Report: Setting new standards for honey bee nutrition in Australian bee stock
Explore honey bee nutrition research that shows why artificial pollen diets cannot replace natural pollen and how to improve colony health.
HONEY BEE & POLLINATION
Value-adding to honey
71 pages
Published: 7 May 2014
Publication Code: 13-123
Author(s): Dawes , Dr Joan, Dall, Dr David
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This report has been revised in September 2016.
This RIRDC project examined three potential attributes of Australian eucalypt honeys: Glycaemic Index, prebiotic properties and therapeutic activity. Australian honey packers and beekeepers could benefit directly by using some of the results of the project to derive optimal returns for honey in an increasingly competitive market.
The most valuable finding from this project is that Australian eucalypt honey is a prebiotic food, stimulating the growth of gut bacteria that contribute to human health and reducing the growth of deleterious gut bacteria.
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