Features
Honey - the bees have buzzed off!
02 Nov 2011
By Naomi Ely, BSc, Scientific Information Officer, IFIS
Honey has long been consumed by humans. Reports suggest that it
has been collected for at least 10,000 years, and, in addition to
its use as a food source, it also has cultural and religious
significance in many countries. Furthermore, honey has an extensive
history of use in health care for the treatment of a multiplicity
of ailments.
Among the many health benefits attributed to honey are its
favourable effects on cardiovascular health. Compared to other
sugar sources, evidence suggests that consumption of honey can lead
to more modest rises in blood glucose and insulin. It has also been
found to lower blood lipids and LDL-cholesterol, and elevate
HDL-cholesterol. Honey has also been shown to have anticarcinogenic
properties, with studies demonstrating its effects in a variety of
cancer cell types. In addition, it is also claimed that honey can
help improve sleep, reduce anxiety, enhance the immune system and
positively affect heart disease, osteoporosis, depression, memory
loss and dementia. Furthermore, it is known to possess
antioxidative and antimicrobial activities, as well as wound
healing properties.
The health benefits of honey may be ascribed to its rich
composition. Honey is largely composed of an almost equal ratio of
glucose to fructose but, in addition, contains smaller quantities
other sugars, notably maltose and sucrose, as well as vitamins,
minerals, free amino acids, proteins, volatile compounds,
flavonoids and phenols. The exact composition of honey, however,
can vary depending on its botanical origin. This, in turn,
influences its flavour and colour, allowing for the production of
honey in a multitude of varieties.
The honey bee, responsible for the production of honey, is also
vital for the pollination of many commercially important crops.
Together with other pollinators, this indispensable insect is
claimed to be worth over £400 million per year to the UK economy.
In recent years, however, honey bee populations in many areas of
the world have been in decline. Notably, large numbers of bees in
the USA have been lost to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), and
possible cases of this condition have also been reported
elsewhere.
The exact trigger of the disorder, responsible for wiping out
entire colonies of bees, is not fully understood; however, a number
of possible causes have been proposed. One potential cause is the
presence of pests and pathogens in the colony. The mite, Varroa
destructor, a group of RNA viruses carried by the mite and the
fungus Nosema cerenae, have all been implicated in the disorder.
Although, individually, it is thought that these pathogens are
unlikely to be the sole cause, recent research has indicated that
infection with both the Nosema fungus and the RNA viruses may lead
to colony collapse. Furthermore, the mite may increase the
virulence of the viruses; when ingested by the mite and injected
back into the bees, they can be far more harmful than when passed
naturally from bee to bee.
Although it is widely agreed that pests and pathogens are involved
in CCD, some scientists suggest that they are not the cause, but
rather a symptom of a weakened immune system. This, in turn, may be
related to malnutrition. Research has shown that bees fed pollen
from a variety of sources have healthier immune systems than those
fed on a single type.
Recent reductions in plant biodiversity have reduced the range of
pollen available to bees, and may therefore be linked to falling
bee numbers. In the UK, for example, some 97% of species-rich hay
meadows have been lost in the last century, together with huge
reductions in other habitat types. At the same time, monocultures
of crops have increased in extent, and herbicides have demolished
the flowering weeds that once dotted cultivated fields. Conversely,
it seems that bees in cities may be faring considerably better,
with urban gardens providing a variety of plants from around the
globe.
A further factor that may be involved in the decline of bees is
the use of insecticides. In particular, systemic neonicotinoid
pesticides such as imidacloprid have been blamed. Although evidence
for a link between these pesticides and CCD is currently
inconclusive, their use has been restricted in several countries
due to reported negative effects on bees. Such effects include
behavioural changes such as disorientation, feeding problems and
communication disturbances, which may impair the ability of bees to
find their way back to the hive after foraging.
As of yet, however, no single factor has been confirmed as the
cause, and it has been proposed that a combination of many factors
could be to blame. Research projects are continuing in their
attempt to solve the mystery and, in the meantime, it is hoped that
other measures may help improve the situation. Experts, for
instance, are encouraging urban bee-keeping to help reverse
population decline, while agri-environmental schemes may help
increase plant biodiversity on farmland. With luck, such measures
will help prevent our bees from buzzing off.
Examples of some FSTA records related to
honey
JOURNALS
- Natural honey lowers plasma glucose, C-reactive protein,
homocysteine, and blood lipids in healthy, diabetic, and
hyperlipidemic subjects: comparison with dextrose and sucrose
Journal of Medicinal Food
- Free amino acid composition and botanical origin of
honey.
Food Chemistry
- Bee honey and cancer
Journal of ApiProduct and ApiMedical Science
- A review and bibliography of the literature of honey bee
collapse disorder: a poorly understood epidemic that clearly
threatens the successful pollination of billions of dollars of
crops in America.
Journal of Agricultural & Food Information
BOOKS
- The honey revolution. Restoring the health of future
generations
