Bees are cool; they have been around for about 30 million years and to date are the only insects that can be bothered making food for humans. A bee’s wings can beat 11,400 times per minute and their eyes can perceive movements that are separated by 1/300th of a second (humans can only sense movements separated by 1/50th of a second). This is why you don’t see bees attending the cinema; they make too much noise and they can differentiate each individual movie frame being projected. In a lifetime a single honey bee will make about one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey. Of course, while humans might use honey as a measure of a bee’s life, from the bee’s perspective they do much more. Bees make lots of other substances besides honey that are used around the hive and one of those substances, although used by humans for thousands of years, is now finding a new use in prostate cancer.
Propolis is made by honey bees from resins collected from the bark and sticky buds of a variety of trees and plants. Gathered by the oldest bees, the resins are brought back to the hive and mixed with some wax and salivary secretions before being used to varnish the hive interior, seal cracks and cement things together. Containing approximately 55 per cent resinous compounds, 30 per cent wax, ten per cent aromatic essential oils, and five per cent pollen, propolis is the substance that bees use to kill off any bacteria, fungi, or virus that enters the hive. It is one of the most powerful antibiotics found in nature. It is rich in amino acids and trace elements, has a high vitamin content, including at least 38 valuable bioflavanoids. Because of the high levels of bioflavanoids in propolis, the product has a high antioxidant value. A large number of studies have shown propolis to be highly antimicrobial. It is found to have an inhibitory affect on at least 21 species of bacteria, 9 species of fungi, 3 species of protozoa (including Giardia), and a wide range of viruses.
It is believed that Hippocrates, the father of medicine, prescribed the use of propolis to help heal sores and ulcers both internally and externally. The ancient writings of Aristotle and Pliny describe the healing properties of propolis for suppurating wounds, abscesses, and boils. During the Boer War (1899-1902), it was used along with honey to treat the soldier’s wounds. Now it appears that propolis might help in another battle: the one against prostate cancer.
Propolis contains a substance called caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE). In the new research CAPE was found to slow the proliferation of cultured cells isolated from human prostate tumours. This was true even at the low concentrations that would be equivalent to taking CAPE orally.
In mice, six weeks of treatment with CAPE slowed prostate tumour growth rate by half. It was also found that stopping CAPE treatment led to the tumours growing again.
Analysis of the activity of proteins in the tumour cells showed that CAPE was shutting down the cell’s ability to detect sources of nutrition so they stop proliferating. So while CAPE does not kill off the cancer, it does stop it growing and will do so indefinitely.
It seems that yet again bees have provided humanity with a useful food or medicine. Honey, we should all bee grateful.
