Live data from Hacker News

Bee Bread

nordicfoodlab.org

21–30 of 95 posts

Re: Bee Bread

#21
post #20

For my seasonal pollen allergies here's what I do. a) Take a spoonful of dried bee bread b) Take 2 spoonful of local honey c) Add 100ml warm water d) Stir it until the bee-bread dissolves e) Drink it. (Starts acting in 10 minutes) Anyone know why it works?

Placebo effect

Re: Bee Bread

#22
Bee Bread is awesome and much more nutritious and digestible than flower pollen (mistakenly called bee pollen) which the bees ferment in their hive to make bee bread. The problem I've found is that anything coming from Lithuania or Latvia (a lot on ebay), could be radioactive from Chernobyl, as radioactivity concentrates in pollen. That's my assessment of it anyway, so I won't risk it. Also, there was another accident in Lithuania in 2010.

I'd prefer that Bee Bread became more mainstream so that it could be bought from local producers who'd respond to that demand. Bee bread from the Altai mountains in Siberia is double the price of the eastern European BB.

Ideally, BB from New Zealand would be best, but I couldn't find it. Eg Manuka.

Re: Bee Bread

#23
post #21
post #20

For my seasonal pollen allergies here's what I do. a) Take a spoonful of dried bee bread b) Take 2 spoonful of local honey c) Add 100ml warm water d) Stir it until the bee-bread dissolves e) Drink it. (Starts acting in 10 minutes) Anyone know why it works?

Placebo effect

It could also be something like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allergen_immunotherapy#Oral

Re: Bee Bread

#24

Bee Bread is awesome and much more nutritious and digestible than flower pollen (mistakenly called bee pollen) which the bees ferment in their hive to make bee bread. The problem I've found is that anything coming from Lithuania or Latvia (a lot on ebay), could be radioactive from Chernobyl, as radioactivity concentrates in pollen. That's my assessment of it anyway, so I won't risk it. Also, there was another acciden…

BB can be found on supermarket shelves and organic food shops all over CH. one can also order online for e.g. www.swiss-pollen.ch

Re: Bee Bread

#26
post #20

For my seasonal pollen allergies here's what I do. a) Take a spoonful of dried bee bread b) Take 2 spoonful of local honey c) Add 100ml warm water d) Stir it until the bee-bread dissolves e) Drink it. (Starts acting in 10 minutes) Anyone know why it works?

How often do you do this, and how long do the effects last? Do your allergies stop bothering you entirely? I am plagued by hayfever in the warm season and my only option seems to be to munch antihistamines each morning, or twice a day sometimes.

Re: Bee Bread

#27
That was a fascinating read! Who would have guessed that bees intentionally ferment food sources. I wonder if there is anything humans can learn from bee fermentation process. So cool, thanks for sharing!

Re: Bee Bread

#28
post #21
post #20

For my seasonal pollen allergies here's what I do. a) Take a spoonful of dried bee bread b) Take 2 spoonful of local honey c) Add 100ml warm water d) Stir it until the bee-bread dissolves e) Drink it. (Starts acting in 10 minutes) Anyone know why it works?

Placebo effect

Placebo effect can be nice to have as long as you're not doing anything dangerous to get it.

Re: Bee Bread

#29
Are there any negative effects to harvesting this bee bread?

> But the bees do not consume their pollen fresh. Instead, they take it into the hive and pack the granules into empty comb cells, mixing them with nectar and digestive fluids and sealing the cell with a drop of honey. Once processed in this way, the pollen remains stable indefinitely. Beekeepers call this form of pollen ‘perga’ or ‘bee bread’.

This implies it's their food.

Given the recent concerns with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder, is this unusual delicacy worth the potential environmental damages? (I don't mean that rhetorically; It's an actual question.)

Re: Bee Bread

#30

Are there any negative effects to harvesting this bee bread? > But the bees do not consume their pollen fresh. Instead, they take it into the hive and pack the granules into empty comb cells, mixing them with nectar and digestive fluids and sealing the cell with a drop of honey. Once processed in this way, the pollen remains stable indefinitely. Beekeepers call this form of pollen ‘perga’ or ‘bee bread’. This implies…

What does this have to do with colony collapse disorder? AFAIK, we don't really understand colony collapse disorder, but I think it's safe to say it doesn't have anything to do with humans taking the bees' food.

In fact, the very first sentence of the Wikipedia articles says "Colony collapse disorder is the phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a colony disappear and leave behind ... plenty of food..."

Post reply on HN