Apitherapy
The use of hive products — honey, propolis, pollen, royal jelly, venom — for health purposes.
Definition
A long-standing traditional practice with a narrow evidence base. Honey has reasonable evidence for symptomatic cough relief in children and medical-grade honey has a genuine role in supervised wound care. Claims for propolis, royal jelly, bee pollen and bee venom therapy are substantially less well supported, and several carry documented allergy risks.
Where the word gets used loosely
Apitherapy is frequently presented as a single evidence-backed discipline. The evidence differs enormously between products and indications, and treating them as one body of support is the commonest error in the field.
See also
Other honey terms
Sources
Sources
- Honey for acute cough in children (Cochrane systematic review) — Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · Systematic review
- Cough (acute): antimicrobial prescribing (NG120) — National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2019) · Clinical guidance Link
- Guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children — World Health Organization (2015) · Clinical guidance
How sources are selected and weighted is set out in the sources and evidence policy.