Over the past month of the blog, we have been discussing various topics related to fall beekeeping: feeders & feeding, varroa mite monitoring & management, and new findings concerning nosema. In addition to these parts of fall beekeeping, many beekeepers are also working in honey houses to extract this year’s honey crop. Honey has both a long and broad standing history of uses. From ancient mummification to a culinary sweetener to medical treatments, there is no doubting the versatility and usefulness of this bee-made liquid gold that beekeepers across the Maritimes are busy harvesting.
What’s the Buzz with ATTTA Podcast Episode 9 is now
available for your listening enjoyment! Keep following below for a sneak peak
of topics discussed in conversation with Dr. Sarah Wood, a veterinary
pathologist whose research concentrates on honey bee health.
Nova Scotia Beekeepers’ Association 2021 Fall Technical Session – October 16, 2021. More information available shortly on the NSBA website.
A Beekeeper’s Fall
The floral blooms have come and gone; the bees have finished
their work for the year. Beekeepers are
busy harvesting the liquid treasure that has been accumulating and ripening in
supers over the season. Across Atlantic Canada fall has begun to set in; the leaves
are changing colors, geese are flying south, and the air is getting crisper.
But inside the honey house the air is warm and sweet, and the frames of honey
glow gold, ready to fill jars and remind us of summer sunshine through the cold
of winter.
This year we saw abundant floral blooms on the landscape
throughout the beekeeping season thanks to the early onset of spring and a good
amount of rain. However, this may not
always translate in honey harvest numbers since there are so many other factors
that also help determine the total honey yield for a particular season. For
example, although the rainy days promote plant growth and contribute to a
greater abundance of flowers on the landscape, they are stay-at-home, no-forage
days for bees. This reminds us that everything is a balance and there is always
more to learn. To all the Atlantic honey producers, we wish you a great honey
harvest this year!
Recent advances in honey-based hydrogels for wound healing applications: Towards natural therapeutics *
Aside from its delicious sweetness and aesthetic golden
glow, honey has been used for many purposes for many years. Honey has a great
potential for uses in medical treatment settings, however, the medical value of
a particular honey is largely dependent on the substances present in the honey
from the surrounding environment. A recent review highlighted some recent
advancements in using honey in medical settings, especially for use in
hydrogels for wound care. A hydrogel wound covering acts as a flexible
skin-like barrier that keeps the wound moist while promoting healing. Adding
honey as an ingredient in these hydrogel wound coverings adds even more
medically beneficial properties, such as:
- Antibacterial – reduces production of excess wound fluids (i.e., pus)
- Anti-inflammatory – reduces elevated inflammation of chronic wounds
- Hydrating – provides a moist environment & allows for more efficient wound management
- Hydrophilic – absorbs body fluid to maintain humidity appropriate for wound healing
As-is, honey can be a bit of a difficult substance to use
practically and precisely as a tool, especially in a medical setting. These
advancements of using honey in wound care, as an ingredient in hydrogel
coverings, help in developing a reliable and practical delivery method to
incorporate these healing properties of honey into medical treatments.
*Nezhad-Mokhtari, P., Javanbakht, S., Asadi, N., Ghorbani, M., Milani, M., Hanifehpour, Y., Gholizadeh, P., & Akbarzadeh, A. 2021. Recent advances in honey-based hydrogels for wound healing applications: Towards natural therapeutics, Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology. Full text available ONLINE.
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| Example of accessible honey hydrogel wound cover: Derma Sciences 31644 Medihoney Dressing Hydrogel Colloidal Sheet. (Photo credit: Amazon.ca; More product information HERE) |
What’s the Buzz with ATTTA Podcast Episode 9
Our latest episode is an informative interview with veterinarian Dr Sarah Wood. Dr Wood, a veterinary pathologist, concentrates on research related to honey bee Health. Working at the University of Saskatchewan, she takes a “One Health” approach to her investigations which covers a range of disease and environmental factors which can impact honey bees. Listen and learn more about her work which is providing important insights for Canadian beekeepers on pesticide use, European foulbrood, pollination and more. Listen from your choice of podcast platforms HERE.
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