Do They Make Cosmetics with Honey?

How Honey and Other Bee Products are Used in Cosmetics

Some cosmetic manufacturers have created products that use honey. In recent years, these companies have expanded to using other bee products in their offerings including royal jelly, bee pollen, and even bee venom. While many consumers are already buying raw Manuka honey that contains royal jelly and propolis, they will soon be able to purchase a number of beauty products that also contain these ingredients. Here is how manufacturers are starting to use cosmetics with honey.

Bee Pollen

When bees travel from one flower to the next, pollen accumulates on their legs. Bees will then transport this pollen back to their hives where it is mixed with bacteria, nectar, fungi, and enzymes, then it is packed into the cells of the hive. The result of this mixture becomes a protein sources of which the hive can thrive off. Humans can use bee pollen in a number of different ways, including medicine and dietary supplements. More recently, bee pollen is being utilized in beauty products for the number of benefits it provides.

Royal Jelly

Royal jelly is a substance that is secreted from the hypopharynx of worker bees and is fed to the larvae that could potentially become queen bees. Should the current queen bee decline in health or die, worker bees will build special bee hives for select larvae and pump them full of royal jelly. These actions trigger morphology that will consist of fully developed ovaries that the queen bee will need to lay eggs.

Bee Venom

Bee venom, whose technical name is apitoxin, is a colorless, bitter liquid that feature a combination of active proteins. This is the venom that worker bees carry in their abdomen and is then injected into humans or other invaders as a means of defense, causing the injection site to become inflamed. The primary substance in this venom is melittin, which consists of a number of peptides and is an anti-inflammatory.

Many expensive, high-end facial serums use honeybee venom as an ingredient. Bee venom has become quite a popular ingredient in cosmetic products, especially in the United Kingdom. It has been reported that Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, applied a bee venom mask before attending Prince William’s wedding and many UK cosmetic manufacturers have waiting lists of clients who are seeking their bee venom anti-again creams.

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