Researchers find sugarbag honey reduces some bacteria and fungi

ABC NEWS (Australia)

When it comes to the healing power of honey the manuka variety gets all the attention. But there are stingless bees that also produce what's called sugar-bag honey. It's been used in First Nations medicine for thousands of years and now researchers believe it could one day be used to combat antibiotic resistance.

Transcript

00:00Smaller than a match head, these bees are tiny but powerful.

00:07Used in First Nations bush medicine for thousands of years,

00:11scientists now say a drizzle of their sugar bag honey

00:14could be more effective than some antibacterial and antifungal treatments.

00:18When we talk about natural products like honey,

00:20they have a lot of different compounds in them

00:22that are all working together to do different things.

00:24So it's much, much harder for microbes to gain resistance.

00:27Dr Fernandez already knew about Manuka honey's antibacterial properties

00:31and wondered whether sugar bag honey could achieve similar results.

00:35Using honey from three species of native stingless bees,

00:39the researcher tested the honey on E. coli, tinea, golden stack

00:43and a yeast known as C. neoformans.

00:46Remarkably, every sample of honey showed antibacterial and antifungal activity

00:51and Dr Fernandez thinks the bees are behind it.

00:54The stingless bee honey gets its effectiveness from, we think,

00:58something that the bees are adding to the honey

01:00or the way that they're processing the nectar.

01:02Due to their small size, stingless bees only produce

01:05half a litre of honey per year.

01:07More of it is needed for future research.

01:10One way to scale up their honey would be for more people

01:12to keep stingless beehives as a hobby.

01:15Anyone can own these bees.

01:17They're really low maintenance compared to honey bees.

01:21If more people farmed these bees,

01:23then more of this honey could be produced,

01:26paving the way for future medical application.

01:29And while this honey has not been officially approved

01:32for medical use just yet,

01:34researchers are buzzing with excitement

01:36for its scientific potential.

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