# Anyone Familiar with Manuka Honey ?



## Doc5000 (Jul 3, 2009)

Here is what The Internet had to say about Manuka honey. "Manuka honey is from bees who feed on the flowers of the Manuka bush, also known as the "Tea Tree" to produce a honey that has anti-bacterial properties." I am glad I noticed that huge field of Manuka bushes near my house. Now I can finally break even on my beekeeping expenses.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Rick,
Sell your son's boss on the benefits of locally produced honey. Making sure he buys your honey and making sure that he pays a premium for it. Then let me know how much honey you need and i will supply you w/ it. after all, you remember that I am from MD originally, so any honey I produce is local to Temple Hills/Oxon Hill and Accokeek. Places I have lived and where my sister still lives.


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## Rick 1456 (Jun 22, 2010)

Mark,
It's funny you suggest that because in my sons and my conversations,,,Local,,,raw,,,organic,, are huge buzzwords in his industry and not specific to honey.(obviously) Seems to me,,we,,as in american beeks ,,produce the same honey just different sources. Jeez, if I could get half what they are selling there's for,,,I'd be happy. I will make the suggestion to my son. Seems all could benefit.

Rick


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## alpha6 (May 12, 2008)

Manuka Honey is higher in anti-bacterial properties then other honeys and has been the child of outstanding marketing by their producers. The Manuka honey you buy in the store here is unfortunately of a lesser grade then the Manuka honey that carries those higher anti-bacterial properties as these are sold as medical grade to pharmaceuticals which use them in bandages, for treatment of burns and as the only treatment for bacterial resistant infections.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Do those properties carry through the cooking process? It seems like a waste to uyse this sort of honey for cooking. But, maybe it isn't being cooked? How is it being used Rick?


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## Swobee (May 18, 2007)

As Squeak Creek said - sell the benefits of local honey. My younger daughter spent last summer (winter down under) in New Zealand. She brought me some Manuka honey from NZ. I remember her words well 'Dad... this stuff tastes like crap. What is the big deal with Manuka honey? Yours is far better than this stuff. Everywhere you go in NZ there are shops with huge banners selling Manuka honey'. 

Manuka is the "medicinal" honey that has been truly marketed very well. Once they cook with local tasty honey, they will wonder the same thing my daughter did. Not to downplay it's antimicrobial and other fine qualities, Manuka does taste poorly in my opinion to our locally produced varieties.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

But, isn't medicine supposed to taste bad?


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## southeastflorida (May 23, 2010)

*"Local,,,raw,,,organic,, are huge buzzwords in his industry and not specific to honey"* 

true


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## indypartridge (Nov 18, 2004)

Oldtimer said:


> Funny thing with Manuka honey, it really doesn't taste that nice,


I've tasted quite a few honeys and liked most of them. However, my son gave me some New Zealand Manuka honey for a Christmas gift last year and I really disliked the taste. I'll use it on a cut or a burn, but not for eating.


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## Swobee (May 18, 2007)

sqkcrk said:


> But, isn't medicine supposed to taste bad?


I have had a couple of mead batches that should be on the shelf next to Listerine®! I suppose Manuka honey is just another tale of a successful marketing campaign. Wonder if I can get Manuka to grow in Kansas? 

We have a lot of another plant that starts with 'M' growing wild in road ditches, creek bottoms, etc. Maybe I should label some of our wildflower honey as "Pot in a Honey Pot" and see if the '60 s crowd lines up at my farmer's market booth. Then we can watch them hit the Mennonite ladies' baked goods booth like a Marine assault landing 

Where is George Carlin when we need him? Oh, yeah... gone, but he'd be my spokesperson.


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## Rick 1456 (Jun 22, 2010)

I think my son is off this weekend so I'll probably see him. I'll show him the posts and see what he thinks. He is a pretty good recipe writer so maybe he can come up a "local" dish using our honey that cures something,,,just hasn't been enough research yet.
Who has a son or daughter that is in advertising and promotion ? 
I'm thinkin some clever catchy name that you can spin all the healthy healing, antimicrobial, allergy reducing, and ,,,oh yea,,,,I forgot,,if your [email protected]#$% lasts more than four hours,,,,,go to the emergency room
SAVE THE BEES, EAT HONEY,,,, HONEY HAPPENS,,, AN OUNCE OF HONEY IS WORTH A POUND OF SUGAR,,,,,,SOME HONEY IN TIME SAVES ??
I had some good laughs at some of the comments:applause: thanks

Rick SoMd


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## crazytranes (Apr 7, 2009)

Oldtimer said:


> Now here's the thing with human nature, Manuka honey now sells like hot cakes, but mostly to people who eat it, rather than use it as a wound dressing. Because, it's seen as a health food. But, unless the person has something wrong that needs an antibiotic, there is probably no benefit for them!!


:doh: This is terrible news it all the claims are true. Why? Because bacteria are in the continual arms race of adaptation. If people keep exposing bacteria to this new antibiotic, then only the strong will survive, and over time, the bacteria will build up a resistance to this antibiotic as well.

Last Christmas I was given a bottle of Manuka body wash. It smelled nice, but I don't see why I need to wash myself down with an antibiotic. :scratch:


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## StevenG (Mar 27, 2009)

Did you note the information that Manuka honey has more of honey's natural anti-bacterial qualities? Remember, ALL honey has anti-bacterial properties.
Regards,
Steven


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## Rick 1456 (Jun 22, 2010)

Old timer,,,,,,
That is even more interesting,,,,,,yeast is not a bacteria,,,,,,,,I think depending on who you talk to,,,it is either a plant,,,an animal,,,or both:scratch:
With that in mind,,,why would Manuka prevent fermentation?? That is a real curiosity. Geez,,,if it kills yeast, that might not be a good thing to be eating

Rick soMd


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## Rick 1456 (Jun 22, 2010)

Well, forgive me if I belabor the point,,,,antiviral??? I'm guessing it is coincidental that a plant has those properties but then again, plants do have their own viruses,,, mozaic and the like. Kinda have to wonder the connection though but hey,,look at the penicillin story.:scratch: I guess what I,,,and others,,,want to know is,,what is the uniqueness, the ingredient if you will,, that is in the Tea tree that gives the Manuka honey these special characteristics. I mean,,,has that even been answered?? Bees do what they do so it isn't in the bees. I don't mean to make this sound like a challenge or anything but this is fascinating. 

Rick


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## MARBIS (Jun 10, 2010)

StevenG said:


> Did you note the information that Manuka honey has more of honey's natural anti-bacterial qualities? Remember, ALL honey has anti-bacterial properties.
> Regards,
> Steven


I was only15 years old when diagnosed with duodenal ulcer. Got some chalky medications that tasted awfull, and didn't help.
Every change of seasons, or after eating smoked meat (my favourite) ,or after only one beer or glass of wine,I would be in pain, sweating on the street in the middle of the winter, nothing pleasant believe me.
When I was 20 I met a beekeeper (my friend's uncle) who told me that he can cure my ulcer with honey, only requirement is to eat 1/2 kg of honey every day for seven days.
He gave me free of charge a 5 kg bucket of his honey, that I ate in 5 days. It was mountain wild flower honey.
30 years passed I'm 50 now, I eat spicy food, I smoke, drink scotch, beer, you name it, never felt any pain, seasons are changing, in the middle of our winter I go to my brother's in Florida, in one day I go from -15C to +25 C
No problem at all.
When I was 30 I read that some German doctors discovered that ulcers are basically caused by bacteria. See? ALL HONEY HAS ANTI-BACTERIAL PROPERTIES>


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## MARBIS (Jun 10, 2010)

University of Waikato, NZ started those claims of Manuka Honey being superior to other honey. In 2006 this university signed a business deal with Comvita - producer of health products, based on this honey!!!
Conflict of interest?:no:
The only independent research on this honey came from England where they found that dressings of manuka honey would cut healing time of wounds to 100 days, comparing to regular dressings 140 days.
No doubt about qualities of this honey(like any other natural honey), but to me it looks more like marketing job well done:applause:


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## Rick 1456 (Jun 22, 2010)

Well,,,the question now is,,,does all natural raw honey have METHYLGLYOXAL in it :scratch: Guess I'll do some Googling to see what I can find.

Rick


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## MARBIS (Jun 10, 2010)

Oldtimer said:


> hmmm.... there has been a bit more research than that, QUITE a bit....


Research and independent research are 2 completelly diferent terms.
No intention to offend anybody, but somehow I don't trust doctors who prescribe drugs made by companies who pay for their golfing retreatsinch:
The fact that manuka honey has much higher levels of MGO stays, as well as UMF goes with only NZ manuka from certain areas. Regards


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## MARBIS (Jun 10, 2010)

Oldtimer said:


> I'm also thinking that just the shear quantity you had to eat might have been powerful enough so that any normal honey would have done the job. Who knows?


Probably, 20 years ago I went trough an extensive medical, that included X ray of my stomach, and doc said:You have a scar on your bulbus niche, like you had an ulcer, so I told him about old beekeeper and his treatment, and his words were something like, only God knows what else could be cured with honey... Yep


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## Rick 1456 (Jun 22, 2010)

O.K. guys and gals,,,,after much time spent on Google,,,I'm further confused:scratch: But, here is what I have "observed". Having said that, I welcome any corrections to my regurgitation ((eeewwww) of the information,,,trust me,,it is confusing.
The active,,,advertised ingredient Glycovigloccol (sp) is indeed the agent in Manuka honey. However,,,this is not found in the nectar of the "Tea Tree" the manuka honey is derived from. Go figure. What is found is dihydroxyacetone, (cut and paste is so awsome) that when warmed,(an ambiguous term) changes to the METHYLGLYOXAL. Is it present in all honey,,,no,,,,is it present in all honey from Tea trees,,no. Obviously it is present in some and to a more less degree in others and none in some. Some considerations are purity, due to size of forage, short bloom time and mix with other forage,,add infinitum. The METHYLGLYOXAL shows up in different concentrations based upon the above. As posted before, there is a UMF, unique manuca factor, used to rate this honey. Well, this test is subject to huge controversy. It seems, they take the honey,,,swab it across a petri dish with the appropriate bacteria,,,,if it stops the bacteria on the swab site,,it is UMF:scratch: WOW!! One could suggest most any honrey would do that..IMO Now,,there is some reaserch and testing that takes it to a different level. They actually rate the METHYLGLYOXAL amount in a sample. This is the "medical" grade. Seems pretty above board. As posted previously,,,,the food proffessor that has a contract with the UMF people stated that this METHYLGLYOXAL was only found world wide,,,,in Manuka honey. Well,,, that was challenged and proven wrong,,,so take the rest with a grain of salt.IMO. So,,,if your head is not spinning yet,,,stand by,,,they added dihydroxyacetone to clover honey,,,warmed it,,,,and they found the same levels of METHYLGLYOXAL as Manuka honey. What the [email protected]#.
There were some questions as to races of bees being able to deal with the dihydroxyacetone for the conversion.. Way outa my league. 
So now,,,,,,,here is the question,,,If the METHYGLYOXAL is not in the nectar of the Tea Tree in question,,,and the ,, dihydroxyacetone is the source of the METHYGLYOXAL,,, is that unique to the tea tree???? some indications are that the dihydroxyacetone is present in different honey sources... where does it come from???? There's other interesting spins on all this,,, but my fingers are beat
Good luck
Rick


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## simflier (Mar 5, 2011)

Manuka honey is a kind of honey claimed to have anti-bacterial properties. It has been known to benefit humans by healing wounds and injuries but causes no damage to cells. It is made by bees in New Zealand that frequent the manuka bush, Leptospermum scoparium. the producer of manuka honey originated in New Zealand and Australia.


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## msapostol (Sep 6, 2008)

MARBIS said:


> I was only15 years old when diagnosed with duodenal ulcer. Got some chalky medications that tasted awfull, and didn't help.


Yes, I've also heard that Manuka honey helps with h. pylori the bacteria that cause ulcers. Wish I knew that when my dad was in the hospital with an ulcer.

I personally wouldn't cook with Manuka honey considering the cost.


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