Elderberry Syrup Extract with Propolis - 8 fl. oz. Honey Gardens

Honey Gardens Apiaries - Organic Honey Elderberry Syrup Extract with Propolis - 8 oz.

Honey Gardens Apiaries Organic Honey Elderberry Syrup Extract with Propolis is a timeless remedy for natural immune support that is used to ease coughs and congestion. Honey Gardens Apiaries Organic Honey Elderberry Syrup Extract with Propolis combines organic elderberries with raw honey, propolis and organic echinacea. Traditionally used for general well-being during the cold season, they naturally contain Vitamin C. Elderberries have long been used in Native America and the Vermont farm kitchen. Elderberry has been known to build up the immunity system and to flight some viruses that chemical medicines do not work on. Propolis is a natural antibiotic gathered by the bees from the buds of poplar and pine trees.

FAQ

• What is the shelf life of Honey Gardens products; do I have to keep them in the fridge? Honey is believed to keep for longer than any food (up to 4,000 years). As there is honey in all of our products, this helps them be naturally preserved. You should keep the honey and all other products at room temperature. Fresh bee pollen should be kept in the freezer.
• What do you use the honey for; can I use it in my tea? It is great in salad dressings & marinades or on toast, muffins, etc. as a spread. It is also good to eat a little bit plain as a dietary supplement. You can use it in tea but wait until your tea has cooled to drinking temperature so that you preserve as much of the live enzymes as possible. Heat has a negative affect on raw honey.
• Are your products safe for children and/or pregnant women? The FDA recommends that children under the age of one year old do not consume honey products. It is recommended that pregnant women check with their doctors before taking any herbal supplements.
• Why is the honey hard/that color? The color of raw honey changes with the seasons as the blooming wildflowers change. The different nectars that the bees collect affect the color and taste of the honey. We do not heat the honey at all so it retains bits of pollen, propolis and beeswax. It is liquid in the honeycomb and when we bottle it, and it naturally crystallizes in the jar into a spreadable consistency, usually around October.
• What are the wild cherry bark and elderberry sryups traditionally used for? The wild cherry bark is recommended for its support of the digestive system (licorice, ginger) to help speed detoxification. The elderberry is an immune supporter. It is used year round for any situation where the immune system is compromised or needs support.
• How much of the elderberry/wild cherry bark syrup should I take? For the elderberry and wild cherry bark syrup we suggest taking up to 3 teaspoons every hour as needed. For children 6 to 12, they can take up to 2 teaspoons every hour as needed. For children 2 to 5, they can take up to 1 serving every hour as needed.
• Why do you use organic apple cider vinegar?
  • natural preservative for the products
  • helps "pull" the good stuff out of the herbs and reduces the need for as much alcohol to do this
  • helps keep our truly raw honey, which naturally will crystallize by the end of September/October a liquid to pour out of the bottles
  • it is a traditional tonic in the Vermont and Quebec region used for improving digestion and overall health. The "Vermont folk Doctor" Jarvis wrote of the benefits of using organic apple cider vinegar and raw honey.
• Is your honey organic? While all but one of our honeys is not certified organic, we are increasingly searching for organic beekeepers. In order to be certified organic, all of the bee hives must be placed on and surrounded by certified organic land. We are happy to provide an organic honey in our raw honey selection.
• What is the difference between your honey and the "normal" honey I usually buy? The most common form of honey on the market is heated honey. This honey will generally appear golden brown and be in a liquid form. This honey has been heated to 120 to 180 degrees; this heating changes the chemistry of the honey. The wax, pollen and propolis will separate out, and live enzymes will die. The honey is left only as a sweetener, with no health benefits. Another common kind of honey is "creamed or whipped honey". This is honey that has been heated, as described, with a tiny bit of raw honey added and mixed. This crystallized raw honey starts a chemical chain reaction that crystallizes all of the honey it comes in contact with. The honey has none of the health benefits of raw honey. Our raw honey has never been heated. We extract the honey from the comb using centrifugal force and pour the honey into jars, where it crystallizes. The pollen, propolis and live enzymes are still intact.
• I have heard that local honey is thought to be helpful for individuals with allergies; can I use raw honey even though it isn't local? Only raw honey has tiny bits of pollen. Therefore, many individuals seek raw honey that contains the kinds of pollen that are where they live. Ideally, you would use honey that has been produced by bees that forage on local plants, but since raw honey is rare on the market there is not a lot of choice for consumers. Using raw honey from a different region can still be helpful (there are some common plants), whereas using local heated honey will not have this benefit. Using raw honey from a different region where you live is better than using heated honey from your own area.
• Where does the honey come from? The honey comes from local beekeepers as well as beekeeping friends across the country and sometimes Canada. We use honey from beekeepers in Vermont, New York, Michigan and Montana. Depending on the bees, the blueberry honey is from either Maine or Michigan. The orange blossom honey and tupelo honey are from Florida. The white gold is only found in Saskatchewan, Canada. Our organic honey is from the Quebec province. Some of these beekeepers summer in the south and travel to provide pollination services for these crops.

Live Foods, Enzymes, and Raw Honey
It is not fresh news that the standard American diet (acronym is s.a.d.!) is not health supportive. For all least four decades, we have been listening to the medical community's advice about the quality and quantity of fat and fiber in our diets, and the increased incidence of heart disease, diabetes (particularly Type II, adult onset), cancer, and obesity among our population. As a result, many people have shifted their dietary intakes toward a plant-based diet which is rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants, just to name a few nutrients. We have improved our diets "in layers," meaning that the initial shift for some people is toward a plant-based diet. Subsequent layers or shifts include incorporating more organic produce and free-range poultry and meats, and what we call "superfoods." Superfoods are called such because they are foods that are naturally rich in vitamins, minerals, and trace minerals. Blue-green algaes (e.g., chlorella and spirulina), seaweeds (e.g., kelp and dulse), bee pollen, and raw honey are examples of superfoods because of their extraordinarily generous contents of beneficial nutrients.

The most recent layer of awareness that has resulted in a shift in dietary improvement is the knowledge that certain foods contain highly beneficial, therapeutic enzymes. Many of us are returning to a way of eating that incorporates The ways of traditional or native peoples. Not only are our choices minimally processed (considered "whole foods") and grown or raised organically, but equally importantly, many are vital, rich in, and alive with enzymes. In short, they are "live foods." Even though a traditional society/culture might not know what an enzyme is and how it works, these people benefit from eating foods that are rich in enzymes. Their low incidence of modern food diseases and their longevity are the result of eating health-supportive diets. Lower stress levels as compared to those of people living in the modern world are a factor we can't ignore as well.

Before we go further, we need to talk about what enzymes are. Enzymes are necessary for our bodies to function optimally. They are substances (protein specifically) that are able to simplify complex elements into simple elements. There are three classes of enzymes: digestive, metabolic, and food enzymes (which are present in raw foods). Enzymes are catalysts for biochemical processes and reactions in the body. When we are talking about digestion, this means that enzymes are necessary for the digestion of or breakdown of foods (like fats, carbohydrates, and proteins) into their simplest form. Enzymes make it possible for proteins to be broken down into amino acids and for complex carbohydrates to be broken down into simple sugars, for example. In addition to supporting digestion and making it possible, enzymes are also metabolic. They are involved in hundreds of metabolic reactions within our bodies which enable our complex biochemistries to work in the miraculous ways that they do, converting foods that we eat into renewing building products and energy.

All humans have what is called "enzyme potential," meaning that we are born with an enzyme-making potential to satisfy the metabolic and digestive needs of the body. Nutrients that we ingest in the form of mostly raw and uncooked foods are also used to manufacture enzymes because our bodies' enzyme reserves can't always meet the demands for enzymes. Our bodies have evolved the natural ability to conserve enzymes by manufacturing them only on demand. We can also arrange for digestive enzymes to come into the body by taking digestive enzymes in capsule form. The virtues of enzymes and their significance in today's diets are exclaimed/appreciated by noted doctors such as the late Dr. Edward Howell. A number of books, most notably Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats (1999), by Sally Fallon with Mary Enig, Ph.D. and Patient Heal Thyself (2003), by Jordan Rubin, N.M.D, C.N.C., are also emphasizing the importance of enzymes in the diet. What are some sources of these beneficial enzymes? Raw honey is a food noted for its exceptionally high enzyme content. Other enzyme-rich raw foods include bee (flower) pollen, vegetables and fruits (especially avocado, banana, papaya, and pineapple), extra virgin olive oil, raw dairy foods, lacto-fermented dairy products like yogurt and kefir and cultured or fermented foods such as miso and sauerkraut. (Grains, nuts, legumes, and seeds are rich in enzymes as well as other nutrients, but they also contain enzyme inhibitors like phytic acid. This is why traditional cultures soak and sprout these foods in order to deactivate the enzyme inhibitors.) It needs to be emphasized here that these foods must not be heated so that the enzymes are viable and available. Here at Honey Gardens Apiaries, our honey is strictly raw and unheated, thus retaining the maximum enzyme content.

As mentioned above, because our honey is raw and unheated, the maximum enzyme content and health benefits are present for the consumer. Honey contains more than 75 different compounds (Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, pp. 47 - 48), among them: enzymes, minerals and trace minerals, vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, organic acids, and hydrogen peroxide. The enzymes in raw honey help to initiate the process of digestion and reduce the body's need to produce digestive enzymes. Because of its high enzyme content, raw honey spares the enzyme reserves of the pancreas and other digestive organs. They won't be constantly stimulated to produce and secrete various digestive enzymes. Wonderful long-term benefits of this enzyme-sparing activity are good health, increased longevity and energy, fewer illnesses, and a healthy immune system. In this way, one can see the importance of including raw, unheated honey in the diet.

Apitherapy
Raw honey has been shown to inhibit the growth of pathogens in food and food spoilage organisms. Scientists at Cornell University, Geneva, New York report "Honey has been used as a topical and gastrointestinal remedy for thousands of years, and has recently gained recognition from the medical field. The growth of many microorganisms associated with disease or infection is inhibited by honey." It is exciting that raw honey is now getting this kind of thorough review from the scientific community. Honey Gardens is so thankful to two of the authors of this article, for help in the development of their blueberry Rejuvenation Tonic and ongoing work to grind the blueberries smaller for production and to monitor this product for shelf life stability.

The pure honey from the Champlain Valley of Vermont, rural New York State and Michigan is the culmination of an incredible amount of work by honey bees. As the season unfolds, the bees visit many flowers to collect nectar to make honey these include dandelion, raspberry, blackberry, alfalfa, white clovers, vetches, basswood, milkweed, goldenrod, and the asters. On the average, they collectively fly 24,000 miles and visit three to nine million flowers to make one pound of honey.

Apitherapy honey has never been heated or filtered, and thus it retains the beneficial traces of pollen, propolis, and beeswax, which the flowers and bees have provided. These contain healthful minerals, vitamins, enzymes, amino acids, and carbohydrates. Honey forms crystals around these particles, which you see on the surface or by holding a jar up to the light. Within a month or so after the fall harvest, Apitherapy honey will crystallize. To soften or re-liquefy honey, place it in a warm place or in warm water.

What Is Apitherapy?
Apitherapy, or "bee therapy" (from the Latin apis which means bee) is the medicinal use of products made by honeybees. Proudcts of the Honeybee include bee venom, honey, pollen, royal jelly, propolis, and beeswax. Some of the conditions treated (not in any special order) are: multiple sclerosis, arthritis, wounds, pain, gout, shingles, burns, tendonitis, and infections.

Therapies involving the honeybee have existed for thousands of years and some may be as old as human medicine itself. The ancient rock art of early hunter-gatherers depicts the honeybee as a source of natural medicine. Bee venom therapy was practiced in ancient Egypt, Greece, and China-three Great Civilizations known for their highly developed medical systems. Hippocrates, the Greek physician known as the "Father of Medicine", recognized the healing virtues of bee venom for treating arthritis and other joint problems. Today, growing scientific evidence suggests that various bee products promote healing by improving circulation, decreasing inflammation, and stimulating a healthy immune response.

It is important to note that Apitherapy is not only the use of the venom for healing, often called Bee Sting Therapy, but the use of all the hive products, and usually a combination of them. These products are also sometimes mixed with other ingredients, specifically different essential oils, dependent on the condition being treated.

Propolis
Propolis is a mysterious substance produced by mysterious creatures. Honey bees produce propolis by collecting resins from trees such as coniferous and poplar species (amongst others), and combine that with beeswax, pollen and their own amazing enzymes. Propolis is extremely variable depending on bioregion and season.

Since the beginning, beekeepers have observed that honey bees coat the interior of the hive with this resinous substance. The bees plug holes, waterproof, polish wax cells and hold the hive together with this glue. The healthy hive resists bacterial, fungal, and mold attacks. Honey bees are extremely clean insects. Honey Gardens has personally seen a mouse skeleton (probably stung to death by the hive) completely encased in propolis, effectively preserving it from bacterial invasion. Honey Gardens has applied propolis tincture to fresh bleeding cuts (on themselves and others) and seen the results. The bleeding immediately stops, the pain abates, and healing begins. The propolis forms a resinous bandage over the wound protecting it from further infection. Honey Gardens has used propolis on warts with results within days. Propolis reduces inflammations of the mucous membranes and cures canker sores, also with amazing and immediate results. Propolis is by no means a cure all for every malady but when it comes to cuts, from Honey Gardens' experience, there is no finer first aid.

Years ago in Russia and European countries where beekeeping has a long history, modern scientists began testing propolis in the laboratory in controlled experiments to prove or disprove the thousands of years of anecdotal evidence. Scientists and doctors decided to test propolis on infectious bacteria and viruses. First they cultured various pathogens which included Corynebacterium diptheriae (causes diphtheria), Salmonella typhus B (paratyphus), Listeria monocytogenes (brain membrane inflammation), Staphyloccoci species (cause of infections and inflammation of lungs, kidney, brain, middle ear, eyes, meningitis, and was present in the Asian flu epidemic in the late 1950's), and a proteus, or Pseudomonas auruginosa (responsible for digestive system disturbances, which on the whole, antibiotics are no longer effective against).

Then each culture was inoculated with various dilutions of propolis solution. In each case propolis effectively defeated or inhibited the growth of each of these pathogens. This experiment was also conducted using a "blind". The scientists performing the experiment did not know that the chemists had mixed a synthetic propolis, combining resins, balsams, wax and pollen, which was tested alongside the bee's propolis. It was noted that the "synthetic" propolis produced little to no effect on the same pathogens. Propolis would have had less validity if the artificial propolis had produced the same effects. Thus the key to this synergy is in the beautiful body of the bee itself. Without the bee there could bee no propolis.

After the tests on bacteria, the Microbiological Institute at the University of Ljubljana, tested propolis on the influenza virus A. This time propolis was in combination with honey, pollen, and royal jelly. Scientists inoculated two chicken embryos, one with just the propolis combination, and the other with the influenza virus A/ propolis combination. The embryo inoculated with the propolis/honey continued to grow showing that this combination was not toxic to the organism. The second inoculation showed strong inhibition of the influenza virus. The scientists continued the experiment by diluting the propolis preparation, and showed positive results in dilutions as low as 1:4 million! Bee products had proven themselves to the scientific world to be effective against viruses. Other tests have also been done on the herpes virus with equally positive results.

Doctors at the Oncology institute in Ljubljana performed studies with a propolis/honey mixture. Patients who were receiving radiation treatment for malignant tumors of the oral cavity, tongue and throat were chosen to take the propolis/honey mixture. The radiation treatment the patients received was usually followed by a secondary infection of the mucous membranes, radium mucositis. This infection leaves the patients with extremely painful swallowing and many would choose to not eat, thus further weakening the body. Radiation treatment also disrupts red blood cell counts. The patients given the propolis mixture either had complete relief from this infection or had only mild symptoms. The pain and swelling were alleviated to the point where the patients could eat. Red blood cell counts also stabilized.

As beekeepers Honey Gardens cannot say that propolis is a medicine. Thousands of years of results speak for themselves. Validation by the scientific community is just icing on the cake. Propolis has incredible potential for human kind. The bees and all that they produce are good for us. How can we ever re-pay them?

Scientific Research
Then each culture was inoculated with various dilutions of propolis solution. In each case propolis effectively defeated or inhibited the growth of each of these pathogens. This experiment was also conducted using a "blind" . The scientists performing the experiment did not know that the chemists had mixed a synthetic propolis, combining resins, balsams, wax and pollen, which was tested alongside the bee's propolis. It was noted that the "synthetic" propolis produced little to no effect on the same pathogens. Propolis would have had less validity if the artificial propolis had produced the same effects. Thus the key to this synergy is in the beautiful body of the bee itself. Without the bee there could bee no propolis.

After the tests on bacteria, the Microbiological Institute at the University of Ljubljana, tested propolis on the influenza virus A. This time propolis was in combination with honey, pollen, and royal jelly. Scientists inoculated two chicken embryos, one with just the propolis combination, and the other with the influenza virus A/ propolis combination. The embryo inoculated with the propolis/honey continued to grow showing that this combination was not toxic to the organism. The second inoculation showed strong inhibition of the influenza virus. The scientists continued the experiment by diluting the propolis preparation, and showed positive results in dilutions as low as 1:4 million! Bee products had proven themselves to the scientific world to be effective against viruses. Other tests have also been done on the herpes virus with equally positive results.

Doctors at the Oncology institute in Ljubljana performed studies with a propolis/honey mixture. Patients who were receiving radiation treatment for malignant tumors of the oral cavity, tongue and throat were chosen to take the propolis/honey mixture. The radiation treatment the patients received was usually followed by a secondary infection of the mucous membranes, radium mucositis. This infection leaves the patients with extremely painful swallowing and many would choose to not eat, thus further weakening the body. Radiation treatment also disrupts red blood cell counts. The patients given the propolis mixture either had complete relief from this infection or had only mild symptoms. The pain and swelling were alleviated to the point where the patients could eat. Red blood cell counts also stabilized.

About Honey Gardens, Inc.
The roots of Honey Gardens started in 1965 when Todd started keeping bees with his brother Tom on the top field of their parents farm. The journey continued with studies of entomology & agricultural sciences at Cornell, working for beekeepers in the Finger Lakes of New York after this, and inspecting bees for the State of Vermont.

Then, working with around 180 colonies, raw, farm style honey was introduced to the Vermont and Boston market. Todd would fill the little pick-up each month, make deliveries along the way to Boston and stay with his grandparents. This product was unusual, as people were used to the liquid heated honey found on most supermarket shelves. Raw honey was the traditional way honey was eaten 100 years earlier, before production outweighed good taste and nutrition in the honey market. Todd saw the value in the raw, unfiltered honey and knew that with a growing interest in healthy foods and agriculture, people were ready for it. A few years later the elderberry syrup was developed, also inspired by tradition and homebred health. Lewis Hill, well know as an orchardist and elderberry specialist in Vermont, inspired Todd for years to develop it. When the time was right, he brought a team of herbalists together to make it happen. This led to the development of the wild cherry bark syrup, propolis spray and salve.

Over the last 12 years, Honey Gardens worked with an average of around 1200 colonies in the Champlain Valley of Vermont and the St. Lawrence River Valley of Northern New York State, peaking out at 1,900 and down to 340 after a tough winter loss. Even at that rate, the bees could not keep up with the demand for raw, unfiltered honey. Honey Gardens began bottling the honey of other beekeepers and they were thrilled to have people enjoy their honey in its purest state "raw and unfiltered - a market that had not existed for them before. They have since ceased our own beekeeping operation and gifted the 25 hives to local beekeepers, which are used to train the local youth in beekeeping and pollination. They bottle the honey from other beekeepers throughout the spring and summer. Honey Gardens' vision includes connecting people to the land by encouraging sustainability and stewardship. By supporting the work of the bees, you are supporting agriculture and helping to keep land from development.

State Of The Hive Millennium Report
In the last one thousand years, there have been very few changes in the life of a honey bee. Today a colony of bees works together as a family to feed, shelter, and care for itself just as its ancestors did when honey bees were brought on ships to the New England shores in the era of Christopher Columbus.

What has changed dramatically in the last 100+ years is how honey is marketed. One hundred years ago, all honey was sold as a raw and unheated product, in a container or comb, to local and regional markets. A hobbyist would sell honey at the house or the local store. Commercial beekeepers would also bring honey to regional markets in the country and city. Today, most of the honey marketplace is controlled by packers, who buy from beekeepers and then bottle and sell the honey. Much of the honey sold in your area is from China, Argentina, and regions far removed from the market where the honey is sold. The packers now pay the beekeepers a price less than it costs to produce the honey, and thus the beekeeping industry is under great stress.

Most of the honey currently sold is heated and filtered, which keeps it in the liquid form for 6 - 12 months. This process arrests the natural crystallization of honey that otherwise occurs toward the end of October. Because the honey that a packer handles is generally crystallized by the time it is ready for bottling, the honey must be heated and filtered in order to make it flow. This strips the honey of most of its nutritional value.

Honey Gardens is grateful to be able to offer you raw honey. Honey Gardens' unheated and unfiltered Apitherapy raw honey, which was seen as such a radical idea when they " got back" to it in the 1970's, is now in high demand. It is because of your support that Honey Gardens is able to continue this work.

Honey Gardens brought the bees to the blueberry barrens of Cherryfield, Maine one May. When the bees pollinate the blueberry flowers, the fruit crop is increased by around 300% compared to relying on just the wild bees and other insects for pollination. When this land is cleared, the blueberry crop comes up the next year. The wild low growing blueberries do not need to be planted here; they have always been in the soil. The brown bears must celebrate the arrival of the bees. Electric fences around each group of bee hives and a constant patrol throughout the night minimize the number of hives they tear apart looking for their next meal. The blueberries will grow throughout the summer and be harvested in August. Research has shown that the antioxidants in blueberries may slow the aging process, reverse memory loss, and improve vision.