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Organic Healing: Raw Honey - A Must In Every Medicine Chest
Honey of a History
Honey history dates as far back as 10 to 20 million years while the practice of beekeeping (apiculture) dates back to 700 BC.
In ancient times, raw honey played a significant role in many cultures - both as a sweet and delicious source of nutrition and as a natural cure for many ailments. The Mayans thought raw honey was so sacred, they even had a "Bee God" - Ah-Muzen-Cab; medieval lords reserved honey for their private use; the body of Alexander the Great was preserved and embalmed with honey; and Roman troops used a honey and spider web dressing before wrapping the wounds of injured soldiers on the battlefield. The world's oldest fermented beverage drunk for both pleasure and medicinal purposes was mead. A mixture made from ale, water, raw honey and bee pollen.
Honey is a miraculous food. It never goes bad or spoils. Archaeologists found 2000-year-old jars of honey buried with the pharaohs in Egyptian tombs. To everyone's amazement the honey was still edible and tasted just as it must have all those centuries ago!
Many people find it rather surprising that bacteria cannot grow in honey because, all things being equal, bacteria loves sugar. However, it is this feature that makes honey such a powerful antibacterial.
There is a common misconception that honey is nutritionally better for you than sugar. This line of thought is only partially true. Raw, unpasteurized honey is far superior both nutritionally and medicinally to either sugar or store-purchased honey.
What most consumers don't realize is that commercial honey is both heated and pasteurized to ensure that every jar, bottle or tub of honey bought tastes just like every other jar, bottle or tub. There are several problems with this type of thinking. The major problem is that honey is incredibly sensitive to heat and many of the natural vitamins, enzymes, antioxidants and other natural nutrients responsible for our continued good health and healing are destroyed by the process.
The second is that honey from one source should taste differently from honey collected from another source. Many farmers now use bees to pollinate their crops meaning that the honey from these hives consists mainly of the nectar collected from one species of plant. Many monoculture farmers will put several beehives at various locations in their fields. Bees will fly long distances to collect their nectar. The advantage of the hive being in the middle of a field is that the bees have plenty of food right outside their front door. The farmer has the advantage of boosting his yield in the field the natural way.
Many hard-working bees do not have fields to tend; but, collect their pollen from anywhere and everywhere - clovers, wild flowers, backyard gardens, etc. This honey is usually called "ditch" honey and is a powerful fighter in the war on allergies. This honey contains microscopic amounts of local allergens in it aiding your immune system in building up a tolerance to allergies the delicious way.
Fun Facts and Honey Trivia
- Buckwheat honey is considered to be the best honey for you. It is not always easy find; but, well worth it.
- The darker the honey, the better it is for you.
- Manuka honey is most effective in killing antibiotic-resistant infections, such as MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).
- Honey bees must gather nectar from two million flowers to make one pound of honey.
- One bee would therefore have to fly around 90,000 miles - three times around the globe - to make one pound of honey.
- The average honey bee will actually make only one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.
- The Romans used honey instead of gold to pay their taxes.
- The buzz that bees make is from the 11,400 times a minute their wings beat.
- Bees visit 1500 flowers to collect one load of pollen.
- Utah is known as the bee hive state.
- A load of pollen weighs 10 mg.
- Native North Americans called bees "white man's flies" as bees were brought to the Americas by European colonists.
My Personal Experience
The above scarring is called keloid scarring or hypertrophic scarring. It develops when excessive amounts of collagen are deposited at the site of a burn, incision, cut, piercing or pimple during the healing process leaving a raised scar. They often contain nerves and blood vessels.
This type of scarring may be itchy or painful; and, may inhibit movement if it is located near a joint. They can also cause emotional problems due to the appearance.
I have keloid scars over a great deal of body; so, I was less than pleased when I spilt some boiling hot soup down my right front including my breast. I took several layers of skin off and I was left with large, suppurating wounds down to my navel. I had done myself a real mischief!
However, I had turned to natural healing many years ago and knew of the healing power of raw honey. As I got the honey out, I realized that this golden liquid had a real test ahead of it. To be honest, I expected the scarring to be vastly reduced; but, I never dreamed that I would have no scarring. That was too much to hope for; but, I knew that the healing would be trouble-free with no infection. Honey is antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal.
So I slathered a generous amount over all the open wounds; then, placed a covering over it to hold the honey in place. I changed the dressing and honey three times a day. After each cleansing, I left the burned areas open to the air. When the suppuration caused the areas to become moist again, I reapplied the honey and covering.
It is now many months later and there are no scars whatsoever - even the pinkish discolouration that had developed has disappeared. I am a believer in honey's healing power both inside and outside the body.
A Video Well Worth Watching
The Honey Bird Knows Best
Honey Birds are a small drab member of the genus Prodotiscus. They are confined to sub-Saharan Africa and are mad for bee larvae and beeswax. They are so mad for this healthy meal that they will lead humans and/or animals to beehives deliberately. Once the human and/or animal has left, the hive has been broken down enough for the honey birds to move in. They gorge on the larvae and beeswax left over from the raid. Now that's love of honey and it's natural by-products.