The Sunnyside Magazine Online

By Khefira Hasati

Honey has been treasured by humans for many, many thousands of years. The sweet nectar produced by the endless work and tireless effort of bees is, in its quality, comparable to the spiritual gifts one might receive after a lifetime of devotion to prayers and meditations.

Bees, in a single lifetime, fly thousands of miles and collect the nectar from millions of blossoms, depositing the nectar in carefully constructed combs, where it is sealed and then fanned by other bees until all water is evaporated out of it and it shrinks to one quarter its original volume. This concentrated elixir, containing the most precious plant substances from the entire region of local flowers, is what we call honey.

Nowadays we generously pour it into our tea and onto our biscuits, but before our era of indulgence, our ancestors regarded honey with much veneration and respect. Honey was eaten and enjoyed, but mostly by royalty and for spiritual offerings. Honey was regarded as a food fit for Gods in the Kemetic Spiritual system, and cakes made with honey as well as sealed jars of honey were common offerings in temples to deities and in tombs to feed the dead on their journey. In many temples in Itoure (modern day Egypt), depictions of apiary culture are common and show the importance of bees and honey in the spiritual life. Temples even kept their own hives in order to have honey to offer to the deities on the Divine Holy Days.

Honey is also an important medicine, recognized for its amazing healing and antimicrobial properties. One of only a few substances that can be sealed and kept, unrefrigerated, for years and years, honey is able to retain all of its nutrient and healing properties without going bad, souring or molding in any way. How is this possible? It seems that no kind of bacteria are able to live in honey, making it a perfect wound dressing. The sugars in the honey also absorb any moisture around the wound which is usually the vehicle for infection. Honey has also been found to be most effective on first, second and third degree burns, keeping the burn clean and also helping the body to actually re-grow the skin cells, leaving little to no scarring.

As a food, honey has been known to soothe a sore throat, killing any bacteria that can be present there. It also has a natural anti-inflammatory affect.

Raw Honey

All of the above benefits of honey and its use as an internal anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal substance are – like all foods – dependent on the quality
of the honey. However in this case, the situation is even more extreme, because the pollen that collects on the bees’ legs as they move from plant to plant is only as healthful and as diverse as those plants. The nectar collected by the bees that becomes honey is only as pure as the environment that the plant has grown in. The soil, air and water that feed the plant directly affect the healthful benefits of the honey. In addition, any commercial processing of honey often removes many of the phytonutrients found in raw honey as it exists in the hive. Raw honey, for example, contains small amounts of the same resins found in propolis. Propolis, sometimes called “bee glue,” is actually a complex mixture of resins and other substances that honeybees use to seal the hive and make it safe from bacteria and other micro-organisms. Honeybees make propolis by combining plant resins with their own secretions. However, substances like road tar have also been found in propolis. Other phytonutrients found both in honey and propolis have been shown to possess cancer-preventing and anti-tumor properties.

Although not an herb, honey is a plant by-product and used medicinally around the world. Still, only wildflower honey should be used as the clover or alfalfa honey, common in grocery stores, comes from heavily sprayed crops and does not have the broad-spectrum healing activities found in the natural honey obtained from multiple-plants that have not been sprayed with various chemicals. In addition, many commercial honey growers supplement their bees’ food with sugar and even add it to the final product, which dilutes the medicinal action of the honey. Good, strong, medicinal type honey, it should slightly burn or sting the back of the throat when taken undiluted.

There are three instances where honey can be harmful:
* 1) Bees occasionally get into poisonous plants. Although very rare, it does happen. Therefore, it is best to obtain honey from a dealer who is familiar with beekeeper practices.

* 2) Occasionally, honey may contain botulism spores that can be dangerous to children under the age of one year. After that age, their digestive systems are more fully formed and are able to rid themselves of the occasional spore that may be present in uncooked honey.

* 3) In rare instances, people who are allergic to bee stings will also react to honey or other bee products.

This is a great time of year to find locally produced honey at farmer’s markets.  Most of the local honey has the added benefit of helping to defend the body against many of the local pollens that activate seasonal allergies. Because the honey contains small amounts of the local pollens, mixed into the healing compound, the body accustoms itself and builds defenses to the pollens a little at a time. This honey, when used throughout the winter, can give the body a head start when spring comes and plants begin to bloom.

Sweetening tea, hot cereal, fruit or baked goods with honey (instead of sugar) are just a few of the common uses of honey. Be creative and enjoy not only the wonderful health benefits, but the sweet taste of this gift of nature.