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Apis Cerana
Apis Anderinformis (Left), Apis Cerana (Right)
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The Anti-Microbial property of Trigona Honey is almost equivalent to UMF 25+
When comparing the antibacterial activity of Trigona honey to Manuka, the Trigoana honey 's potency is equivalent to almost a Manuka honey UMF 25+ (the larger the number the more potent the antibacterial activity) . Trigona bees keep honey in storage pots built of cerumen - which is a made of wax secreted from the glands on the abdomen of worker bees, combined with propolis which is derived from resins collected from plants. The Anti-Microbial property of this honey is inherited through the infiltration of the propolis content within the cerumen. On the other hand, Apinae honeybees keep the collected honey in hexagon combs, which are built purely of wax alone. Propolis is mainly used to seal the extra space between the nest and cavity; as a result the Anti-Microbial property of the Apinae honey is relatively lesser than the Trigona Honey due to the storage material. In a 2007 research study conducted by Japanese scientist lead by the Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, using the same methodology for measuring UMF – found that the anti-bacterial activity of stingless honeybees is powerful even when compared to manuka honey. Below are two tables from the scientific papers to show how effective the antimicrobial activity level of Trigona honey is against various strains of bacterial strains (the larger the number the more potent the antimicrobial activity. |
Unlike the commonly farmed European honey bees (Apis Mellifera), Trigona bees have a high tolerance to pest and diseases because of their smaller in size and extensive use of propolis, which serves as germicidal and pest repellant.
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