Bee Products
Properties, Applications,
Bee Products
Properties, Applications,
and Apitherapy
Edited by
A vshalom Mizrahi
The Israeli College of Complementary MedicineTel Aviv, Israel
and
Yaacov Lensky
Triwaks Bee Research CenterThe Hebrew University Rehovot, Israel
B e e p r o d u c t s : p r o p e r t i e s , a p p l i c a t i o n s , a n d a p i t h e r a p y / e d i t e d by A v s h a l o m M i z r a h l a n d Y a a c o v L e n s k y . p. c m . " P r o c e e d i n g s of an I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n f e r e n c e on B e e P r o d u c t s : P r o p e r t i e s , A p p l i c a t i o n s , a n d A p i t h e r a p y , h e l d M a y 2 6 - 3 0 , 1 9 9 6 , in Tel A v i v , I s r a e l " — T . p . v e r s o . I n c l u d e s b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l r e f e r e n c e s a n d i n d e x . 1. B e e p r o d u c t s — T h e r a p e u t i c u s e — C o n g r e s s e s . 2. B e e p r o d u c t s -- P h y s i o l o g i c a l e f f e c t — C o n g r e s s e s . I. M l z r a h i , A. I I . L e n s k y , Y a a c o v . I I I . I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n f e r e n c e on B e e P r o d u c t s : P r o p e r t i e s , A p p l i c a t i o n s , a n d A p i t h e r a p y ( 1 9 9 6 : Tel A v i v , I s r a e l ) [ D N L M : 1. H o n e y — c o n g r e s s e s . 2. B e e V e n o m s — t h e r a p e u t i c u s e c o n g r e s s e s . 3. B e e V e n o m s — p h a r m a c o l o g y — c o n g r e s s e s . 4 . P r o p o l i s -- c o n g r e s s e s . Q V 7 8 5 B 4 1 4 1 9 9 6 ] R M 6 6 6 . B 3 7 8 B 4 4 1 9 9 6 6 1 5 ' . 3 6 ~ d c 2 1 D N L M / D L C f o r L i b r a r y of C o n g r e s s 9 6 - 5 1 8 9 5 C I P
Proceedings of an International Conference on Bee Products: Properties, Applications, and Apitherapy, held May 2 6 - 3 0 , 1996, in Tel Aviv, Israel
ISBN 978-1-4757-9373-4 ISBN 978-1-4757-9371-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4757-9371-0
© Springer Science+Business Media New York 1997 Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1997
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1997 http://www.plenum.com
All rights reserved 109 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written
The nature .and diversity of presentations at the conference on: "Bee Products: Prop-erties, Applications and Apitherapy" held at Tel-Aviv on May 26--30, 1996, emphasize the increasing interest of physicians, practitioners, scientists, herbalists, dieticians, cosmeti-cians, microbiologists, and beekeepers in different facets of bee products.
This volume consists of a selection of 31 contributions presented at the conference and which provide information on the present status of our knowledge in this area. In spite of their diversity, they reflect the mainstream of the conference, namely: "Imported" Prod-ucts (honey, pollen and propolis), Exocrine Secretions of Workers (venom, royal jelly). Toxicity and Contaminants, Quality Control, Marketing, Apitherapy, Cosmetics, etc.
Since antiquity, honey as well as other bee products were used as food, as a cure for ailments of humans and animals, and as cosmetics.
We hope that this volume will contribute to interdisciplinary studies on chemical composition, pharmacological effects, nutrition, and other aspects of bee products. Critical and unbiased experimental research may unravel the yet unknown composition and mode of action of bee products and elucidate many unanswered questions.
The noteworthy features of this conference were the participants from all parts of the world and of different cultural backgrounds, who shared their keen interest and curios-ity regarding honey bees and their products. We thank all of them for their personal con-tribution to the success of this conference.
Avshalom Mizrahi Yaacov Lensky Editors
THE CONFERENCE ON BEE PRODUCTS
The Conference was organized by:
The Israeli Honey Production and Marketing Board and
The Israeli Beekeepers' Associations and in informal alliances with:
• American Apitherapy Society
• Apimondia - The International Federation of Beekeeping Association • Asian Apicultural Association
• International Bee Research Association • Israeli Dietetic Association
• Ministry of Agriculture, State ofIsrael • Ministry of Tourism, State of Israel Local Organizing Committee
Avshalom Mizrahi, Ph.D. (Chairman) Yaacov Lensky, Ph.D. (Vice Chairman) Moshe Almaliah, M.Sc. Tsila Dvir, M.Sc. Abraham Hefez, Ph.D. Anatol Karakowsky, M.D. Yanay Sachs David Sadeh Yeshayahu Stem, M.Sc. Boris Yakobson, D.V.M.
International Advisory Committee Stefan Bogdanov, Ph.D. (Switzerland)
Raymond Borneck, President, Apimondia (France) Kate Chatot (U.S.A.)
Theodore Cherbuliez, M.D., President AAS (U.S.A.) Zhibin Lin, M.D. (China)
Charles Mraz (U.S.A.)
Tetsuo Sakai, Ph.D., President, AAA (Japan) Mira Spitzer-Adir (Croatia)
Artur Stojko, Ph.D. (Poland) Bradford S. Weeks, M.D. (U.S.A.) Siriwat Wangsiri, Ph.D. (Thailand)
1. The Past and Present Importance of Bee Products to Man Eya Crane
2. Bee Products: Chemical Composition and Application . . . 15 Justin
o.
Schmidt3. Honey as an Antimicrobial Agent. . . 27 P. C. Molan
4. Non-Peroxide Antibacterial Activity of Honey Stefan Bogdanov
5. Antioxidant Properties of Honey Produced by Bees Fed with Medical Plant
39
Extracts ... 49 Gennady Rosenblat, Stephane Angonnet, Alexandr Goroshit, Mina Tabak,
and Ishak Neeman
6. Speeding Up the Healing of Burns with Honey: An Experimental Study with
Histological Assessment of Wound Biopsies ... 57 Th. J. Postmes, M. M. C. Bosch, R. Dutrieux, J. van Baare, and
M. J. Hoekstra
7. The Effect of Honey on Human Tooth Enamel and Oral Bacteria S. R. Grobler and N. 1. Basson
65 8. Honey Contact with Teeth in Situ . . . 73
I. Gedalia, S. R. Grobler, I. Grizim D. Steinberg, L. Shapira, I. Lewinstein, and Mo. Sela
9. Medicinal Herbs as a Potential Source of High-Quality Honeys. . . 77 Zohara Yaniv and Michal Rudich
10. The Unique Properties of Honey as Related to Its Application in Food Processing 83 Tsila Dvir
11. Honey as a Clarifying and Anti-browning Agent in Food Processing and a New Method of Mead Production. .. .. . . .. .. . . .. . . .. . .. . . 89 ChangY. Lee
12. Bee-Pollen: Composition, Properties, and Applications M. G. Campos, A. Cunha, and K. R. Markham
93
13. Clinical Evaluation ofa New HypoaUergic Formula of Pro polis in Dressings. . . 101 W. Fierro Morales and 1. Lopez Garbarino
14. Present State of Basic Studies on Propolis in Japan. . . 107 Tsuguo Yamamoto
15. The Usage and Composition of Pro polis Added Cosmetics in Korea Park Jong-Sung and Woo Kun-Suk
16. Eucalyptus Propolis Beverages with Their Composition and Effects Woo Kun-Suk and Park Jong-Sung
17. An Inhibitory Effect of Pro polis on Germination and Cell Division in the Root 121
125
Tips of Wheat Seedlings. . . 129 K. Sorkun, S. Bozcuk, A. N. Gomiirgen, and F. Tekin
18. The Exocrine Glands of the Honey Bees: Their Structure and Secretory Products 137 Pierre Cassier and Yaacov Lensky
19. Alarm Pheromones of the Queen and Worker Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.) 151 Yaacov Lensky and Pierre Cassier
20. Protein Traffic between Body Compartments of the Female Honey Bee (Apis
melli/era L.) . . . 161 Yoseph Rakover and Yaacov Lensky
21. Effects of Feeding, Age of the Larvae, and Queenlessness on the Production of Royal Jelly . . . 173 Nuray Sahinler and Osman Kaftanoglu
22. The Use of Royal Jelly during Treatment of Childhood Malignancies Osman Kaftanoglu and Atilla Tanyeli
23. The Role of Hymenopterous Venoms in Nature Eli Zlotkin .
24. Effect of Apamin and Melittin on Ion Channels and Intracellular Calcium of
179 185
Heart Cells . . . .. 203 G. Bkaily, M. Simaan, D. Jaalouk, and P. Pothier
25. Bee Venom in Treatment of Chronic Diseases. . . .. 213 Th. Cherbuliez
26. Apitherapy in Orthopaedic Diseases Franco Feraboli
27. The Monitoring of Possible Biological and Chemical Contaminants in Bee
221
Products. . . .. 227 Boris A. Yakobson
28. Heavy Metals in Propolis: Practical and Simple Procedures to Reduce the Lead Level in the Brazilian Propolis ... 231 Nivia Macedo Freire Alcici
29. Acaricide Residues in Beeswax and Honey. . . 239 S. Bogdanov, V. Ki1chenmann, and A. Imdorf
30. Judging the Quality of Honey by Sensory Analysis. . . .. 247 Michel Gonnet
31. Methods for the Characterization of the Botanical and Geographical Origin of
Index
Some Bee Products and for Their Quality Control . . . .. 253 Giancarlo Ricciardelli D'Albore
Bee Products
Properties, Applications,
THE PAST AND PRESENT IMPORTANCE OF
BEE PRODUCTS TO MAN
Eva Crane
International Bee Research Association
Woodside House, Woodside Hill, Gerrards Cross Bucks SL9 9TE
United Kingdom
1.
THE BEES FROM WHICH PRODUCTS ARE HARVESTED
1
At this Conference we are considering the products of social bees, which beekeepers harvest from them. Candidate bees (Table I, Figure I) are: first, all the honey bees: Apis melli/era from Europe, eastern Mediterranean lands and Africa; Apis cerana the hive bee in Asia, and Apis dorsata, Apis jlorea and related species in the tropics of Asia. Second, in the tropics of all continents there are stingless bees (Meliponinae), some 500 species in all. In addition, honey-but not wax-is produced by colonies of honey wasps (Vespidae)
and honey ants (Formicinae) and is harvested from them. The wasps live in parts oftropi-cal South America, and the ants in some dry areas of Australia and North America.
What we now think of as bee products were essential to the bees for their survival and development during and after the evolutionary period: this was and is their function. Stingless bees and honey bees evolved roughly 100 million and 50 million years ago, re-spectively, whereas man has existed to use the products for only I or 2 million years-a tiny fraction as long as social bees.
The earliest records of man's harvesting from bees' nests are in the Mesolithic rock art of Europe and Asia, painted not more than 8000 years ago (Figures 2 and 3). There are also rock paintings in Australia showing stingless bee nests.
Man used bee products in many ways: beeswax in various technologies, and honey as food and also in medicine and as offerings to the gods he worshipped. Man also had ideas about the origins of the various bee products, and attributed certain properties to them. But their true origins were not known until a few centuries ago, and their detailed chemical compositions were determined only in the late 1900s.
I shall say most about honey, and then deal with other products: beeswax, propolis, rollen, bee brood, bee venom and royal jelly. Finally, I shall discuss changes in the impor-tance of the various bee products during the period when man has been harvesting them.
Table 1. Substances collected or produced by certain social insects
Insect
Honey bees (Apis) A. melli/era
A. cerana A. dorsata A.jlorea
Stingless bees (Meliponinae) Honey wasps Honey ants Where native Old World Europe & E. Mediterranean; Africa Asia Asia, tropics Asia, tropics tropics S. America, tropics Parts of Australia & N. America
x Collected or produced by the insects.
xx Known to be commercially harvested and marketed by man.
2. HONEY
Honey xx xx xx xx xx x xWax Prop. Pollen Brood
xx xx xx xx xx x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x x x Venom Rj xx xx x x x x x x
The earliest known written records' of the use of honey by man relate to religious sacrifices in various regions; indeed honey may well have been one of the earliest non-animal sacrifices. It was sometimes offered together with milk, or butter or ghee, oil, or incense. According to inscriptions on clay cylinders from Sumer in Mesopotamia, when the foundations of a new temple for the god Ningirsu were laid about 2500 Be, Gudea the ruler of Lagash made offerings of honey and butter. Then, when the image of the god was finally erected, he offered honey with other foods. The use of honey as an offering prob-ably had a still older origin, because other inscriptions show that it was already customary by Gudea's time.
In Ancient Egypt much honey was sacrificed in religious ceremonies, and when Is-raelites later presented the first harvest of their produce to God, this included honey. For instance in Jerusalem at the time of Hezekiah in the late 700s Be, 'they gave generously from the first fruits of their corn and new wine, oil and honey, .. .' (II Chronicles 31.5).
Honey had, however, been forbidden as a burnt offering around 1300 Be: 'You shall not burn any leaven or any honey as a food-offering to the Lord' (Leviticus 2.11).
What may be the earliest recorded medical prescription that includes honey is also from Sumer, dated to about 2000 Be. Oil was to be spread over a preparation of river dust kneaded with honey, water, and other ingredients. This was presumably for external appli-cation, and many Ancient peoples used honey in this way2. In the Ebers papyrus compiled in Egypt about 1550 Be, I found honey in 147 prescriptions for external use, and in 102 for internal use, both out of a total of several hundred. For internal use, honey was some-times included because of its own properties, somesome-times as a binder, and often to disguise the taste of other, unpalatable ingredients. The Roman poet Lucretius (c. 99-55 BC) re-ferred to this use of honey:
Physician-like, who when a bitter draught Of wormwood is disgusted by a child To cheat his taste, he brims the nauseous cup With the sweet lure of honey .
• Historial records cited will be detailed in a forthcoming book on the history of man's use of bees, to be published by Duckworth in London.
23}·
,
0°-':.\:./J.
'-"
},> ~ ... ' 0..
~./..
~ . >")A
./:'
<'1).
45· Figure 1. Natural distribution of spec ies of bees kept in hive s' , --Apis melli/era; -, -, -Apis cera lla; Shaded areas: Meliponinae, 0°I
II'
Figure 2. Mesolithic rock painting from around 6000
Be, showing honey collection from Apis mellifera, La Arana shelter, Bicorp, eastern Spain (copy by E. Her-nandez-Pacheco who found the painting in 1924).
Figure 3. Post-Mesolithic rock painting showing honey collection from Api" dorsa/a, Rajat Prapat, Central India (drawing: Y. Mathpal, 1984).
Honey was also used as a preservative, notably for the body of a king or general killed in battle, so that this could be taken home for burial. The custom is known for instance from Babylon, and from Ancient Greece. But according to Plutarch, when Agesilaus King of Sparta died in 360 BC, his body was preserved in beeswax 'since they had no honey'.
The Hebrew scriptures refer many times to honey as plentiful in Canaan, and four pas-sages indicate the source of the honey or how it was obtained. The first (Deuteronomy 32.13) referred to Jacob, in a period about 1700 BC: the Lord 'satisfied him with honey from the crags' . This was referred to again in Psalms 81.16, written around 1000 BC: the God of Jacob 'satisfied him with honey from the rocks'. So honey was obtained from bees nesting in rocks, as is usual in dry country; there is no mention of nests in trees. The other two passages are in-termediate in date. In Judges 14.8, Samson 'turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion, and he saw a swarm of bees in it, and honey. He scraped the honey into his hands and went on, eating as he went'. Then in I Samuel 14.25- 27: 'There was honey comb in the countryside ', and Jonathan ' stretched out the stick that was in his hand, dipped the end of it in the honey comb. put it to his mouth and was refreshed.' These passages describe common methods of harvesting honey from bees' nests or from traditional hives, used all over the world.
Of course the fact that man used honey or other bee products does not show that he was a beekeeper. By keeping bees in hives, however, man could harvest honey in larger amounts, and more easily. Hives are known to have been used in Egypt from about 2500 BC, and Figure 4 shows a more complete later pictorial record. In Mesopotamia hives are known from the 700s BC. But the earliest references I found relating to Israel are in the Babylonian Talmud, compiled about AD 500.
Already in Ancient civilizations, honeys from different plants, and in different re-gions, were differentiated. In dry Mediterranean regions much honey came from aromatic
{>l
p
to""
plants such as thyme, and Roman writers praised this honey, for instance from Mount Hymettus in Greece and Mount Hybla in Sicily. They disliked honey from Spanish broom
(Spartium junceum). Export-import trade in honey also started early. Although Ancient Egypt produced much honey, some was imported from several places in Asia Minor, and from Syria, Rhodes and Greece.
Until about 200 years ago it was believed that honey had its origin in the heavens, and this idea contributed to its status as a sacred substance in pre-religious beliefs and in religions. In the 300s BC, Aristotle said that 'honey falls from the air, principally at the rising of the stars, and when the rainbow rests upon the earth'. Pliny (AD 23- 79) questioned 'whether it is that this liquid is the sweet of the heavens, or whether a saliva emanating from the stars, or a juice exuding from the air while purifying itself ... it comes to us pure, limpid and genuine' . As late as 1609 in England the Reverend Charles Butler, who was very knowledgeable about beekeeping, in England wrote: 'The greatest plenty of purest nectar cometh from above; which Almighty God doth miraculously distil out of the air ... which thence doth descend into the earth in a dew or small drizzling rain.' Vaillant in France has been quoted as the first to state-in 1717-that the nectar the bees collect is produced by nectaries in the flowers. But the belief that it fell from heaven persisted into the 1800s.
We now know that honey is made mainly from the nectar of flowers by bees and a few other insects-which evaporate water from the nectar and, while doing so, secrete into it enzymes invertase and glucose oxidase. The bees thereby produce a highly super-saturated solution of certain sugars which has antimicrobial properties essential for its storage in the nest safe from spoilage. Some of the tropical social bees--especially the cavity-nesting stingless bees--evolved in an environment where maintenance of nest hy-giene was very difficult, with no cold winters, and often a hot and humid atmosphere which favoured the growth of pathogenic micro-organisms. And the entrance to a nest of stingless bees must be very small (Figure 5), as a protection against the many enemies, so the nest is poorly ventilated. Perhaps as a result, stingless bee honeys differ from Apis
mellifera honeys in several ways: for instance, they contain more acids, their enzyme composition is somewhat different, and they have greater antimicrobial activity. Although their water content is higher, they are stored safe from spoilage4, although we still do not fully understand the reasons.
3. BEESWAX
Beeswax is a very inert substance, which is not digested by mammals (including hu-mans), and any eaten is excreted. Until the 1700s it was believed that beeswax was col-lected by worker bees from flowers, but various observers then found wax scales on the underside of the bee's abdomen, and in 1793 Fran"ois Huber in Switzerland finally estab-lished that the wax is secreted by the bees themselves. The importance of beeswax to bees-and to man-is due to its inertness and its physical properties. The wax is plastic at temperatures from 32° upwards, so the bees can manipulate it in the hive. The wax from anyone species of bee has a composition which is remarkably uniform, although it is very complex.
Beeswax was used by early civilizations to cast copper-and later other met-als-from an original wax model into superb objects of art, by the lost-wax process. The earliest such casting known, dated to between 3500 and 3000 BC, was found in a cave in the Judean desert. Other notable centres of early lost-wax casting were in the Yellow River basin of China, the Red River basin in Vietnam, and Benin in West Africa. In Mesoamerica wax from stingless bees was used to cast gold into splendid ornaments and jewellery, but most of them were looted by the Spanish in the 1500s, and many destroyed. Beeswax candles were used for lighting in Ancient Egypt, Crete, Greece and Rome, and more widely in later centuries. By the AD 400s, beeswax was the mandatory material for lights in the Christian churches. Saint Augustine said that 'the wax of the candle pro-duced by the virgin bees from the flowers of the earth is a symbol of the Redeemer born of a Virgin Mother'. This created a huge demand for beeswax by churches and monasteries in Christian countries, until after the Reformation of the Roman Catholic Church in the 1500s, when reformed churches prohibited the use of candles.
Beeswax was an important component of ointments and cosmetics during Ancient times and later. It was also used in making incendiary weapons. For instance during the siege of Jerusalem in 1099, the Muslim defenders threw at the advancing Christians incen-diary devices which contained pitch, beeswax, sulphur and tow. They used rather similar mixtures in 1097 and 1147.
4. PROPOLIS
Propolis is the name given to various sticky substances which bees collect; some of these are plant secretions, and others are plant exudates from wounds. It is quite hard when cold, but becomes viscous when warmed, and Apis mellifera uses it in various build-ing operations in the nest or hive. The Asian hive bee Apis cerana does not collect or use propolis, but stingless bees use it extensively.
The composition of all propolis is very complex, and varies according to the plant of origin. Anyone sample may contain a hundred different substances, including about forty flavonoids which are the main source of its antimicrobial action. Bees may mix wax with propolis, but I do not know that they otherwise change propolis in any way.
Propolis has been used by man since early times, for various purposes: as an adhe-sive and to seal cracks; to protect wooden and other surfaces; and especially in medicine because of its antimicrobial properties. We do not know what methods were used for har-vesting it in the Ancient World, although writers in Greece and Rome were familiar with it. The Greek Historia animalium referred to a substance mitys which was probably propo-lis, as 'a cure for bruises and suppurating sores'. According to Varro in Rome, propolis was used 'by physicians in making poultices, and for this reason it brings even a higher price than honey on the Via Sacra'.
A number of early records mention substances which mayor may not have been propolis: Asis6 believed that 'black wax' referred to in the Egyptian Ebers papyrus (c.
1550 BC) may have been propolis. He also considered that Hebrew tzori was an early word for propolis. This occurs six times in the Hebrew scriptures, and was usually trans-lated as balm or balsam. In Genesis (c. 1700 BC), tzori was taken to Egypt, once with honey; in Ezekiel it is mentioned together with honey, and its healing properties are noted three times in Jeremiah. Twice, tzori came from Gilead, but it was not balm of Gilead which is produced from a tree, Commiphora opobalsamum.
As far as I know, propolis was first produced commercially in the 1950s. It was har-vested by fitting-at the periphery of a hive-a grid or grids, with holes about 2 mm; the bees closed these up with propolis, which could be removed by shattering, after cooling the grid in a deep-freeze. In 1984 exports included 55 tonnes from China and smaller quantities from Argentina, Canada, Chile and Uruguay, with unknown amounts from at least eleven other countries.
5. POLLEN
Bees evolved during the same period as the flowering plants from which they collect nectar and pollen, and they pollinate plants by transferring pollen from one flower to an-other, although this was not understood until Arthur Dobbs in Ireland established it in 1750. Bees also collect pollen and store it in their combs; it supplies them with protein and essential minerals and vitamins. Hunter-gatherer peoples doubtless ate pollen along with the honey combs they harvested from bees' nests. But if early man deliberately col-lected pollen, it would probably have been shaken or blown from wind-pollinated flowers. There are few past references to uses of pollen. The earliest T know to its application in medicine are in books by Arab and Jewish physicians in Islamic Spain. Maimonides (1135-1204), a Jew in Cordoba who was a physician to the Sultan of Egypt, recom-mended it as an astringent and sedative tonic. In the early 1200s Ibn el-Beithar described pollen as an aphrodisiac, also beneficial for the stomach, bowels and heart; it reduced the 'fervour' of the blood, and cured swellings produced by eating certain foods7 •
The device beekeepers use today for harvesting pollen removes it from the bees' legs as they enter the hive. It dates only from 1941, when the first pollen traps were pro-duced in both Germany and the USA; a hive pollen dispenser, to coat outgoing bees with hard-collected pollen, had been used 9 years earlier. The possibility of marketing bee-col-lected pollen for dietary purposes was explored in the 1950s, after some of the difficulties of commercial royal jelly production were realized. Pollen collection was best done in dry regions of the world where handling and storing were much easier than in humid areas. By the late 1980s, bee-collected pollen was produced commercially in at least 18 countries, and Western Australia alone produced between 60 and 130 tonnes a year.
Harvested pollen is sold as a dietary supplement and for treating certain diseases, and it is essential for some types of work on crop pollination and plant breeding.
6. BEE BROOD
Aristotle said that bees collected their young from flowers, but in 1586 Luiz Mendez de Torres in Spain established that new bees are produced from 'seed' placed by the fe-male queen in cells of the comb, and that she is the mother of all the other bees. Bee brood was the main protein food that man harvested from bees' nests or hives. To many peoples in the tropics, insects--especially immature stages-were a main source of protein; in fact, bee brood was their food from bees' nests, and honey was a seasonal treat and a medicine. On the other hand peoples of European origin did not eat insects; honey was their food from bees, and in the western world brood was rarely listed among bee prod-ucts. In 1951 Bodenheimer8 said that 'the aversion to insect food in Western civilization is
... not based on hereditary instinct. It is established by custom and prejudice.' He pointed out that animal rearing and crop growing, which developed earlier in Mediterranean re-gions and Europe than in the tropics, provided people with an adequate diet without the need to hunt such tiny game as insects, so Europeans came to despise food insects, and the peoples who ate them.
The eating of certain insects was forbidden by religions of eastern Mediterranean peoples.
Laws attributed to Moses in about 1300 Be (Leviticus 11.21) allowed insects such as locusts to be eaten, whereas others-which would include bees-seem to have been proscribed as unclean. According to Allegro9, eating bee brood was forbidden in Zadokite fragments of the Dead Sea scrolls: 'Let no man defile his soul with any living being or creeping thing by eating of them, from the larvae of bees [in honey] to all the living things that creep in water'.
Muslims have explained to me that they do not eat the digestive system of an animal (it is unclean), and since this cannot be removed from the bee, bees were not to be eaten. Buddhism proscribed the killing or eating of any animals.
In some Asian countries bee brood is a well known and important product, but I do not know amounts produced, exported or imported.
7. BEE VENOM
It was known in Ancient Greece that, when a bee stings, she cannot retract her sting from human skin, and dies as a result. According to Broadman1o, bee venom was referred to as early as the 400s Be by the physician Hippocrates, and by other writers in Antiquity. But the composition of bee venom was not established until the late 1900s.
I found more documentation from past centuries on the use of stinging bees for mili-tary purposes than in medicine. In the Ancient World, besieged people sometimes released bees (among other animals) into tunnels which had been excavated and occupied by the enemy below their defended position. Tacitus described such action in about 357 Be, and Appian's Roman history recorded how in 72 Be the Roman army under Lucullus suffered a reverse in this way in Pontus, south of the Black Sea.
In the Middle Ages the military tactics were different: hives of bees were dropped, thrown or projected at the enemy. There are various unsubstantiated records, but two of
the more reliable relate to incidents in 908 in England, and in 1191 at Akko (Acre) 100 km north of Tel-Aviv. An English manuscript from 1326 now in Christ Church, Oxford, included a design for a machine to hurl skeps of bees at a besieged castle. Several reports of the military use of skeps survive from the Thirty Years' War in Europe (1618-1648). During the fighting in tropical Africa in the 1914-1918 World War, trip-wires were tied to hives hidden in trees, where passing enemy troops would activate them and cause the bees to sting.
For use in medicine, an injectable solution of bee venom is prepared, so that doses can be quantified. As far as I know this was not attempted until the late 1880s, and the first person to succeed was J. Langer at the University of Prague, in 1897/99. From 1930 the firm Mack at Illertissen in south Germany produced bee venom solution commer-cially!!. Dr Bodog Beck in the USA was one of the pioneers in the use of bee venom, and his 1935 book!2 gives much information. A method developed later, which I saw as a com-mercial operation in Czechoslovakia in 1960, used a framework covered with a very thin membrane, fixed in front of a hive entrance. Bare wires were stretched across the brane so that bees leaving the hive received an electric shock and stung into the mem-brane, which was so thin that a bee could retract her sting, and she could sting again. Drops of venom crystallized on the underside of the membrane, and were scraped off.
Since 1973, bee venom is known to have been used in medicine in at least 12 coun-tries in Europe, 3 in Asia, and 3 in the Americas.
8. ROYAL JELLY
Young worker bees provide food for larvae (from glands in the head), and the food is richer for larvae in queen cells (royal jelly) than for larvae in worker or drone cells. Huber in Switzerland, in 1793, was the first to distinguish between worker brood food
(gelee) and queen brood food (gelee royale), and the prestigious name royal jelly has been
used for the queen food ever since. The first person to get a chemical analysis of royal jelly done was probably Langstroth in the USA, in 1852, but an effective analysis was not possible until the 1940s.
The only reference I have found to a specific traditional use of royal jelly is Ray-mond Borneck's 1976 observation in certain areas of Ivory Coast in West Africal3. If
honey hunters there found royal jelly in queen cells, it was given to the old people. The harvesting of royal jelly involves much labour-intensive work, done to a strict timetable. Colonies of bees are organized so that they rear a large number of female larvae as queens, providing them with royal jelly. When the larvae are 3 days old the royal jelly is removed from the cell with a vacuum pump, and the larvae are discarded.
Royal jelly was sold as a commercial product in the early 1950s in France, which produced l.5 tonnes of it in 1958. In 1984 world production included 400 tonnes in China and 234 tonnes in Taiwan, much of which was exported. Most royal jelly is sold for me-dicinal and dietary purposes.
9. HOW THE IMPORTANCE OF BEE PRODUCTS TO MAN
CHANGED THROUGH TIME
I believe that man ate the contents of bees' nests from his first existence as a spe-cies. Early peoples used the entire contents of a nest for one or more purposes: as food,
medicine, preservative, adhesive, or military weapon; for modelling or casting metals; for purposes of magic or as a religious symbol. Bees, honey and beeswax were held in espe-cially high regard, and in some religions they were sacred.
Until about 1600, there was very little alteration in beliefs about bee products, or in uses of them, but every century since then has brought one or more fundamental change. In the 1600s honey bees (Apis mellifera) native to Europe were introduced by settlers to
North America in the New World, and flourished and spread there. During the 1700s the true origins of most of the bee products were established for the first time.
Around 1800 the Industrial Revolution started, and many new materials were then manufactured. Some of these competed with bee products, and could be sold much more cheaply. For instance in England in 1400 sugar cost 20 times as much as honey. Soon after 1800 the two cost about the same, and by 1900 sugar cost only a fifth as much as honey. The place of honey in diets of various peoples up to the 1800s has been discussed in a re-cent paperl4. Paraffin wax was manufactured from the 1850s, and later competed success-fully with beeswax for many purposes. In the 1800s also, European honey bees were introduced to Australia and New Zealand, and to some parts of non-tropical Asia where they became much more cost-effective producers than the native Apis cerana. And in
1853 Langstroth in the USA described his movable-frame hive, which has become the ba-sis of present world beekeeping.
Throughout the 1900s the world's trade in the main bee products, honey and bees-wax, has been dominated by production from temperate-zone Apis mellifera in
movable-frame hives, and latterly from parts of the world where this bee is not native. Also, after low-cost alternatives to honey and beeswax became available, most purchasers of them were in affluent societies.
By 1950, honey-the main product of movable-frame beekeeping-was difficult to sell, and I well remember how interested and excited beekeepers became at the idea of ob-taining income by harvesting other bee products. These new products were more expen-sive to produce than honey or beeswax, but they commanded much higher prices. Advanced analytical methods were developed, and these provided a more detailed knowl-edge of their composition, and it became possible to explore new uses of them, especially in medicine. In addition, it was established that honeys from certain plants contained spe-cific substances with potentially useful properties.
Each bee product varies somewhat according to the species of bee from which it is harvested. Honey, wax, brood, venom and royal jelly vary because of the physiology of the bees themselves; honey, pollen and propolis vary because of the different plants in the regions where the different bee species live. Almost all the papers at forthcoming Sessions relate to products harvested from one bee, European Apis mellifera native to the temperate
zone. It is less easy to harvest the products from other bee species, but products of tropical bees are likely to have somewhat different compositions, properties and uses, and I think that more knowledge about them might well lead to further possibilities for diversifica-tion.
REFERENCES
I. Crane E. Bees and Beekeeping: Science, Practice and World Resources. Heinemann Newnes, Oxford, 1990 2. Manjo G. The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World. Harvard University Press, Cambridge,
MA, USA, 1975
4. Bruijn L. L. M. de (1996) Composition and Properties of Honeys of Stingless Bees (Apidae, Meliponinae).
In press
5. Camargo J. M. F. de (1970) Ninhos e Biologia de algumas Especies de Meliponideos (Hymenoptera: Api-dae) de Regiiio de Porto Velho, Territ6rio de Rondonia, Brasil. Rev. BioI. trop. 16(2),207-239
6. Asis M. Propoleo: el Oro purpura de las Abejas. CIDA. Havana, 1989
7. Monferrer J. P. (1991) La Miel en la Espana musulmana (al-Andalus). Vida apic. (46), 64-68; (47), 24-28 8. Bodenheimer, F. S. Insects as Human Food: A Chapter in the Ecology of Man. W. Junk, The Hague, 1951 9. Allegro J. M. (1956) Personal communication
10. Broadman J. Bee Venom: The Natural Curative for Arthritis and Rheumatism. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York,1962
II. Forster H. (1985) Personal communication
12. Beck B. F. Bee Venom Therapy. Appleton Century. New York, 1935
13. Bomeck R. (1976) L'Apiculture en Cote d'Ivoire. Rev. fro Apic. (344), 334-335, 338-339
14. Allsop K. A., Miller J. B. (1996) Honey revisited: A Reappraisal of Honey in pre-industrial Diets. Brit. J. Nutrition 75(4),513-520
BEE PRODUCTS
Chemical Composition and Application
Justin O. Schmidt'
Carl Hayden Bee Research Center USDA-ARS
2000 E. Allen Road, Tucson, Arizona 85719
2
Honey bees are master chemists and chemical engineers. Their success in the animal kingdom is largely because of the chemistry and the application of their products: honey, beeswax, venom, propolis, pollen, and royal jelly. Three of these products, beeswax, venom, and royal jelly, are chemically synthesized by the bees themselves. The other three are derived from plants and are modified and engineered by the bees for their own use. The use of these products explains the amazing honey bee success: honey is used as a stable, reliable food source that serves during times of shortages, enables the bees to warm their nest during cold weather, and has allowed them to become perennial species that can exploit virtually all habitats in the world; beeswax is used as a pliable, stable and mois-ture-proof material with which to construct their nest, to store honey safely, and to rear their brood; venom gives honey bees the advantage of a formidable defense that is capable of stopping or deterring all but the most determined and capable of predators; propolis is an outstandingly good caulking for use in sealing the nest cavity and is also one of the best antimicrobial agents known; pollen is a nutrient-rich food that, like honey, can be stored in the hive indefinitely to seJ;ve as a reserve during times or seasons of shortages; and royal jelly is a balanced food source that does not spoil readily and is used to feed bee larvae. Without these unique products honey bees likely would have evolved to be !ittle different from their ancestors-solitary bees in which each female bee during a brief sea-son provisions a few cells with pollen and nectar for the next generation.
The usefulness of honey bee products for mankind is based on the same properties that make these products useful for the bees themselves. In the case of propolis these
prop-erties extend back beyond the bees to the plants themselves which produce the original resins that bees collected to become propolis. Quite simply, honey is an excellent, stable sweetener and energy source for humans, just as it is for bees; beeswax is a malleable
• Address correspondence to: Dr. Justin O. Schmidt, Carl Hayden Bee Research Ctr., 2000 E. Allen Road, Tucson, AZ 85719. Tel: 602 1l70--6380; e 109 Fax: 602 670--6493.
plastic material, that in addition be being an excellent material for molding, bums cleanly; venom is useful because it causes pain and possesses a host of pharmacological activities; propolis is anti-microbial toward bacteria, viruses, fungi, molds, and possesses a multitude of other pharmacological activities; pollen is a phenomenonally nutritious and well-bal-anced food that can be consumed by people and domestic animals; and royal jelly has a variety of moisturizing, emulsifying and stabilizing properties that make it useful to peo-ple. The goal of this chapter is to examine the chemistry of honey bee products, to use this information to explain the application of the products, and to predict their usefulness.
1. POLLEN
Pollen as trapped by beekeepers from honey bee colonies is a product collected from many, often dozens, of species of plants visited by the bees. This feature enhances the nu-tritional balance of the pollen, but also means that bee pollen is not a uniform product, rather it varies somewhat from sample to sample. This variability complicates the analysis of pollen chemistry and requires that statements vis-a-vis pollen be given as averages or as values for a specific species of pollen. All chemical and nutritional analyses here will be given as means derived from large numbers of literature reports that appear reliable. Table I is a listing of the chemical composition of pollen and a comparison of pollen nutrient density with that established for Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) or Estimated Daily Intake (EDI
=
Estimated Safe and Adequate Daily Dietary Intakes) for human die-tary needs (I). In general, compared to many standard human foods, pollen is rich in pro-tein, low in fat, and possesses a wealth of minerals and vitamins. No obvious human nutritional deficiencies are present in pollen with the possible exceptions of vitamin BI2 and the fat soluble vitaminsD and K. In the case ofB l2, the vitamin is not usually in short-age because the body usually retains a multi-year reserve. Shortshort-age only occurs in cases of defective body recycling (pernicious anemia) and is particularly needed for pregnant women who have metabolic deficiencies, or are strict vegetarians. Vitamin D is somewhat of a misnomer, as it is not truly a vitamin. Humans can synthesize the vitamin from 7-de-hydrocholesterol if they are exposed to sunlight. Vitamin K is a minor vitamin whose sole role is to aid in blood clotting and which is produced naturally by intestinal bacteria. Evi-dence of the digestibility of pollen is provided by Bell et al. (2) and Schmidt et al. (3) and a testament to its overall balance is demonstrated by mice that survived well for over a year on a diet containing only pollen (4). Pollen has not been analyzed in detail for some of the trace elements such as boron, chromium, molybdenum, iodine, fluoride, and snium, but it would not be surprising if it also contained adequate quantities of these ele-ments.One means to evaluate the nutritional content of pollen is to compare the levels of dietary nutrients in good wholesome food to those in pollen. In Table 2 the quantities of 11 well established and measured nutrients for two vegetables, one fruit, two meats, and two staples are compared to pollen. Pollen ranks number I in quantity for four of the nu-trients, number 2 for another four, and ranked lower only for vitamin C, sodium, and fat. Overall, pollen has a higher ranking than any of the compared foods, even tomatoes and cabbage which are considered to be classic examples of the most nutritious foods avail-able. In terms of protein, pollen ranked number 2, and above beef. The overall conclusion is that pollen is a food source par excellence that is probably not exceeded by any other
food. The one caveat is that pollen is much too expensive to be considered a primary food and, indeed, consumption of large quantities can cause adverse effects (4). However, this
Table 1. Average chemical composition and nutritional value of bee pollen
Chemical Composition' % of RDA/EDIb
Energy 2.46 kcal/g' Protein 23.7 % 420 Carbohydrates 27 % 83 Lipids 4.8 % 59d Cholesterol -0 _Od Phosphorus .53 % 590 Potassium .58 % 190 Calcium .225 % 250 Magnesium .148% 470 Sodium .044% 27d Iron 140 ppm 830 Manganese 100 ppm 2500 Zinc 78 ppm 580 Copper 14 ppm 560 Nickel 4.5 ppm Boron trace Chromium ? ? Molybdenum ? ? Iodine ? ? Fluoride ? ? Selenium ? ? Thiamin 9.4 ppm 760 Niacin 157 ppm 940 Riboflavin 18.6 ppm 1300 Pyridoxine 9 ppm 500 Pantothenate 28 ppm 450 Folic acid 5.2 ppm 2600 Biotin .32 ppm 440 Vit.B11 0 0 VitaminC 350 ppm 520 Vitamin A 0 Of Carotenes 95 ppm -900f Vitamin D 0 0 Vitamin E 14 ppm 160 Vitamin K 0 0
'Data for pollen from (II).
bCalculations based on RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) and ED! (Estimated Daily Intake = Estimated Safe and Adequate Daily Dietary Intakes) using U.S. women aged 25-50 with a 2200 kcal in-take (\).
'Calculated on the basis of 4 kcal/g for protein and carbohydrates. and 9 kcal/g for fat (28).
dThese values are recommended maximum intakes for nutrients gen-erally accepted as harmful to health in excess (I).
eNutritional requirements in the human diet not established. fPollen contains no preformed ViI. A. but carotenes can be can-verted
to ViI. A equivalents based on 6 Ilg ~-carotene = I ViI. A equivalent and assuming half pollen carotenes are ~-caratene.
Table 2. Nutritional comparison of pollen and typical nutritious foods a Potassium Calcium Sodium ViI. A Thiamin Riboflavin Niacin Vil.C Food' Protein (g) Fat (g) (g) (mg) (mg) Iron (mg) (Inl. U) (mg) (mg) (mg) (mg) Rank score' Pollen 96.3 19.5 2.4 915 179 57 14500 3.82 7.56 63.8 142 62 Tomato 50.0 8.8 11.0 588 138 22 41000 2.75 1.88 31.2 1050 60 Cabbage 54.1 8.3 2.4 2037 835 16 5410 2.11 2.75 12.8 1950 58 Chicken 152.8 35.9 2.0 60 484 8.9 484 .28 1.29 57.7 0 31 Beans 40.1 6.5 1.7 443 3800 15 1070 .65 .25 4.9 16 30 Apple 3.4 10.3 1.9 122 19 5.3 1560 .53 .34 1.9 68 27 Bread 43.2 12.3 1.1 407 2200 12 trace 1.06 .49 11.5 trace 23 Beef 59.4 82.7 .7 26 145 7.5 143 .17 .46 12.2 0 17 'All values are based on amount in the quantity of food that provides 1000 kcal of energy; data for the foods from (29) and for pollen calculated based on the values in Table I. 'Fresh raw tomato, cabbage, apple; fried chicken leg and breast; baked beans; whole wheat bread; broiled sirloin beer steak. 'Each food is ranked from 7 (highest nutrient content) to 0 (lowest nutrient content) for each of the II nutrient categories. Because increased dietary levels of fat and sodium are considered detrimental to health, the rankings are reversed (7=lowest; O=highest) for these two nutrients. Rank score is the total of the II rankings for each food (lowest possible score=O; highest=77)
-QO !-P
1{' CO' 9 ~does not preclude pollen from being an excellent food supplement which can enhance the health and well-being of individuals, especially those who otherwise might have an unbal-anced diet.
Pollen or pollen products have been shown to have several beneficial applications for human use. Pollen has been successfully used for treatment of some cases of benign prostatitis (5,6,7,8,9) and for oral desensitization of children who have pollen allergy (10). Pollen has been shown to be an excellent dietary component in diets for specialty or valu-able animals (see (11) for more discussion).
2. HONEY
Honey is a supersaturated solution of sugars, mainly fructose, glucose, and maltose-like sugars, with traces of sucrose, glucose oxidase, hydrogen peroxide, phenolics, fla-vonoids, terpenes, etc. (12). The sugars make honey hygroscopic (moisture absorbing) and viscous, and the sugar concentration plus other factors including low pH, hydrogen perox-ide, and the flavonoids, phenolics and terpenes make honey antimicrobial or prevent mi-crobial growth (13).
The main use of honey is as a flavorful sweetener and energy source which is eaten with and as a component of a wide variety of foods. The sweetness is from the sugars, par-ticularly fructose, and flavor is created by a wide variety of trace essences derived from plant esters, alcohols, aldehydes, and other compounds (12). Secondary, but important, uses of honey are for the promotion of health and well being. Some of these uses include aiding in the healing of wounds, healing of serious skin burns, and healing gastric ulcers. The basis for the wound and burn healing properties of honey is its antimicrobial, mois-turizinglfluid removal, and oxygen barrier properties. By keeping a wound or burn clean and moist, and free from bacteria and the damaging effects of oxygen, the wound can heal much more quickly than if left unaided. Modern creams and antibiotics may help heal these types of wounds, but they often have the disadvantages of killing tissue and causing heavy scabs and scars. The healing properties of honey were clearly demonstrated in a study comparing honey treatment to that of silver sulfadiazine, the standard treatment, for burn victims. The results of the study (Table 3) clearly showed that honey treatments re-sulted in a much greater sterility of the wounds, a faster rate of healing, and a faster onset of healing (14). Similar results have been shown by T. Postmes in tests with burned pigs. In these experiments, honey was shown not only to be better than standard treatments, but also better than artificial honey made from the sugars, but omitting the glucose oxidase, hydrogen peroxide, flavonoids, and other minor components of honey (T. Postmes, per-sonal communication).
For many years, advocates have claimed that honey can help treat gastric ulcers. With recent discoveries, an understanding of how this can occur has emerged. Until re-cently the bacterial origin of gastric ulcers was unknown. Now, the culprit is known to be the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. Some honey has been shown to inhibit H. pylori (P.C.
Table 3. Honey and silver sulfadiazine (Std) treatments for burnsa
% Sterile in 7 Mean days for Healing in 15 Treatment (n=52) days granulation days (%)
Honey 91 7.4 87
Silver sulfadiazine 7 13.4 10
Molan, pers. communication) and the flavonoid content and low pH of honey likely aid in stimulating growth and healing.
3.
PROPOLIS
Propolis is plant resin collected by bees for use in and around the hive. In plants it is usually the sticky coating around buds that serves to protect them from the elements of weather plus from attack by bacteria, fungi, molds and viruses. These are properties that are useful to the bees and are enhanced by the sticky properties of the propolis. Like pol-len, propolis is a bee product that cannot be clearly defined and varies from sample to sample. This is a natural outcome of the collection process---propolis collecting bees will use resins from a large variety of tree and other plant species, and these naturally will dif-fer in their qualitative and quantitative chemical composition. Nevertheless, difdif-ferent pro-polis samples do share considerable similarity in their physical and overall general chemical nature, thereby enabling a general discussion ofthe properties of pro polis.
Much work has been conducted on the chemistry and properties of propolis. Hun-dreds of chemical compounds have been identified from propolis. The main chemical classes present in propolis are flavonoids, phenolics, and various aromatic compounds (Figure 1). These compounds are poorly soluble in water, usually are soluble in alcohols,
o
OH HO QUERCETIN H 0 - ) 0 > - CH=CHCOOH HO HO CAFFEIC ACIDo
PINOCEMBRINTable 4. Compounds in propolis that possess known pharmacological activities
Chemical Quercetin
Pinocembrin
Caffeic acid
Caffeic acid phenethyl ester Acacetin Pinostrobin Activities References Anti-viral 30 Antihistamine Ulcer healing Capillary strengthening 31 Anti-bacterial 32 Anti-fungal 33 Anti-mold 34 Local anesthesia 35 Anti-bacterial 32 Anti-fungal 33 Anti-viral 30 Anti-inflammatory 36 Tumor cytotoxicity 37 Anti-inflammatory 36 Local anesthesia 35
and are often poorly soluble in hydrocarbon solvents. Propolis also contains some volatile oils, terpenes, and beeswax, but these compounds are not believed to contribute as signifi-cantly to the chemical properties and effects of propolis.
Flavonoids are well-known plant compounds that have antioxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-inflammatory properties. Other properties of propolis in-clude acting as a local anesthetic, reducing spasms, healing gastric ulcers, and strengthen-ing capillaries. Compounds responsible for these activities are listed in Table 4.
4. BEE VENOM
Venom is synthesized by honey bees for only one purpose: as a defensive agent against predators, primarily large mammalian and other vertebrate predators. In order to be of defensive value the venom must induce pain, cause damage, or have some other pharmacological or sensory activity in the potential predator (15). Bee venom, unlike many other insect allomones, or chemical defenses. is water soluble, not fat soluble, and must be injected or applied to moist tissues to be active. This water solubility is an advan-tage as it allows a whole new suite of highly active defensive compounds to be used. Bee venom is composed of a diversity of proteins, peptides, active amines, and other com-pounds which possess a variety of activities (16). The major chemical components and their primary activities are listed in Table 5. The main pain-inducing and lethal component appears to be melittin (17) and this component might be responsible for much of the activ-ity of bee venom in apitherapy use.
Mankind has used bee venom primarily for apitherapy to treat a variety of autoim-mune diseases, with recent usage for immunotherapy of bee sting allergic patients. The immunotherapy use will not be considered further (see (18) for further discussion). Api-therapy has been particularly successful with individuals suffering from rheumatoid arthri-tis, gout, and multiple sclerosis, but a variety of other immune disorders including scleroderma and asthma have been treated (T. Cherbuliez, pers. communication). The benefit of apitherapy for treatment of arthritis has received some research attention by the
Table 5. Components in honey bee venom and some of their activitiesa
Component (% venom) Chemical nature Melittin (3G-50) Small, highly basic 26 amino acid
polypeptide of2840 Mol. Wt. Phospholipase A2 (10-20) Basic, stable protein of 15,800 Mol.
Wt.
Apamin (3) Highly basic 18 amino acid polypeptide
Hyaluronidase (2) Protein of 35,000 Mol. WI. Mast cell degranulating peptide (2) Highly basic 22 amino acid
polypeptide
Histamine
«1)
Small, unstable biogenic amine of III MoI.Wt.'Data from references (16) and (38).
Activity/pharmacology Pain, cardiotoxin, hemolysin,
membrane activity Membrane and phospholipid
disruptant, toxic, lungs are target Neurotoxin, causes tremors Promotes spreading of other
components, no other activities Releases histamine, etc. from mast
cells, pain, anti-inflammatory Bum-itch, redness, immediate local
skin effects
medical establishment. Cohen et al. (19) demonstrated in controlled experiments that bee venom and local pain-inducing agents significantly improved the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis patients. Steigerwaldt et al. (20) reported moderate improvement in 66% of bee venom treated patients versus only 27% improvement in the controls. Vick et al (21) using severely arthritic dogs reported significant improvement in mobility and activity in their cages of bee venom treated animals compared with controls.
Some of the problems in demonstrating efficacy of bee venom treatments for im-mune diseases stem from the very nature of imim-mune disorders. Imim-mune disorders are char-acterized by "flare ups" and remissions that occur unpredictably. In addition, immune disorders are particularly susceptible to treatment placebo effects. These two factors com-bine to make clinical research trials on immune diseases very difficult and often inconclu-sive. These same problems also plague medical research concerned with evaluating established treatments. In the cases of arthritis and multiple sclerosis, modern medicine has no cures, it simply treats to suppress symptoms. The established treatments include use of steroids, strong anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, antimalarials, and gold salts--drugs with serious side effects, and that often fail to deliver relief. This frustrating situation led one researcher to comment "rheumatoid arthritis rarely kills the patient; corti-costeroids often do" (22). These problems lead this writer to observe that apitherapy has never killed anyone and has negligible side effects. Thus, what valid criticisms can be raised against apitherapy for rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis?
The question arises: how does bee venom work? The answer is not clear, but we have some hints. Bee venom has anti-inflammatory effects, it might well "shock" the im-mune system which somehow might correct imbalances, it causes pain, and it might stimulate the nervous system which, in turn, can exert influence on the immune system. Bee venom possesses chemical components responsible for these activities: anti-inflam-matory action - mast cell degranulating peptide, apamin; "shocks" immune sys-tem-phospholipase A2, hyaluronidase; pain-melittin; stimulates nervous
system-melittin, apamin, mast cell degranulating peptide. Overall, bee venom appears to have the chemical properties to affect the immune system and immune disorders, and api-therapy has been shown to work in many cases-so all that is needed is a clearer under-standing of how apitherapy works and to convince mainstream practitioners to use apitherapy.
5.
ROYAL JELLY
Royal jelly is a creamy product secreted by young nurse worker bees for feeding to the queen, queen larvae, and other young larvae. It is totally synthesized by the bees in the hypo-pharyngeal and mandibular glands and is derived from the proteins and nutrients in the pollen ingested by the secreting bees. Royal jelly consists of an emulsion of proteins, sugars, and lip-ids in a water base (Table 6). The proteins have no particularly unusual properties (23) and have the main presumed function of providing the growing larva or the queen a readily di-gested source of protein. The remainder of the composition, except the lipids, also appears to be oriented toward providing a balance of nutrients for the consuming individuals. The lipids are unusual because they lack the normal triglycerides and diglycerides that are composed of fatty acids having carbon chains of even numbers from 14 to 20 that are typical of insect fats. Instead royal jelly lipids are composed mostly of short chained 8-10 carbon hydroxy fatty ac-ids or diacac-ids. These compounds have active functionalities at both ends of the molecule, are more soluble in water than usual fatty acids, are highly acidic, and act as good detergents and antimicrobial agents. It is this latter property, antimicrobial activity, that appears to be the main function of the lipids in royal jelly.
For humans, royal jelly possesses the appealing properties of being a creamy emul-sion that is strongly antibacterial (24,25). These make it an ideal component of cosmetics and skin care products. Internal uses of royal jelly are less promising, as all the antibacte-rial activities disappear when the pH is raised to above 6 by the natural buffering systems in the body (which maintain a pH of about 7.4) (24). In fact, no clear evidence from con-trolled experiments exists to support claims of internal usefulness of royal jelly; that in conjunction with the lack of a theoretical chemical basis for activity leads to the conclu-sion that there is little future promise for pharmaceutical use of royal jelly. Royal jelly is a
Table 6. Chemistry of royal jelly" Component Water Proteins Sugars Fructose Glucose Others Fats (£)-10-Hydroxydec-2-enoic acid 10-Hydroxydecanoic acid Other hydroxy fatty acids Dicarboxylic acids Gluconic acid Others Minerals Vitamins Sterols Undetermined pH
'See (11) for references and (23) for proteins.
Quantity Comments 67.0%
12.5% 18+ major pep tides/proteins of 14-94 kd with digestibility greater than beef
11.0% Similar in composition to honey 6.0%
4.2% .8%
5.0% Mostly hydroxy fatty acids, diacids, simple acids 31.8% of fat 21.6% offat 9.5% off at 4.5% offat 24.0% offat 8.6% of fat <1.0% <0.1% <.01% 3.5% 3.8
K, Mg, Na, Ca, Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn
Thiamin, riboflavin, pyridoxine, niacin, pantothenic acid, inositol, biotin, folic acid, Vito C
highly nutritious material. However, its cost precludes its use for any but the most special-ized food products for people or animals and its benefits are questionable. Recently, royal jelly has been shown to cause serious reactions, including death, in some individuals who ingest it (26). This indicates that both more research into the causes of the adverse reac-tions, and caution in ingesting royal jelly are needed.
6. BEESWAX
Beeswax is synthesized de novo by honey bees in four pairs of glands located on the ventral side of the abdomen. Bees use the wax as their primary building material for mak-ing combs for rearmak-ing their brood and for storage of honey and pollen. Beeswax is com-posed of a variety of monoesters, diesters, hydroxylated esters, hydrocarbons, and free fatty acids (Table 7). This composition distinguishes the material as a wax rather than a fat because it is composed mostly of esters and long chained hydrocarbons, classic wax com-ponents. Triglycerides and diglycerides, typical of fats, are missing. The chemistry of the beeswax components is ideal for the uses of it by both bees and man. These components, and the wax itself, are not soluble in water (or honey), repel water soluble materials, re-main strong to temperatures of 50° C, are reasonably flexible, and are not readily degraded or decomposed by moisture or microorganisms. The strength, flexibility, and waterproof-ing qualities of beeswax have made it an excellent material for polishes, finishes, and waxes that preserve, add shine, and generally enhance products coated with it. Beeswax stability also makes it an excellent wax for addition to cosmetics and skin products. His-torically, beeswax was an excellent material for making molds for castings; indeed, even today we have artifacts over 3000 years old that were produced by the lost-wax process (27). Beeswax also bums with a clean flame and produces a pleasant odor. This, plus the resistance of beeswax to degradation, has made it ideal for use as candles. The stable, flexible, and preserving properties of beeswax are good for use as waxes for musical in-strument strings, skis, archery, and a variety of other specialty uses. Finally, the flexibil-ity, safety, stabilflexibil-ity, and ability to accept colors of beeswax has made it a prime material for modem crafts and hobbies for both children and adults.
7. CONCLUSIONS
Although honey bees and humans are dramatically different, they share two funda-mental features-both are social animals, and both live in highly complex societies. These
Table 7. Gross chemical composition of beeswax a
Chemical class Monoesters Diesters Triesters
Hydroxy esters & polyesters Acid esters & polyesters Long-chained hydrocarbons Long-chained fatty acids
'Data from (39) Quantity (%) 35 14 3 12 3 14 12
features cause both species to maintain more or less permanent residences, to have devel-oped specialized behaviors, to engage in a diversity of activities, and to need for a multi-tude of materials. Material properties and uses are governed by their chemistry and vice versa. Honey bees need a stable food supply for long-term energy and growth; people likewise need a stable food supply. Honey bees need structural materials such beeswax and propolis to construct their nest; people likewise have housing needs. Honey bees need materials such as propolis and venom to defend against diseases and predators; people have similar needs. Is it any wonder then, that since antiquity, human beings have gone to honey bees as a chemical warehouse of materials and foods. Honey and pollen are the foods that promote health and well being in honey bees. They have served the same func-tion for people. Bees use wax to build their combs and people have taken advantage of the wonderful chemical properties of beeswax to make objects for their homes and daily lives and to coat and preserve materials. Bees use propolis and venom to defend against micro-organisms and enemies. People also use propolis, sometimes in conjunction with honey, for its antimicrobial properties. People use the same properties in bee venom that drive off predators of bees to enhance human health by fighting off some of their bodies' own inter-nal enemies that cause autoimmune diseases. Overall, much of the human application of bee products can be explained on the basis of the chemistry of the bee products. This is not to say that bee products should not be used for purposes for which we have no chemi-cal understanding; indeed, the process has usually operated in reverse-first, people dis-covered uses for bee products, then later came the chemical understanding of how and why the bee products were useful. Perhaps the message from this is that we should look to traditional uses of bee products to guide us in our investigations and to use research to dis-cover how best to use bee products and their components to improve human life. But for this process to operate, individuals concerned with bee products must be fair and honest in representing the legitimate uses and benefits of the bee products.
8. REFERENCES
I. Recommended Dietary Allowances, 10th Edition. National Academy Press, Washington, DC. 1989. 2. Bell, R.R., E.J. Thornber, J.L.L. Seet, M.T. Groves, N.R. Ho and D.T. Bell. (1983) Composition and
Pro-tein Quality of Honeybee-Collected Pollen of Eucalyptus calophylla. J. Nutr. 113,2479--2484.
3. Schmidt, PJ., J.O. Schmidt and c.w. Weber. (1984) Mesquite Pollen as a Dietary Protein Source for Mice. Nutr. Reports IntI. 30, 513-22.
4. Liebelt, R.A., D. Lyle and J.Walker. (1994) Effects of a Bee Pollen Diet on Survival and Growth of Inbred Strains of Mice. Am. Bee J. 134,615-620.
5. Denis, L.J. (1966). Chronic Prostatitis. Acta Urol. Belg. 34,49-55.
6. Ask-Upmark, E. (1967). Prostatitis and its Treatment. Acta Med. Scand, 181,355-57.
7. Hayashi, A.U., J. Mitsui. H. Yamakawa et al. (1986). Clinical Evaluation ofCemilton in Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy. Hinyokika Kiyo 32, 135-41.
8. Samochowiec, L., T. Dutkiewicz, J. Wojcicki and J. Gieldanowski. (1992) The Influence of Pollen Extracts (Cemitin GBX and Cernitin T60) on Allergic Reactions. Phytother. Res. 6, 314--317.
9. Rugendorff, E.W., W. Weidner, L. Ebeling and A.C. Buck. (1993) Results of Treatment with Pollen Extract (Cernilton N) in Chronic Prostatitis and Prostatodynia. Brit. J. Urology 7l, 433-438.
10. Wortmann, F. Oral Immunotherapy. in: Clinical Immunology and Allergology. (Steffen, C. and H. Ludwig Editors) ElsevierlNorth-Holland, Amsterdam. 1981. pp. 389-398.
II. Schmidt, J.O. and S.L. Buchmann. Other Products of the Hive. in: The Hive and the Honey Bee (Graham, J.M., Editor) Dadant & Sons, Hamilton, IL. 1992. pp. 927-988.
12. White, J.W.Jr. Composition of Honey. in: Honey A Comprehensive Survey (Crane, E. Editor). Heinemann, London. 1975. pp. 157-206.
13. Molan, P.c. (1992) The Antibacterial Activity of Honey I. The Nature of the Antibacterial Activity. Bee World 73, 5-28.
