Friday, March 29, 2013


SEE - This is why our Propolis Salve works among other fabulous things the Girlies make!

It is applied externally and acts on skin infections, bites and cuts. Honey-based products can be used to replace antibiotic and antiseptic creams.

Think it's funny that there are mothers that put honey on their children's sores? Don't Laugh....There are people that swear by it, telling stories of how quickly it cures any infection.

Honey sounds very homey and unscientific, which is why their is now science to validate the claims made for it.  The curative properties of various types of honey have been known to indigenous cultures for thousands of years, and dressing wounds with honey was common before the advent of antibiotics.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

ROYAL JELLY FACT SHEET

                                      ROYAL JELLY FACT SHEET

From the Beekeepers Association

Royal Jelly is the substance that turns an ordinary bee into the Queen Bee. It is made of pollen which is chewed up and mixed with a chemical secreted from a gland in the nursing bee's heads. This "milk" or "pollen mush" is fed to all the larvae for the first two days of their lives.

The larvae chosen to become a queen continue to eat only royal jelly. The queen grows one and a half times larger than the ordinary bee, and is capable of laying up to two thousand eggs a day. The Queen Bee lives forty times longer than the bees on a regular diet. There is no difference between a queen bee and a worker bee in the larval stage. The only factor that is different between them is that a developing queen bee continues to eat only royal jelly.

Scientists decided to try feeding the queen bee's diet to other animals with surprising results. The life span of pigs and roosters showed as much as a thirty- percent increases. Fruit flies fed royal jelly increased in size and in rate of production. Chickens given royal jelly laid twice as many eggs, and older chickens began to lay again.

In France, there have been reports of women fed royal jelly during menopause, showing complete remission of their symptoms. Some were even able to become mothers again. France also claimed that their studies showed royal jelly to have rejuvenating and sexually stimulating effects on both men and women. Canada has approved royal jelly as a natural dietary supplement for its athletes. Royal jelly is not a drug, but a nutritious, quickly assimilated food.

In Germany, Drs. Chochi, Prosperi, Quadri and Malossi (in separate studies) used royal jelly as an aid to badly undernourished and premature babies. The infants fed royal jelly increased in weight and health. Another doctor, Telatui, reported that neuro-psychic patients given royal jelly regained normal weight, a more stable nervous system, and a greater degree of stamina for physical and mental work.

Chemical analysis of royal jelly found it rich in protein and the B vitamins (especially panothenic acid). However, analysis of royal jelly fails to break it down into all its different components. It cannot be synthesized.

Royal jelly has proven to be a potent bactericide. It also acts as a catalyst, stimulating intercellular metabolic activities without significantly modifying normal physiological activity. Thus, it hastens cell recovery with no side effects. Royal jelly has been known to speed up healing of wounds and to reduce the amount of scarring.

The beneficial effects of royal jelly seem not to depend entirely upon its vitamin content, but upon some type of enzymatic or catalytic action of an as yet unknown factor; or perhaps, the known factors working in combination with a co-enzyme through a process that has not yet been defined.

Since the action of royal jelly seems to be systemic rather that one which affects a specific biological function, it has been recommended for a great variety of purposes: to retard the aging process, for menopause, correction of under-nutrition, for arthritis, vascular diseases, peptic ulcers, liver ailments, nervous instability, skin problems, improvement of sexual functions, general health and well-being.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Swarms
Honeybee swarms tend to be found in both accessible and inaccessible locations within some proximity (10 to 100 yards) of the “parent” colony. Swarms of honeybees are collections of (typically) about 30,000 individuals who have “left home” due to overcrowding or other ecosystem limitations. The swarm that manifests itself on a tree branch is resting and sending out scouts in search of a new cavity in a tree or man-made structure (can even be your home - cracks in exterior) that will afford them protection from the outdoor elements and where they can set up housekeeping in peace. Consequently, most swarms move on from where they are discovered every 12 to 36 hours until they find a new home.

Swarms of honeybees (herbivores), unlike their carnivorous distant relatives of the wasp family (yellow jackets, hornets, etc.) are quite docile unless disturbed. At least they are currently, since honeybees in our region have not yet become “Africanized” and taken on the more defensive behaviors of that strain of honeybees. Your local beekeepers, as well as the South Carolina Department of Agriculture are constantly revising their practices in the effort to keep our regional honeybee population friendly, productive, and beneficial to our gardens and crops; and continue to be a bellwether for the condition of not only their environment, but Our environment as well.


What should I do if I see a swarm?
If you discover a swarm of bees, wasps, or other insects, your local emergency services (police, fire, rescue, and animal control) can be informed if the critters pose some threat and it would not be prudent to just wait for them to leave. A swarm of insects does NOT warrant a call to the 911 Emergency Center. Look up the local number for your local Police, Fire and Animal Control to place a call to their dispatch desk.

Alternately, you can contact
The Bee Whisperer, Ralph “Buddy” May at 864-430-0318