What is CAPE ?
The Many Ways Bee Propolis Can Fight Many Cancers
Bee propolis and its marked anti-cancer effects, let alone vast array of other incredible health benefits, is the latest example I’ve found of a product of "God’s creation" providing scientifically backed astounding results that you’ve probably never heard about mainly because it wouldn’t serve the medical industrial complex if you had. Indeed, at the time of this writing, PubMed has a whopping 2,227 studies on propolis itself and 299 studies on propolis and cancer. The smaller DOAJ has 598 and 36, respectively. And just to spell out what this high number of studies performed means, the stuff works. If there had been nine studies performed showing propolis had little to no effect on the ailment being studied, the tenth guy would have moved onto something with better promise. But that’s clearly not the case here. Scientists keep on getting positive results, thousands of them now, so they keep on performing studies from different angles. At the end, they’ll usually mention something along the lines of “these results are so good, work is underway to try and synthesize this substance to turn it into a drug.” If they eventually come out with a sorry excuse for the real thing, THEN you’ll hear about it all over TV… You just won’t hear the word propolis itself used.
Wait, What is Bee Propolis Again?
So what is bee propolis? Great question! I didn’t know either until a few weeks ago. By now we’ve all heard that (raw, organic, local) honey has a host of health benefits outside of tasting delicious. Turns out the little guys actually make a few substances highly beneficial to human health in going about their daily business (yet another reason Monsanto and their kind need to be stopped from killing the rest of them!). Propolis is made when bees collect resin from conifer (cone producing) trees and plants to bring back to the hive. [xxii] The resin is blended with pollen and wax flakes and the mixture is basically used for construction material. It’s good for everything from patching holes to sealing cracks and even building new panels. In addition, due to its antiseptic properties, bees will coat the entire hive with propolis to serve as a barrier from invaders, killing pathogens and embalming predators, which explains why the word comes from a Greek term for “in defense of the city.” [xiii]
As noted on aloe arbrorescens in a previous article, propolis has been used for thousands of years by various cultures for various medicinal purposes, while modern day science is just starting to catch up. [xxii] Aside from its anti-cancer properties, which is the focus of this article, propolis and its various chemical compounds (mainly flavonoids and phenolic acids) have significant anti-microbial action, heal burns, prevent dental cavities and can even treat gingivitis, treat parasites, remove warts, AND even beat out a popular herpes drug in a study for treating symptoms!! [xiii] Not bad for something made by bees right?
Why are bees so underrated ?
whilst I continue my research into the benefits of protecting bees I find there is always this underlying stigma attached with the produce of bees that is reproached throughout all areas I have explored, from fashion to politics. We see the bee being seen as an almost backup for our own miscreations. We ignore all the benefits they bring to our lives and how much we can learn from them and seem to reach for the over complicated often damaging alternatives. How can I explore this visually? I have looked a
