Manuka Doctor: Discover the Healing Properties of Manuka Honey

As busy as a bee.  You may have heard this popular expression describing someone who works a lot and is continuously busy.  

Bees certainly live up to this expression and are one of nature’s best pollinators and hardest workers.

For example, in order to make one pound of honey, a honey bee colony will need to tap into around two million flowers.  

This means that the bee colony will need to fly around 55,000 miles.  

During a good season, bees can produce as much as 60 pounds of honey, which is about 25 more pounds than they need to survive winter.

Talk about overachievers!

There are several great health benefits attributed to honey.  

For example, high-quality honey is known to be rich in antioxidants, can help lower blood pressure, improve cholesterol, and is known to promote burn and wound healing.

Manuka Honey, in particular, is known for its high quality and great health benefits.

So, what makes Manuka Honey so special?

Manuka Honey

Manuka honey is made from bees who collect nectar from the Manuka bush, a flowering plant native to southeast Australia and New Zealand.

The Manuka bush is known for its amazing healing properties and has been used for centuries by the New Zealand natives Maoris as a herbal medicine to treat conditions like fever and dandruff.  

Manuka honey has strong and unique antimicrobial properties.  

“It is believed that honey will soon make a comeback in the medical industry as antibiotics and traditional forms of medicine become less effective against more resilient mutated bacterial strains.  Unlike many pharmaceuticals, honey has been found to have no negative side effects when used for medical purposes.”

Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound found in all honey and provides antimicrobial properties.  

“Honey contains glucose and an enzyme added by honeybees called glucose oxidase. Under the right conditions, glucose oxidase has the ability to break down glucose into hydrogen peroxide.”

Unfortunately, the hydrogen peroxide in honey will eventually break down over time.  

Manuka honey, on the other hand, has a unique chemical compound methylglyoxal.  

Methylglyoxal (MGO) has strong antimicrobial properties and unlike hydrogen peroxide does not easily break down. 

The MGO in Manuka Honey is derived from dihydroxyacetone, which is naturally present in the nectar of the Manuka bush.

Manuka Doctor

Manuka Doctor is a privately-owned family company in New Zealand that uses Manuka Honey to make their unique skincare products.  

The company oversees 10,000 individual beehives on the North and South islands of New Zealand.  

With an average of around 60,000 bees in each hive, that adds up to a lot of bees!

It also requires a lot of land too!

One beehive needs at least four acres of flowering plants.  

The beehives are spread out over 11,000 hectares of land, which is almost all owned by the founder.  

Because the land is important and necessary for the bees, it is actively protected from pollutants and other human influences.

Manuka Doctor’s Bee Welfare

Two of the ingredients that Manuka Doctor’s skincare products use are the honey and venom of the bees.

An important question to ask is whether the Manuka bees are harmed during this process.

For example, is it bad to take honey from the hive?

As mentioned above, bees are nature’s overachievers and make more honey than they need to survive.  

The company creates beehives by stacking several boxes on top of each other.  As the brood creates honey, they move up through the boxes.  

The queen and the brood live near the bottom and only the top boxes are removed.

Manuka Doctor gathers bee venom using a glass pane with a light electrical current running through it. 

The current attracts the bees to sting the glass, which leaves venom on the surface.  

Since the pane is made of glass, the bees don’t lose their stinger and are not harmed.

Manuka Doctor’s beekeepers will spend days traveling around the country in rotation, checking up on the hives and broods.  

Over the course of one day, beekeepers can check up to around 150 hives!

Seems like the bees are not the only hard workers!

Manuka Doctor’s Products

Manuka Doctor offers various honey and skincare products.  

Their honey products contain various amounts of MGO.  

The MGO (bacteria-killing strength) grading system is from 40 - 525.  

Manuka Doctor is currently selling Manuka Honey with various levels of MGO.

They also sell skincare products that help with a variety of skin problems.  

Such as reducing blemishes, creating brighter, firmer, and younger-looking skin, reducing fine lines and wrinkles, reducing skin redness, and detoxifying the skin.

Why You Should Trust My Expertise:

First and foremost, my educational background and qualifications contribute to my credibility on the topics I cover. 

I hold a bachelor's and master's degree in environmental science and have spent years studying and researching to develop a deep understanding of sustainable products and brands.

This expertise allows me to provide accurate and well-informed content.

Furthermore, my professional experience in the environmental industry adds to my credibility. 

Where Can I Find Manuka Doctor’s Products?

Manuka Doctor creates a long-term market-driven solution to preserving some of New Zealand’s natural lands.

You can find and buy these great products on their website.