The Different Bee Products

Propolis is a bit out of vogue but someone asked me whether it was the same as bee pollen, The answer is NO.

Royal Jelly

Royal jelly is the thick, creamy milky-white nutritionally rich substance produced in the glands of the worker honey bee and fed to the queen bee. It is believed to be the key food that enhanced the queen bee’s growth. When used in our diet it is believed to be a natural stress buffer, antimicrobial and vitality booster.

Bee pollen

Bee pollen is made from the bee’s choice pollens – generally those containing the highest amounts of protein and other nutrients – and mixed with the bees’ own secretions. Nutritionists believe that its rich nutritional content supports body functioning, increases alertness, helps circulation, improves skin and enhances energy and stamina.


Honey

Honey is the basic nectar of the hive. This sweet viscous fluid is manufactured by bees from nectar collected from flowers and stored for food. Honey has little nutritional value but it has greater sweetening power than sucrose (table sugar), so far less is needed. Honey is known to be soothing to the skin and throat.

Propolis

As you can see the above three (3) produce have no medicinal value but mainly nutritional benefits.

Propolis has very little direct nutritive value apart from the small amount of amino acids, minerals, certain vitamins and sugars. It use in humans is almost solely as a therapeutic, and hence it is normally classified as a “traditional medicine”.

During the last part of their lives, worker bees stop gathering nectar and pollen, and their job changes to gathering tree saps and mixing them with their own secretions. The resulting mixture, called propolis, is used to coat every inch of their internal walls of the hive to sterilize the comb and keep their hives free from bacteria. The hive is an enclosed unit, it is hot and moist, the perfect breeding ground for microorganisms. Because of the propolis, the hive is virtually free of bacteria, mold and mildew.