Honey Bees in the Garden: Royal Jelly a.k.a. Bee Milk

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Posted by @Mindy03 on
Royal jelly is another product of the honey bees. It is the stuff that makes a worker bee turn into a queen. You may have heard of the various medical claims made about royal jelly. Is it really a miracle substance or just hype? Let’s take a closer look at royal jelly.

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Royal jelly is the stuff queens are made of. Both worker bees and queen bees are fed the same diet containing royal jelly for the first three or four days of their life. After day four, a worker bee’s diet is downgraded to omit the royal jelly, while a queen bee continues to be fed royal jelly for the remainder of her life.

The steady diet of royal jelly makes the queen twice as big as the worker bee. The queen is fertile and lays up to 2,000 eggs a day, while the worker bees are infertile.  The queen bee can live 5 to 8 years, while the worker bee lives 6 to 8 weeks during the nectar and pollen season and up to 3 months during winter in colder climiates. 

Unlike nectar and pollen, royal jelly is not collected from flowers. It is synthesized from bee pollen, propolis and other things and produced with enzymes from the glands of nurse bees. It is a creamy white or a pale yellow milky substance that is said to have an ultra sour bitter taste and strong odor. Beekeepers call it bee milk.


The overall composition of royal jelly is 67% water, 12.5% crude protein, including small amounts of many different amino acids, and 11% simple sugars (monosaccharides), also including a relatively high amount (5%) of fatty acids.

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It also contains many trace minerals, some enzymes, antibacterial and antibiotic components, and trace amounts of vitamin C, but none of the fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E and K.cids.

The component of royal jelly that causes a bee to develop into a queen appears to be a single protein that has been called royalactin.

Royal jelly is extracted from queen cells in minute amounts and immediately refrigerated or freeze dried to prevent spoilage. It can take up to 1,000 larvae to produce one pound of royal jelly.

In ancient times only royalty or the very wealthy were permitted to take royal jelly because it was what made a worker bee turn into a queen bee.  It was also rare because of the lack of knowledge and primitive methods of keeping honey bees. Today, thanks to a better understanding of honey bees, their products and modern technology, it is available to anyone. 
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There are all kinds of medical claims made for royal jelly, but very few studies have been conducted on humans. Because of their similarity to humans, mice have been used to research the effects of royal jelly.

Royal jelly is said to have antibacterial, antimicrobial, anti-toxidant, anti-tumor, anti-hypertensive, and immunoregulatory properties.  Additonally, it has been demonstrated to have effect on the lipid profile, have insulin-like action, as well as estrogenic and neurologolical effects.

Side effects of royal jelly include allergy, acute exacerbation of asthma, anaphylaxis, and death.

Royal jelly is used in dietary supplements, creams, skin lotions and cosmetics. Capsule forms of royal jelly typically contain 100mg, 500mg or 1,000 mg of royal jelly. Pure royal jelly is the best but freeze dried is cheaper. Royal jelly is sometimes combined with other beneficial products such as Vitamin E, honey, pollen or herbs

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Royal jelly is not a substitute for a balanced diet that provides your body with all the nutrients it needs but it can supplement diets that are deficient in nutrients.

If you decide to give royal jelly a try, be aware that it can take up to three months or longer before you notice a change in your overall health. There are no clinical trial guidelines for how much royal jelly a person should take.

Of all the products produced by honey bees, royal jelly is the least understood.  Scientists haven't yet decoded all of the components that make up royal jelly.  More studies in humans are needed before it can be said that royal jelly has the same effects on humans as it does in mice.

Mice and royal jelly photos: Wikimedia Creative Commons

Other information: Royal Jelly a Guide to Nature's Richest Health Food by Irene Stein

This article is for informative purposes only and in no way promotes the use of royal jelly for health benefits.

 
Comments and Discussion
Thread Title Last Reply Replies
Nice shot of queen bees in the royal jelly by SongofJoy Nov 11, 2011 4:18 PM 15
Lovely article.. by GordonHawk Nov 11, 2011 9:10 AM 1

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