The Un-Bee-Lievable Antibiotic Properties of Honey

We’ve all squeezed the stomach of that golden bear sometime in the last couple of months and watched that gluey, sweet liquid emerge, whether to make a dessert or to sweeten some tea. Yes, I’m talking about honey, the wonderful sweetener that bees make by buzzing from plant to plant collecting nectar. However, we seldom realize the wondrous properties of honey that extend past our taste buds: like medicine!

Honey has been documented in diverse ancient civilizations for its antimicrobial properties and as a treatment for wrapping wounds. Yet, the antibiotic nature of honey had not been fully appreciated until recent years. Reading about the antimicrobial tendencies of honey, here and here, I realized that honey is so much more than a cooking ingredient; it’s a miracle worker for wounds and infections!

As it turns out, honey has some peculiar qualities (although these vary with various types of bees) that specifically aid in its war on bacteria.

•  First, and probably the one that you and I are most thankful for, honey’s high sugar content and low water content lead to honey being hygroscopic (jargon for something’s tendency to absorb moisture). As a result, it hinders the growth of bacteria in open wounds by creating a hostile environment.
• Second, honey has a relatively acidic pH (~4) that inhibits bacterial growth. In other words, honey sends bacteria packing because they can’t handle the harsh (and ironically sweet) climate.
• Third, honey also naturally produces a substance that you would otherwise find in the brown bottle at your local pharmacy: hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Hydrogen peroxide production in honey is initiated by an enzyme called glucose oxidase, put into honey by our good old friend the bee, when the honey becomes diluted (e.g. when you put it on a burn or cut).
• Fourth, honey also seems to have been specially crafted by our Apis friends to have some particular bacteria-fighting agents, such as a protein called bee defensin-1 or HMF (Hydroxymethylfurfural), which both inhibit particular metabolic functions of the bacteria.

So, at the end of the day, the honeybees end up getting the bad rap while we should be thanking them for giving us nature’s antibiotic. I mean, we all know what it feels like to get stung by a bee (personally I’ve been stung by three at the same time – it HURTS), but we should also realize the tradeoff; in recent studies, honey has actually been more effective than some common antibiotics used in hospitals at treated burn and open wounds. So while you may hate or resent that flying, striped coat, it might end up helping you recover from an injury, suppress a cough, or even sweeten your cup of tea.

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Mihir: I am a chemistry student and an avid sports fan and player. I watch several sports, though football (because I play) and baseball have to be my favorites. In football, I play on the offensive line and hope to possibly pursue a college career as well. This is my first time blogging, so I hope you enjoy!