sugar highs and lows. There are at least 4 types of sugar and carbohydrate in honey.
Honey also is rich vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
There are variety of B vitamins such as niacin, riboflavin, B6, thiamine and pantothenic acid, honey is high in vitamin C. and will not break down over time, do not heat honey though as it does break down the vitamin C and other active ingredients.
Minerals in honey include include calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus,potassium, sodium and zinc
By keeping bees you will not only be self sufficient with the foods they pollinate, but also the honey they produce. Which is edible as well as medical if the bees are feasting on the right flowers. You can buy book online about keeping bees, and Recipes for Cooking with honey.