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I love Bees, it makes my heart sing to hear them on the land and at the moment the air is full of their buzzing as they are busy feeding off the orange blossom that has begun to come out. Before that they were enjoying the almond blossom, from the many almond trees on my land. I feel so grateful to live here, where there are many fruit and nut trees, getting to witness this beautiful collaborative relationship.

A third of all the food we eat would not exist without bees.They are responsible for pollinating so much of our fruit, vegetables and nuts. They also pollinate plants that are important for clothing and building materials , as well as plants that we use for medicine.

From the delicious berries that we eat, to the cotton and flax (which is used to make linen) that we wear, we are hugely dependant on bees for our survival. They help to pollinate broad leaf trees that are an important source of timber. And then there are the amount of medicinal plants such as poppies which morphine is made from, and Periwinkle which is used in a lot of Cancer treatment.

There are the ones used in modern medicine, so what about the medicinal plants that we can grow and utilize ourselves. The many plants that grow wild around us and help us to heal. So many of them rely on the bees and the bees rely on them.I wrote a post recently about my medicine cabinet and most of the plants that I wrote about are pollinated by the bees.

Here are some of the other amazing medicinal plants that are vital to my well being and are pollinated by bees.
Thyme
I have had a cold recently and I have been making a thyme and lemon infusion to help clear it up.
Oregano:
Oregano is one of the strongest natural antibiotics and I have used it successfully in the past to treat tooth infections and to boost my immune systems.
Chamomile:
I drink chamomile tea regularly, to help me relax. I also use the infusion to treat eye infections for both me and my daughters.
Echinacea:
Echinacea is used to stimulant our immune systems and I generally use it in the winter time if I suffer with a cold or flu, or if I have been poorly and need a boost.
Borage:
I love the beautiful blue flowers of the Borage plant and I like to add them to my salad's or make infusions with them, whilst always make sure to leave a lot for the bees. Borage is great for our cardiovascular system and also for giving you strength and courage.
Elderberry:
Elderberries come from the Elder tree, and they are full of goodness, another wonderful immune booster. I like to take elderberry syrup during the winter time.
Lavender:
As well as smelling beautiful, lavender is a wonderful herb to help you relax. I like to make lavender infused oil, which I use to treat insects bites that me and my girls get during the summer time.

I use and rely on all of these plants to treat me and my girls and I am forever grateful to the bees for pollinating them and making sure that I continue to have them. I am a vegan and as a vegan I do not eat any animal products. So I do not eat honey, I understand that it has many medicinal values, but so too do the many plants that it helps to pollinate.

I have very strong feelings about how bees are being used and manipulated so that people can steal their honey. It always upsets me to hear some people calm that they make honey when in actual fact they are starling it. I do know that their are some conscious bee keepers and that they have no desire to steal from the bees. But I feel better for leaving the honey to the bees.

I remember watching 'More Than Honey', an amazing insightful documentary about Bees and the people who keep them, from the huge corporate businesses, to the independent bee keeper. The beginning of that documentary started with the sound of bees buzzing, a sound that I love, but after a minute a man walks into the frame and says

That's the sound of money

That made me so upset and I was so close to switching it off, I am so glad I didn't. It does go into the dark side of bee keeping, how hives are being constantly manipulated in order to make Queen bee's which are then being posted around the world. How some bees are being driven right across America in trucks so that they can pollinate apple and pear trees. These bees are suffering terribly. Then to china where there are no longer enough bees to pollinate the fruit tree's, so instead they are being pollinated by hand. This scene also really upset me and fuelled even more, my desire to leave honey and all their wonderful products to the bees.

But as I stated earlier, it also looks into more conscious bee keepers from around the world and the relationship they have with the bees. I have a certain amount of respect for those who have the bees best interests at heart, but for me I feel better just leaving them with their own products, for I believe they are not mine to take.

This is my entry into the NaturalMedicine Bee Challenge

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