Bees were making honey long before humans arrived, and it didn't take us long to work out that it was both good food and useful medicine. The term "medicinal honey" gets used loosely, though, and it's worth understanding what it actually means and what the evidence does and doesn't support.
A Long History
In writings as old as 2000 BC there are references to honey used on wounds, for eye and ear ailments, and to aid recovery after surgery. Ancient Egyptians used it for wounds, sores, abscesses and skin conditions. Traditional Chinese medicine used it extensively.
Honey appears as a medicine in almost every culture on the planet. It was only as modern medicine developed that honey was reclassified in most people's minds as simply a food, though plenty of people carried on using it for coughs and minor wounds. Today research is looking at it again with more rigour.
What Makes Honey Antibacterial
Most honey gets its antibacterial activity from two things.
Acidity. Honey sits at around pH 3.5, which is inhospitable to most bacteria.
Hydrogen peroxide. An enzyme called glucose oxidase breaks down to generate hydrogen peroxide, which has antibacterial properties. But not all honeys produce it equally, and hydrogen peroxide degrades with light, heat and the body's own enzymes, so this activity is not stable.
Non-Peroxide Activity
Certain honeys, including Manuka and Trigona or Melipona stingless bee honey, have what's termed non-peroxide activity: antibacterial properties that don't break down with heat or in the body. This is the more interesting and more durable form of activity, and it's what distinguishes these honeys from supermarket honey.
It was Manuka distributors who coined the term "medical grade honey" and established standards a honey must meet before it can be labelled as such. Genuine medical-grade honey used in clinical wound care is sterilised and produced under controlled conditions. That is a different product from table honey, however good.
What Changes a Honey's Properties
The medicinal properties of any honey vary considerably depending on whether the bees had access to plants free of agricultural chemicals, which flowers they pollinated, the health of the colony, and how the honey was harvested and processed.
Manuka is rated by the Unique Manuka Factor (UMF), which must score 10 or above to be considered actively antibacterial. Only honey tested by the UMF Honey Association can carry verified certification.
Manuka and Trigona Compared
Manuka comes from bees feeding almost exclusively on the Manuka tree in remote parts of New Zealand. It's named for the plant.
Trigona honey is named for the bee rather than a plant. Produced by stingless bees, in our case Tetragonula biroi in the Philippines, it has substantially lower sugar content than Manuka and strong antibacterial activity. Because stingless bees store honey in cerumen pots made of wax and propolis rather than pure wax combs, propolis compounds infuse into the honey as it matures.
Trigona honey is far rarer than Manuka. A stingless bee hive produces around 500g a year, against roughly 30kg for an Apis mellifera hive.
Our own honey has been independently laboratory tested. You can read the full results and underlying research here.
Three Properties That Do the Work
Hygroscopic. Honey draws moisture from the air. In wound care this helps maintain a moist environment, which supports healing and makes dressing changes easier since bandages are less likely to stick. The same property is why honey is used on dry skin and hair.
Antibacterial. Honey can inhibit bacterial growth in wounds and burns. With antibiotic resistance a growing concern, this has drawn renewed research attention.
Antioxidant. Honey contains phenolic compounds and flavonoids that neutralise free radicals. Antioxidants are a genuine and measurable property of honey. What they do for long-term health outcomes in people is a much less settled question than is often claimed.
What the Evidence Actually Supports
Honey is widely credited with a very long list of health benefits. Most of that list is traditional use or preliminary research rather than established fact. Here is a more honest summary.
Reasonably well supported:
- Coughs and sore throats. Studies have found honey performs comparably to, and in some trials better than, over-the-counter cough preparations in children over one year old. This is the best-evidenced use of honey.
- Minor wound care. Honey's moisture retention and antibacterial activity support healing in minor wounds and burns. Clinical wound care uses sterilised medical-grade honey rather than table honey.
Some evidence, not conclusive:
- Digestive comfort and gut bacteria, where honey contains prebiotic compounds
- Skin conditions applied topically, where results vary considerably
Traditional use, not established by clinical evidence:
Ayurvedic and other traditional systems have used honey for stress, sleep, vision, oral health, ulcers, blood pressure, jaundice, arthritis and much else. These are longstanding traditions with cultural value, and they are not the same thing as clinical evidence. We mention them as history rather than as claims.
A note on sugar. Honey is a sugar. Trigona honey is unusual in containing significantly less sugar than most honeys, and its trehalulose content gives it a lower glycaemic impact than table sugar. That makes it a more considered choice as a sweetener. It does not make it a treatment for any metabolic condition, and anyone managing diabetes should speak to their doctor before changing their diet.
Choosing a Honey
Raw versus processed. Raw or unfiltered honey retains antioxidants, bee pollen, enzymes, and in the case of stingless bee honey, infused propolis. Processing with heat degrades many of these. Processed honey is also more likely to have been adulterated with added fructose or corn syrup.
Rating systems. There is no universal rating system for honey. UMF applies only to Manuka verified by the UMF Honey Association. Other producers use their own measures, so compare methodology rather than just numbers.
Authenticity. Honey is among the most commonly adulterated foods in the world. Buy from producers who can tell you the species, origin and testing behind what they sell.
Storing Honey
Keep it in its original container, tightly sealed, in a cupboard away from light, which degrades the compounds responsible for its activity. Aim for a stable temperature around 10 to 15°C, avoiding places where temperature swings.
Stingless bee honey has higher moisture content than regular honey and can ferment, so refrigeration is often recommended.
Safety
Never give honey of any kind to infants under 12 months, due to the risk of infant botulism. This applies to raw and processed honey equally.
Allergies: raw honey naturally contains pollen. Anyone with a bee product or pollen allergy should be cautious and start with a small amount.
Serious wounds, burns and infections need professional medical care. Honey is not a substitute for treatment.
If you are pregnant, nursing, managing a chronic condition, or undergoing any medical treatment, speak to your doctor before using honey therapeutically.
In Short
Honey has real, measurable antibacterial and antioxidant properties, and a genuine evidence base for coughs and minor wound care. Beyond that, much of what circulates about honey is traditional use rather than clinical fact, and it's worth holding those two things apart.
What makes Trigona honey interesting isn't a list of conditions it claims to cure. It's the unusual composition: low sugar, high trehalulose, propolis infused through the cerumen pot storage, and independently tested antibacterial activity.
Explore the Immunity Care range, including Raw Trigona Honey (Active 25+).
This article is general information, not medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider regarding health concerns or before beginning any new health regimen.