Why Should I Care About Bees?

At some point in school we all learned about ecosystems. We learned that they are complex systems that function smoothly when each part is playing its role. Remove one part, and there will be consequences.

What isn’t generally taught in science classes is that one particular part of our ecosystem, the honeybee, has so pivotal a role that no less a luminary than Albert Einstein is said to have commented on its importance.

A recent report by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization concludes that the proportion of global food production that can be attributed to animal pollination (bees and birds) amounts to five percent in industrialized nations and eight percent in the developing world. Those numbers lack some clarity, however, as proportion also has to be taken into consideration: 75 percent of the world’s crops benefit to some degree from animal pollination, and up to 85 percent of Europe’s wildflowers are pollinated by bees.

Which means that bees are significant contributors to our wellbeing!

While their pollination activities are essential to the health of the planet, what they manufacture is essential to the lives of people. Honey has been associated with health—of both mind and body—for thousands of years. Eight thousand, in fact: that was when a cave painting was created near Valencia, Spain, depicting a person harvesting honey, complete with bees swarming all around him!

Honey is part of religious rituals, cultural customs, and has even provided a whole slew of expressions of endearment in a number of different languages.

But mostly, honey is good for you. Honey may, in fact, be able to treat a number of different ailments. At first people noticed that it was useful when spread on top of wounds; everyone seemed to know it worked, but only recently have we begun to understand how, through understanding the chemistry of its antibacterial properties. (There’s a slow release of hydrogen peroxide, which combines with high acidity and the antibacterial activity of a chemical called methylglyoxal.)

Consider honey’s worldwide appeal:

• In India, Ayurveda medicine practice considers that honey can restore balance to the three primitive imbalances in the body.
• In the United States, some wound gels that contain antibacterial raw honey and have regulatory approval are now available to help treat drug-resistant strains of bacteria.
• In New Zealand, a particular type of honey—called Manuka honey—is one of the best treatments available for infected wounds. Multiple studies show that infection clears, swelling and pain are reduced, and healing occurs with minimal scarring—and impressive speed. Honey keeps microbes from growing on the wound being treated, and causes no tissue damage.

Honey is the only sweetener that is natural and has healing effects. Anabolic honey, a concentrated source of fructose, glucose, is a preferred sweetener choice for athletes. As one of the best burn treatments available, honey relieves pain and heals wounds. It contains both vitamins and antioxidants (including one antioxidant, pinocembrin, that’s only found in honey). There are even claims of honey’s efficacy for weight-loss treatment!

All of this—and it tastes good, too!

So there are a lot of good reasons to care about bees. They help the planet work efficiently, and they provide us with an exceptional food that’s also an exceptional medicine.

Want honey? Bliss Shurfine Food Mart stocks all kinds. Why not come in and see them today?