Honey is more effective in treating difficult-to-heal wounds than antibiotics, says Jennifer Eddy, a professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Even methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, the so-called flesh eating bacterium is no match for the antibiotic compounds the bees manufacture for us - for free.
Meanwhile, antibiotics are losing much of their appeal as many common bacteria develop resistance. Chickens are fed grains mixed with antibiotics, calves and pigs are routinely injected as a "precaution". Pharmaceutical companies are pushing antibiotics as the solution to all health problems in animal husbandry. We eat the residues of these antibiotics in many of our foods, and of course bacteria, being exposed to the drugs at every turn, find ways to resist their deadly properties.
That resistance is getting more and more problematic as hospitals become a breeding ground for infections.
Honey could also save limbs that might otherwise need to be amputated, as our standard medical treatments fail.
