by Linda Wendler

Honeybees are a global fascination as Kirstin Traynor explained to the HSGP membership at the May 19, 2013 meeting. Traynor, who won her first beehive in a raffle, spent 18 months in Europe studying how bee-keeping habits in the home of the honeybee compare to those in the US where the honeybee is a non-native species. She is currently pursuing PhD at ASU which has a renowned social insect research program.

Honey and honeybees have had a place in human culture from earliest recorded times. Traynor showed images of cave paintings representing collection of honey from wild hives. The medicinal uses of honey have been known for centuries. An ancient Egyptian papyrus detailed the use of honey for treating battle wounds. Greeks from Democritus to Aristotle and Hipparchus recommended honey for similar uses.

The Catholic Church regarded the queen bee as pure and chaste and for this reason specified that only beeswax candles could be used in services. The reality, Traynor explained, is that the queen is actually quite promiscuous, mating with twenty or more drones (male bees) in order to produce her eggs. Nevertheless, at times in history it was possible to pay one's taxes in honey and beeswax. Beekeeping was a common activity in monasteries and monks became proficient in creating alcoholic mead from honey.

During the Middle Ages, honey was recognized as useful in wound care but that knowledge was discarded when more “modern” medicine was developed. Now, however, the positive role of honey in health and wound care is being rediscovered in a scientific setting. Asia and South America are ahead of the US in this research. Current research is testing claims for bee-related products in the area of anti-inflammation including arthritis, healing of chronic wounds, cough relief, treatment of burns and relief for radiation side-effects. Traynor noted that the FDA has approved honey as a medicinal substance. Honey is also being used to attempt to desensitize allergy sufferers by exposure to the pollen in unfiltered honey, although she commented that most US honey is processed to remove the pollen.

Traynor's recent book is titled “Two Million Blossoms” because that's how many it takes to produce a pound of honey. She pointed out that there is no such thing as “organic” honey because the beekeeper has no control over where the bee collects nectar, although it is possible to use organic methods in hive management.

When collected and placed into the honeycomb, the nectar has a high water content. Inside the warm hive, bees fan their wings to dehydrate the nectar into a honey product which is less than 19% water.

Bees produce five different substances which are considered to have medicinal value. In addition to beeswax and honey, a resinous substance called propolis, sometimes called “Russian Penicillin” is reputed to have a number of medical uses including as an anti-inflammatory and as an antibiotic or antifungal. Bee venom is used to moderate the effects of arthritis and claims for royal jelly emphasize its supposed anti-aging effect.

Traynor commented that in Germany where she studied beekeeping practices, bees are docile and the beekeepers don't wear protective clothing as do beekeepers in the US. Africanized bees exist only in the southern tier in the US but are actually good pollinators and produce quality honey. Where the Africanized strains can exist, they will inevitably take over the hive because the Africanized males fly earlier to mate with the queen than the non-Africanized drones and thus the Africanized genes are introduced at a higher rate. The gentler strains from Europe cannot be brought to the US because of import regulations.

Colony collapse disorder is a major problem in the US and less so in Europe, possibly due to differences in beekeeping practices. Traynor pointed out that most German beekeepers are amateurs, while in the US, beekeeping is big business and a critical part of the production of many crops. An outstanding example is the California almond crop which requires 1.5 million hives for pollination, out of a total US hive population of 2.1 million. Moving hives frequently to different pollination locations may contribute to hive stress.

Traynor's presentation was enhanced by her husband Michael, a professional photographer in addition to a bee-lover, who contributed images and his own comments.

The audience had many questions. Michael Traynor gave the recipe for a honey-based skin care lotion as two parts of your favorite skin-care lotion to one part of honey. He also recommended a digestive aid of a tall glass of water to which a tablespoon of honey and a tablespoon of Bragg's cider vinegar have been added. Kirsten pointed out that it is almost impossible to overdose on honey because you can only eat just so much. She suggested that one befriend a beekeeper, and failing that, to shop for honey at a farmers' market and ask detailed questions about the provenance and processing of the honey. Ideally honey should not be heated to more than 104 degrees and certainly to less than 120 degrees to preserve the natural enzymes that give it so much of its efficacy. She also advised trying out different kinds of honey to experience the range of flavors, also saying that the darker the honey, the more vitamins and minerals it has.

HSGP Chapter Profile

In early 2011, Eric Nguyen of the American Humanist Association interviewed Shelley Newman, HSGP's president at that time. The interview serves as a profile of the Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix, including a brief history of the organization.

Read the interview on the American Humanist Association Website.

Breakfast

At our regular Sunday meetings, breakfast is offered for sale to members and guests for $5.00. For coffee only, the charge is $1.00. If you would like to have coffee and/or food, please pay at the welcome desk by the entrance door. Of course, donations are always gratefully accepted as well.

For your convenience, the membership desk is immediately behind the welcome desk at each Sunday meeting. Stop by to join or renew your membership in HSGP, or to update your records such as your email address.