All Honey UK

By Anne Kennedy

People have been eating honey for over 3 million years - often called ‘nature’s original sweetener’, it is a completely natural product which can be used on the body as well as eaten (Cleopatra is known for her honey and milk baths).

- It takes one hardworking bee to make 2 tablespoons of honey in its lifetime. Half it eats, and half it stores - so remember every time you eat a spoon of honey, it could represent a good part of a bees’ lifetime’s work. It deserves to be treated with respect!

- A hive of bees could deliver 50 pounds of honey for its keeper.

- Honey keeps for over 100 years in the comb - honey was found in Egyptian tombs and it was still edible.

- It takes the nectar of one and a half to two million flowers to make a single jar of honey, and a hive of bees can collectively fly 55,000 miles to get that.

- Researchers at Michigan State University have found that honey enhances the growth of commercial strains of bifidobacteria, making it useful in the production of probiotic dairy products.

- Honey is one of the few all natural products and needs no additives or preservatives - it is literally packed from the hive to the jar without any additions.

- Honey has traditionally been used to heal wounds, because of its antibacterial properties. According to Peter Molan*, a biochemistry professor and director of the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, honey ’stops any bacteria from growing and it never fails to clear an infection.’ Honey varies in flavor, color - and medicinal properties - based on the kind of flowers the bees visit, he said. ‘You go back 2,000 years and the Greek physicians knew a few kinds of honey worked very well, based on color and season. That knowledge has been lost today. Most current research about honey is using honey from the supermarket jar,’ Molan said.

- Everytime you think of killing a bee, stop and consider what this little creature can offer the world if he lives.

Robert writes from the New Zealand Honey Shop to say: ‘It is good to see honey being promoted, as it is a very natural food that should have more use made of it. All honey contains some level of antibacterial/antiseptic ability due to the hydrogen peroxide generated from an enzyme in it.

The more raw, or natural, the honey the better, and people can be encouraged to make use of what honey they have available. However most supermarket honeys are processed using a high level of heat, which destroys some of the natural benefits of honey. Also, by referring to the work of Molan* (see last point above) it should be pointed out that his research has been focused on some batches of the manuka honey from New Zealand that he found had additional anitbacterial and healing properties from other honeys. (Again, not all manuka honey is the same). It is this research into UMF (unique manuka factor) active honey that has lead to its growing use for wound treatment today.

There is a problem unfortunately of some people passing off ordinary manuka honey by refering to Molan’s work. Examples of genuine active manuka honey and information are available. People who have read about Molan’s work into manuka honey should be looking for that which actually carries the ‘UMF’ label. For many cases though, people can be encouraged to make use of their locally grown honey.’

Anne Kennedy runs http://www.Greatfood2buy.com , Ireland’s finest food gift shop and its sister Irish site, http://www.Greatfood.ie, Ireland’s favourite recipe and food website.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_Kennedy
http://EzineArticles.com/?Honey—A-Wonder-Food&id=849091

by David Westbury

Article courtesy of Article City

Thousands of beehives all over New Zealand provide New Zealand bee keepers with honey. Most notable are the native bush honeys, these include large quantities of Manuka Honey. Manuka Honey is the New Zealand honey that has become renowned for its special anti-bacterial and antioxidant properties.

Only some manuka honey has the Unique Manuka Factor (UMF) antibacterial and antioxidant properties. To determine which manuka honey has these special properties, manuka honey is laboratory tested. In New Zealand, laboratory testing is carried out by the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato. The manuka honey that is laboratory tested and verified is given a UMF rating and is referred to as “active”. Manuka honey from New Zealand produces the highest rating UMF manuka honey in the world.

Manuka (leptospermum scoparium) is found all over New Zealand, from sea level to about 1,000m, and on the Chatham Islands. It often forms extensive areas of scrub that protect regenerate forest seedlings and form a shelter for native orchards and other small plants. North of Auckland it is known as kahikatoa. Leptospermum scoparium is often called the tea tree. A “tea” drink was made from manuka leaves by Captain Cook’s men and by the early settlers; the name tea tree was given to the tree by Cook. The Maori people used it as a medicinal plant. Decoctions made of the leaves were used to reduce fever and treat colds; preparations of the bark were used as sedatives. Manuka wood is red-coloured, hard and durable, burns fiercely in a fire and is used in tool handles.

Manuka Honey - Personnel Testament

Medical professionals in New Zealand use active manuka honey with a UMF15+ or higher. Several years ago whilst working in the field as a Diesel mechanic I was unfortunate enough to severally burn my left hand thumb with a oxy acetleyene gas cutting torch.

After cleaning the wound and applying antiseptic cream, it was dressed and left to heal. After 2 days, changing the dressing 3 times a day, the wound had not got better, but was showing signs of infection. I visited my local Medical Professional who had the nurse clean and dress the wound. I guess you can sense my amazement when the nurse went and put manuka honey with a UMF15+ rating on my burn and then proceeded to bandage it up. I mean the antiseptic cream hadn’t worked! The nurse then went on to explain the antiseptic benefits of using manuka honey, and how burns responded well to it. They purchased the manuka honey they used from the local supermarket next door. Everyday for 3 days the wound was redressed and more manuka honey along with clean bandages were applied to my thumb and it mended with no scaring, you wouldn’t know it had ever been burnt.

Manuka honey now has a permanent place in the medicine cupboard at home and with 6 children gets used very regular with amazing results.

About The Author

This article about Manuka Honey is submitted by David Westbury, writing for http://www.theumfstore.com

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