How breathing hive air supports health
Beehive air therapy and bee therapy huts.
Several months ago, the algorithms surfaced a documentary about beekeepers in Slovenia. One of the women profiled in the short film operates a beehive therapy house. Guests have an opportunity to sit in a shed lined with hives and inhale the hive air while the bees only have access to the outside. These bee therapy huts are more common outside of the United States and center around the belief that compounds in the air from honey beehives can help support respiratory and other health issues. I call it a belief because it wasn’t until just a few years ago the first beehive air therapy research report was conducted, and it proved certain efficacies.
Beehive air therapy and antimicrobial activity
In 2021, that study found more than 50 compounds in beehive air that include “fatty acids, alcohols, aldehydes, esters, ether, hydrocarbons, phenol, ketones, nitrogenous compounds, and terpenes.” The researchers not only identified the compounds and profiled their ratios, they also tested how certain bacteria reacted to the compounds from their forms in the hive (air, venom, honey, wax, etc.). They tested the compounds against a few staph strains such as MRSA (Staphylococcus aureus) and other bacteria. Two testing methods were used and found “the antibacterial activity of the samples revealed that both venom and beehive air demonstrated the strongest antimicrobial effect against S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, A. baumannii, and MRSA compared with the positive control.”
Although it was only a few years before this research validated hive air inhalation therapy benefits, another study centered on patient acceptance of apitherapy methods found that “inhalation of beehive air [is] not appealing to the majority of patients.” While there was some data breakdown by gender of the almost 1,000 people who participated, the survey was partially gender-biased (in my opinion) since it was conducted through a gynecological practice. Overall, it provides a sentiment baseline of how lay people feel about apitherapy options. However, would the survey participants have answered differently if they were all equally educated about hive products and existing research surrounding their benefits?
What’s beehive air made of?
Sensors published research in 2021 about the chemical composition of beehive air. It found that “the gaseous mixture inside the hive is a unique and complex mixture of many different volatile compounds. These substances are produced and emitted by bees themselves (e.g., pheromones, other chemicals released to repel pests and predators, metabolites, etc.); honey, nectar, larvae, beeswax, pollen, and propolis…the specific chemical composition of beehive air is essential for the existence of a honey bee colon. It creates the odor of the nest, which has the primary and vital function of determining the identity of the colony members. Some volatile compounds drive honeybees’ hygienic behavior. The chemical composition of beehive air reflects sanitary conditions inside the hive and the health condition of the honey bee colony.” Considering these variables, one can interpret that the therapeutic benefits of beehive air inhalation can vary colony-to-colony based on the colony’s health. The research supports air variation is also attributed to the materials used to construct the hives, environmental conditions, and the equipment used in experimentation.
Bee therapy house dream
As a beekeeper, I get to experience the varying aromas from the hives each season and in all types of weather. I’ll often feel sad that non-beekeepers miss out on the incredible scents I experience when inspecting the hives. I didn’t realize until watching the documentary and reading the research how many benefits come from hive air inhalation. It’s spawned a new dream for me to one day have my own bee therapy house, whether just for friends and family or for others. (I also see extra benefits in the shed setup preventing bear.)
I may have unintentionally started heading in the beehive air therapy direction. Remember the horizontal hive I attempted to start this year? I didn’t know until after I set it up that it had a bed accessory I could purchase as an add-on. Unfortunately, I’ve been unsuccessful at getting a colony started in it, and I offered the hive to my mentor for him to try. Since the wax-building season is over, I’ll move the horizontal hive to his house and he’ll try to get it started next year.
Sounds of science
While this post was all about our sense of smell, check out an article I wrote a few years ago about how hive sounds can help us understand colony health.