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comment by briandmyers
briandmyers  ·  3904 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: I just learned the coolest thing about beehives and propolis

Just FYI - a lot of the lauded anti-bacterial qualities of honey come into play when it is used as a salve, not when taken internally. Honey is good to use on wounds, esp. burns, because the high sugar content drains fluids from the wound by osmotic pressure (making an unpleasant environment for bacteria), and also it supplies simple sugars which can be absorbed and used as nutrients by healing tissues below.

Some types of NZ honey (manuka) have an additional benefit labelled "UMF", which is extra-anti-bacterial, apparently. Manuka (also called "tea tree" here) has a strong flavour; I'm not fond of it myself. A little piney-tasting. It's a common tree here, similar to Texas mesquite.





thenewgreen  ·  3904 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The same Teatree as this?

briandmyers  ·  3904 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It's related. The NZ manuka tree is this :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospermum_scoparium

The wood is nice to use for smoking (especially fish), and it's good for firewood; although the trees are small, the word is very hard and burns long.

The Aussie melaleuca is a different species. I'm not familiar with it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melaleuca