Autumn is all about cosying up in scarves and jumpers, walks in the crisp autumnal air, and making sure we are taking good care of our seasonal health. That’s why, this October, we are celebrating the humble honeybee and the unique substances they produce which are packed with nutritional value and benefits that can not only be enjoyed by bees, but by us too.

Bees can be found on every continent except Antarctica and there are around 20,000 known species. Bees have a very intentional job: to pollinate trees and shrubs. Pollination leads to the reproduction of crops that produce fruit and seeds, and this means plenty of trees and flowers for food, oxygen and nutrients, and balance for our ecosystem.

Bees also make their own unique substances which help to feed their colony. These substances found within the hive are packed with nutritional value, and the benefits can be enjoyed by us as well as the bees. There are four notable substances found within the hive: honey (winter fuel), propolis (building glue), royal jelly (nutrient-rich food for the queen) and pollen (an enzyme packed with daily nutrition). The benefits of these substances have been revered for centuries and even the ancient Egyptians used honey and propolis for medicines and healing techniques.

Honey

Honey is one of mankind’s oldest food sources, providing natural energy and goodness to bees and humans alike. This golden elixir is made from the nectar retrieved by bees from flowers, which is why there are so many different types of honey available – the flavour, colour and consistency depends upon the type of flower the nectar has been retrieved from. The darker the shade, the richer it is believed to be in bioactive plant compounds (that’s a good thing). If you regularly find yourself reaching for refined sugar, you should definitely consider replacing it with a bottle of Forever Bee Honey.

Forever Bee Honey remains one of our most popular products thanks to a pure taste. This all-natural, delicious sweetener is naturally nutritious and perfect for replacing processed sugar in your diet.

Did you know?

Bees are super productive: Honeybees produce three to four times MORE honey than is needed to feed the hive for the winter. As nature’s little bonus, we can collect honey without harming the colonies.

Propolis

Propolis is perhaps the lesser known of the bee substances, but one that’s essential to the safety and wellbeing of the colony. This sticky compound is essentially sap combined with beeswax and other residues, used by bees to disinfect and protect their hives from pathogens. It’s naturally antiseptic, antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral and antimicrobial so bees can carry on with their lives without worrying about interfering external factors!

Forever Bee Propolis is a chewable tablet that’s easily digestible and absorbed. We have been producing propolis supplements for decades and we’re one of the oldest manufacturers on the market, proud to offer superior quality and purity you can trust.

Did you know?

The word ‘propolis’ originates from ancient Greek and can be interpreted as ‘defence of the city’.

Royal Jelly

Natural royal jelly is an extremely nutritious and biochemically complex honeybee secretion. All baby bees (larvae) are fed royal jelly during the first few days of their life but when they are old enough to be identified as a worker (female bees) or drone (male bees), they will cease eating the precious substance. Larvae that has been identified as a potential queen bee will be encased in a special ‘queen cup’ where it will spend its days floating in, and consuming royal jelly. Once an adult, the chosen queen bee will live exclusively on royal jelly as the food is believed to help with ovary development so that she can lay countless eggs.

There is normally only one queen per colony, and she’ll grow to become the largest bee in the hive. She has the ability to use her stinger multiple times and will out-live all the other bees by several years. Her job is to lay thousands of eggs daily, and all other bees in the hive will do everything they can to protect her.

Royal Jelly is a rich, milky substance which consists of proteins, simple sugars, fatty acids and trace elements vitamin B5 and B6. The royal jelly used to create Forever Royal Jelly supplements is collected using a meticulous method that’s been perfected over decades. To collect royal jelly, Forever creates imitation ‘queen cups’ in a small colony of young bees; these bees will then instinctively fill the cups with royal jelly. The process requires close attention and precise timekeeping, and on average it will take around a thousand three-day-old filled cups to create just 1lb of royal jelly.

Did you know?

Not only does the queen lay up to 2,500 eggs a day, she also produces chemicals that guide the behaviour of her royal subjects.

Pollen

Whilst the queen munches through her royal jelly, worker and drone bees snack on fermented pollen. As they fly from blossom-to-blossom, bees pollinate plants and fuel our ecosystem. Bees use the pollen they gather to create their food. Bee pollen is a great natural source of nutrients, including: proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. This nutritionally-rich substance provides bees with everything that they need to survive, and keeps the entire hive nourished, productive and strong.

The pollen used by Forever is sourced using a patented pollen trap that does not destroy the colony. This pollen has then been combined with honey and royal jelly to create Forever Bee Pollen, a fresh and potent supplement.

Did you know?

Pollen provides these busy bees with everything they need to survive, which is why you may have heard it referred to as ‘ambrosia’ (the name given to the food of gods in Greek mythology).

Fears of a diminishing honeybee population is a very real concern, and in 2017 and 2018 several species of bee were added to the endangered list. This is particularly worrying since the existence of bees directly correlates to the survival of our world! That’s why Forever only extracts the nutrients within the hive using colony-friendly methods that allow the bees to thrive.