Smiley Honey News

In the summer of 2013, I got a nasty 2nd degree burn on the inside of my forearm while moving a hot pan of melted beeswax. The affected skin area was about 2 inches in diameter. As an experiment, I treated the wound with raw honey, applying small dab of honey each morning when I changed the dressing.The burn healed quickly and completely. Today, it is almost impossible to see where the burn was. While I was grateful for the healing properties of honey, I did not really understand how it worked. Today, while reading the book Honey: The Gourmet Medicine, I learned how honey treats and heals skin wounds.

Raw honey contains small amounts of the enzyme glucose oxidase. Under the right conditions, glucose oxidase breaks down into gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide has long been used as a disinfectant, but it tends to lose its effectiveness fairly quickly when exposed to air and light. Raw honey solves this problem by producing small amounts of hydrogen peroxide directly in the bandaged wound.

Two things are required to convert glucose oxidose into hydrogen peroxide -- a pH of 6.1 and at least 2300 ppm of sodium. Neither of these conditions are present in raw honey, which has a pH level of between 3.2 and 4.5, and traces of sodium in the 20 to 40 ppm range. Human skin and body fluids solve this problem. As explained in Honey: The Gourmet Medicine: [W]hen honey comes into contact with human skin or wounds, the dormant enzyme - glucose oxidase - becomes highly active at the interface of the honey and skin or wound, as bodily fluids raise both the pH and the sodium concentrations to the optimum range of enzyme activity. Thus, minute doses of hydrogen peroxide are continually released from the honey, directly to where they are most needed. Could man devise a more perfect, slow-release antimicrobial product for treating wounds? If a billion dollar, biomedical company gave their research and development scientists unlimited time and resources, it is doubtful they could equal what nature has already provided in honey."  Honey: The Gourmet Medicine by Joe Traynor, at pages 11-12,

 

 

 

A husband and wife team has started a company called Seedles, with the ambitious goal to grow 1 million wildflowers. Ei Ei and Chris were concerned about the decline in bee populations. Recognizing that lack of habitat was one of the factors contributing to this decline, they came up with a fun new product that combines seeds, compost and clay into brightly colored balls. These seed balls can be tossed onto any available patch of soil, and nature then does the rest.

Check out their website at growtherainbow.com and also watch their You Tube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjsaZ3hbq14#t=94

Then get some colorful Seedles for stocking stuffers and when the weather starts to warm next spring, add some wildflowers to your neighborhood. You will be adding color to our land, and also providing much needed food for bees.

 

 

Raw honey is the ONLY honey you should eat, both for the great taste and for the health benefits. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have identified 13 unique lactic acid bacteria in the stomachs of bees. These bacteria have amazing antimicrobial properties. In one study, honey containing these lactic acid bacteria was applied directly to persistent wounds on 10 horses. Previously, the owners had tried other medications, but nothing had worked. With the honey, however, all 10 horses were healed. In laboratory testing, honey with lactic acid bacteria has been completely effective in fighting drug resistant pathogens such as MRSA. Researchers believe that a possible explanation for these promising results is that raw honey contains a broad spectrum of beneficial substances which work together to produce strong healing properties.

There is a short video on You Tube about this study: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUd9Su_voxU

Did you know that some bees work harder than others?  And what happens when these "elite" bees are removed from the hive? Check out this video from the New York Times to find out.

Read more

Another new addition to our lineup - some amazing blackberry honey.

Many honey varieties are rather subtle in taste. A good example is orange blossom. The citrus notes are muted, and you have to focus to pick them up. Blackberry honey, however, is not subtle at all. It starts with a nice, fruity sweetness, which then blossoms into a full on blackberry explosion. There is no doubt about the nectar that makes up this honey - it comes from the wild blackberry brambles that grow in abundance in the Umpqua Valley in Southern Oregon.

Now bottled and ready to go - some very nice cotton honey from Southern Georgia. This honey has a very interesting flavor. It is assertive -- with a curious mix of sweetness and spice. There are hints of cinnamon and anise, and you will get an ever so mild tingle at the back of your throat after a couple of spoonfuls. This honey has true southern persona - sweet and spicy with a little kick at the end.