Source of Dominican Honey

[DrChrisHE]

Not really sure where put this...

I need to know whether anyone can tell me where local Dominican Honey Bees are kept? This is for a medicinal use. Occasionally I use honey on wounds (there's great research on this) of patients who want to avoid antibiotics for one reason or another, but I don't want them pouring pesticides into their wounds. When a Dominican Miel bottle says "Pure" and "natural" do those words have ANY actual meaning here? Does it mean it HAS or has NOT been pasteurized? Are there pesticides?

The ideal would be bees that are allowed to gather from herbs and untreated fields. (Actually the ideal is Manuka honey for those of you who can afford it--comes from New Zealand and the bees are restricted to gathering from a tea-tree type plant). Many bees in the US are fed on sugar water which is the least desirable food source for them. I suspect with the availability of sugar here that might bee (sorry, I couldn't resist) the case. BUT then again, that requires a whole lot of planning and mixing. If one can just let their bees gather rather than feed them, I could see that as the method here. I have honey bees in the US (hobby--yes, another strange one.) In the winter months we do resort to using sugar syrup especially if a hive is threatened (right now the Colony Collapse disorder and Africanized bees are decimating the US and other honeybee colonies.)
TIA!!!

[Frog17112]

Does it really make a difference? I used store bought pasturized (probably the worst honey I could get) to heal my ankle surgery wound just a few months ago. It worked perfectly well. I also read that any sweet product will work just as well...honey, sugar, syrup, etc...

[aross]

CNN News (Dr. Gupta), this morning had a segment on Honey being a good substitute for the cough medicines that they are saying should not be given to kids.

[Chris]

There truly is a world wide problem with Honey. To answer the question, I would not accept the words pure and natural on any Dominican Honey.

In the DR, the colony collapse disorder also has shown itself. Somewhere on the board is a post where the poster tried to find a colony of honeybees as his vegetables were not getting fertilized and there was nary a bee in sight.

Of course the colony collapse disorder is still one of those things that no-one really can explain. There is a wonderful new book just released ..
Natural Beekeeping
Organic Approaches to Modern Apiculture by Ross Conrad. I'm sure it is available already in all the bookstores but here is the publisher's page

Last season most of the nut crops in California were in real deep trouble with few bee colonies available to pollinate. Bee colonies indeed are transported from grove to grove and given sugar water in between groves. (Not a good thing methinks). The almond crop last year were pollinated with bee colonies brought from Australia and then sent back.

This whole thing is very worrying as honey and bees and wax and so on, is a good natural medicine if you know how to use it. I'm just in the process of watching a number of permaculture educational movies, all the original work from Bill Mollison and I can only come to the conclusion that we're doing many things very wrong in our food production today. Best I think would be to get the honey in the comb from the DR producers but make very sure that they are in an area that is relatively free from pesticides. A bee 'ranges' about 5 miles from the hive ..

There is one kind of honey in the DR and I forget the name now, but it is unpasteurized. You'll recognize it by the 'white' color.

[johne]

Chris---don't know if this means it's better or not. Could you clear that up and why it's "white"

Thanks--JOHN

[DrChrisHE]

In theory & according to research, the type makes a difference (see links). As for CHILDREN...honey is ONLY a problem in kids younger than 2 because their stomach acid can't fight off the particular type of botulism spore that can sometimes be found in honey.

Chris you are absolutely correct...the almond crop in CA is 80% pollinated by bees brought to the groves. There is speculation about if the bees die off, we won't be far behind. If we don't figure out WHY they are dying (theories range from GMO crops to global warming to a fungus), I concur that the future looks dim. Honey bee society is SOOOO cool to watch up close (my kids help with tending and harvesting when we go up to our property in the US.) For those who are afraid, I actually only use smoke and wear a tank top and NO gloves when I'm in an open hive--I have fewer accidental kills that way (and nothing riles up the girls more that having their sisters squished.)

My recent surgical wound (from having surgery in the midst of TS Noel) has been having a hard time healing. The constant draining was causing an ulceration. SO, I decided to revisit the Honey as a wound healer literature. For those who think I'm nuts, honey is one of the oldest methods of dressing, cleaning and healing wounds. It has recently been "rediscovered." The thinking is that although sugar will work, honey is even better because it literally produces hydrogen peroxide as it comes in contact with secretions and it's slightly acidic, PLUS provides a "moist wound healing" environment, currently thought to be superior to the "dry it out and scab" method.

Here are some links:
UMF Active Manuka Honey
Combined use of honey, bee propolis and myrrh in healing a deep, infected wound in a patient with diabetes mellitus British Journal of Biomedical Science - Find Articles
Patients should ask surgeons about using honey to heal wounds
European Tissue Repair Society : Bulletin 9.3 : Concepts in Clinical Wound Healing
Waikato Honey Research Unit - The evidence for honey promoting wound healing

Additionally, there is a resurgence of interest in the use of MAGGOTS to debride wounds. Personally, I'll stick with honey. Maggots are one of those icky, disgusting things that make me want to vomit.

I will say that I have successfully used honey on several patient's wounds including burns, surgical wounds, and abscesses. In addition, the us of honey on my cat (when he had feline leprosy) probably saved his life (he had 2 inch diameter abscesses that were about an inch deep. I first tried the standard antibiotic creams with injections but he kept licking of the antibiotic. So, that's when I switched to honey as a topical. When he licked it off, it also gave him calories. This cat's name is GORDO and he had gotten down to skin and bones. I firmly believe the honey treatment saved his
life.

[Hillbilly]

I get my honey for RD$400 a gallon. I have two gallons on hand, plus the gallon I have open.
Do you want one? I will be going through Juan Dolio-Guayacanes on thursday or maybe Wednesday evening.

The beekeeper is an employee of the university and he keeps me in honey. His bees work hard and live in the hills north of Santiago. That is all I know of them.

I do know that I have had some of this honey for more than a year and it is perfect, still.

HB

[DrChrisHE]

Originally Posted by Hillbilly

I get my honey for RD$400 a gallon. I have two gallons on hand, plus the gallon I have open.
Do you want one? I will be going through Juan Dolio-Guayacanes on thursday or maybe Wednesday evening.

The beekeeper is an employee of the university and he keeps me in honey. His bees work hard and live in the hills north of Santiago. That is all I know of them.

I do know that I have had some of this honey for more than a year and it is perfect, still.

HB

YES, we'd love some. I'll PM you my phone number. I always bring down some of what we harvest & it's gone now!

BTW, much of the honey found in ancient Egyptian tombs & pyramids was still good!! It is incredible stuff.

[Chris]

Originally Posted by johne

Chris---don't know if this means it's better or not. Could you clear that up and why it's "white"

Thanks--JOHN

In alternative healing circles and in circles of 'foodies', raw honey is believed to be effective against bacteria and parasites and to contain natural antibiotics. It helps to speed up the healing of damaged tissues with its specific combination of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and sugars.

So, raw honey (depending on its processing, it can also be cold processed) usually has some 'bits' floating in it - wax, pollen and so on. You can eat all the bits! If you trust your honey farmer, you'll soon know if the honey is trustworthy and if clean methods are used to bottle it. If the farming methods are traditional and clean, there is very small risk that you're going to catch botulism or something equally dangerous. Usually raw honey is never heated above the heat naturally ocurring in the hive. Here is a picture of creamed raw honey (whitish in color). (No, I have nothing to do with that company, it is simply the first picture I found). Raw honey will have different colors, depending on where the bees went to collect 'sweetness' to make honey.

Honey is usually pasteurized by heating it. This destroys all kinds of non-beneficial micro-organisms and of course, the beneficial ones too. The heating process stops the crystallization so it is deemed to have a longer shelf life and it is strained to remove the 'bits'.

It is conventional wisdom to never give little kids honey because of the botulism spore. This was not an issue where I grew up in middle of Africa, as we did not use the types of fertilizers, pesticides and mono culture farming methods that now are common. So, as babies, our first sweet food was honey. It was only later in life that I learnt about the specific problem with honey and kids in other areas of the world.

[bienamor]

try contacting this

Miel Real
Carlos Mendez
tecnico apicola
cel 809-351-4858
comisionapicola@yahoo.com
apiariohidalgo@hotmail.com

Sec. Comision Nacional Apicola
Miembro Asoc. Apicultores de Bayaguana