The benefits of hive products

Honey: health elixir

The most famous product donated by bees is without doubt honey. Honey is produced by the foraging bee by processing sugary substances gathered from nature. The main sources are nectar, produced by flowering plants, and honeydew, a derivative of tree sap produced by colonies of insects belonging mainly to the order Hemiptera or Rhynchus. Honeydew is collected by bees especially in areas with poor nectar sources, or during periods of low nectar importation.

Nutritional properties

Because of its properties, honey deserves to be on our tables every day: in fact, it is highly energetic and easily assimilated because it is rich in simple sugars (fructose and glucose), it has a greater sweetening power than sugar but with a lower caloric intake. 100 g of honey corresponds to 300 Kcal compared to 100 g of sugar, which translates into 400 Kcal. However, the nutritional value of honey is not limited to sugars: it also contains B vitamins, vitamin C, iron, potassium, amino acids and enzymes. Honey is also known for its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and decongestant nutritional factors, making it a good adjuvant for treating pharyngitis or colds. From an organoleptic point of view, it comes in a rich variety of flavours, but to fully enjoy the benefits of honey, the ideal thing to do is to always choose a raw honey, not heat-treated at any stage of the production process because the high temperatures reduce its properties.

Cosmetic properties

Honey has an incredibly beneficial effect on our skin. Thanks to its unique and 100% natural composition, honey has got numerous properties:

• naturally rich in fructose, it moisturises the upper layers of the epidermis and soothes sensitive skin. Thanks to its antibacterial properties, it purifies oily skin without drying it out.
• Rich in antioxidants and enzymes, it is also a beauty ally against the signs of ageing. It helps limit skin ageing by regenerating the tissues and preserving elasticity.
• The consistent presence of minerals and vitamins make it a real caress of well-being for the skin. Ideal both in winter and summer to moisturise and soften the skin in a natural way.

The virtues of honey are manifold, which is why many women have already adopted it in their daily beauty routine.

Propolis: a natural shield

Propolis is a resinous, gummy, balsamic substance produced by plants to coat and protect flower buds, vegetative tips and parts of the bark. Bees collect this substance from the buds, work it with their mandibles, mixing it with secretions from their own bodies (wax and saliva), and bring it to the hive in pellets collected in the pollen baskets of their hind legs. Etymologically, the word propolis derives from the Greek pro meaning "in front" and polis meaning "city", i.e. "in front of the city", alluding to the fact that this substance was often found accumulated around the entrance to the hive, a strategy adopted by the insects to reduce its size and thus make it easier to defend the colony from predators and the rigours of the climate. The components present in propolis are identified with those present in the plant species that the bees visited to produce it. In Europe, the main sources come from the resin of Alder, Birch, Hazel, Oak, Poplar and Willow. Bees use this substance both as a building material to coat the inside walls of the cells where they lay their eggs and rear their larvae and as an antiseptic. In this case it is applied to "sterilise" the hive, particularly the entrance to the cells where the eggs are kept.

Nutritional properties

The antiseptic, antibacterial and antifungal properties found in the hive make propolis one of the substances that bees offer us as a health remedy. Although the composition of propolis varies according to the different areas in which it is collected, its average composition is as follows: resins and balsams 50-55%; wax 30%; essential oils and volatile substances 10-15%; pollen 5%; other organic substances and minerals 5%. It contains terpenes, vitamins (A-B-E-PP), trace elements (Ag, Al, Cr, Co, Fe, Mg), free amino acids, tannic substances, secretions of bee salivary glands. Propolis is considered one of the natural products with the most surprising biological and therapeutic actions: antimicrobial, antibiotic, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antioxidant. Propolis can be taken pure in its raw form, in syrup, in an alcoholic solution of varying concentration, in a non-alcoholic version or combined with other hive products. However, it is always important to consult a doctor to prescribe the most suitable treatment for the pathological situation in question.

Cosmetic properties

Propolis also has numerous benefits for the skin. Increasingly used in cosmetics for its regenerating, antibacterial and cicatrizing action, it envelops the skin, especially sensitive skin, in a gentle soothing caress, presenting valuable virtues in the treatment of skin conditions such as acne, psoriasis, eczema, burns, fungal infections and cracked hands.

Propolis is also renowned for its purifying action, making this natural ingredient an ideal ally in removing make-up.

Fresh royal jelly

Royal jelly is a product of animal origin, synthesised exclusively by nurse worker bees, i.e. between the 5th and 14th day of life, as a secretion of the hypopharyngeal and mandibular glands.

It is fed to all young larvae up to the third day of life and then only to those that become queen bees.

Bearing in mind that a queen has a life cycle of around five years, whereas a worker has a life cycle of 1-6 months, the difference is essentially determined by the feed received and not by genetics. It is precisely because of the properties and effects found on the bee that man began to consider gelatine as a possible foodstuff and discovered its important benefits.

Nutritional properties

Royal jelly is semi-fluid, homogeneous, gelatinous, whitish to beige in colour and has a characteristic acidic, phenolic odour. There may be differences in colour shade, but this depends on the type of pollen and honey that the bees feed on at the time and is not an indication of a poor product if it is well preserved. Its main constituents are water, proteins, sugars, lipids, mineral salts and enzymes. All the essential amino acids are present (29 amino acids in total). Among the sugars, fructose is predominant. The lipid fraction consists of short-chain fatty acids (max. 8-10 carbon atoms), which makes them more easily soluble in water and with excellent antimicrobial properties. Royal jelly is also rich in trace elements including calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium and zinc; it contains a real cocktail of vitamins, especially the water-soluble ones and in particular those belonging to the B group, vitamin C and vitamin E; traces of hormones, enzymes and cholinergic factors are also present. Royal jelly is known to have a general stimulating effect on the human organism, which translates into a feeling of greater mental and physical well-being and greater resistance to physical and intellectual fatigue.

In cosmetics

Research has shown that royal jelly has anti-ageing properties, mainly due to its amino acid content and the broad spectrum of vitamins and minerals it contains. It is therefore also widely used as a component in skin care and natural beauty products. The most well-known virtues recognised in cosmetics are its stimulating action on epidermal cell metabolism, normalisation of sebaceous secretion (acne), prevention of skin senescence (anti-wrinkle effect), improvement of skin hydration and elasticity (anti-stretch marks, firming, elasticising action).

Bees wax

Beeswax is an organic substance secreted by worker bees between the 14th and 19th day of life (the intensity of production will gradually decrease until the bee dies) in order to build honeycombs in which honey, propolis, pollen and brood are stored. Wax is produced by special wax glands located in the ventral part of the insect's abdomen. From these glands the wax is emitted in liquid form in the form of tiny droplets which, on contact with air, solidify into flakes. These flakes, mixed with enzymes, pollen and propolis that determine their colour shades, are then shaped by the bees through their mandibles to build the honeycomb. The process of wax production is very expensive: the bees must consume around 10 kg of honey to produce 1 kg of wax!

Operculum wax: a must for our beauty

The wax from the opercula removed from the frames during honey extraction is called operculum wax: it is extremely pure, the best that can be obtained from the hive! It is a valuable product that is worth reusing to produce high-quality wax sheets or cosmetic creams.

In cosmetics

Since ancient times, beeswax has been considered an exceptionally important raw material due to its ease of processing and its strong waterproofing properties. Obviously, like all natural products, it is subject to variations in terms of its characteristics and composition, but it is always a substance made up of compounds belonging to the group of fats or lipids which make it useful in the formulation of products for very dry and chapped skin, as it allows the loss of water from the skin to be retained and protected. A noteworthy detail about wax is its carotene content (Apis mellifera wax), no other natural product is as rich in carotenes. Carotenes are the main source of vitamin A. Naturally rich in vitamin A, beeswax aids cell regeneration and strengthens the skin's defences against daily attacks from germs, bacteria and atmospheric agents. Some researchers attribute to it antiseptic, emollient, anti-inflammatory and healing properties, making it a valuable ally even in the presence of impure or acne-prone skin.