What is royal jelly?

Royal jelly is a honey bee secretion that is used in the nutrition of larvae, as well as adult queens. It is secreted from the glands in the hypopharynx of worker bees, and fed to all larvae in the colony, regardless of sex or caste.

When worker bees decide to make a new queen, because the old one is either weakening or dead, they choose several small larvae and feed them with copious amounts of royal jelly in specially constructed queen cells. This type of feeding triggers the development of queen morphology, including the fully developed ovaries needed to lay eggs.

Cultivation

Royal jelly ( sua ong chua) is secreted from the glands in the heads of worker bees, and is fed to all bee larvae, whether they are destined to become drones (males), workers (sterile females), or queens (fertile females). After three days, the drone and worker larvae are no longer fed with royal jelly, but queen larvae continue to be fed this special substance throughout their development. It is harvested by humans by stimulating colonies with movable frame hives to produce queen bees. Royal jelly is collected from each individual queen cell (honeycomb) when the queen larvae are about four days old. It is collected from queen cells because these are the only cells in which large amounts are deposited; when royal jelly is fed to worker larvae, it is fed directly to them, and they consume it as it is produced, while the cells of queen larvae are "stocked" with royal jelly much faster than the larvae can consume it. Therefore, only in queen cells is the harvest of royal jelly practical. A well-managed hive during a season of 5–6 months can produce approximately 500 g of royal jelly. Since the product is perishable, producers must have immediate access to proper cold storage (e.g., a household refrigerator or freezer) in which the royal jelly is stored until it is sold or conveyed to a collection center. Sometimes honey or beeswax are added to the royal jelly, which is thought to aid its preservation.

Composition

The overall composition of royal jelly is 67% water, 12.5% crude protein, including small amounts of many different amino acids, and 11% simple sugars (monosaccharides), also including a relatively high amount (5%) of fatty acids. It also contains many trace minerals, some enzymes, antibacterial and antibiotic components, pantothenic acid (vitamin B₅),vitamin B₆ (pyridoxine) and trace amounts of vitamin C,but none of the fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E and K.

Uses

Royal jelly is collected and sold as a dietary supplement for humans, claiming various health benefits because of components such as B-complex vitamins.

It is also used as a component in some skin care and natural beauty products. In holistic healing circles and popular alternative medicine folklore, royal jelly is believed to have anti-aging properties. Some alternative medicine practitioners attribute this to its amino acid content and broad spectrum of vitamins and minerals.

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Honey bee

Honey bees (or honeybees) are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis. Currently, there are only seven recognised species of honey bee with a total of 44 subspecies, though historically, anywhere from six to eleven species have been recognised. Honey bees represent only a small fraction of the approximately 20,000 known species of bees. Some other types of related bees produce and store honey, but only members of the genus Apis are true honey bees.

A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal wax cells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen

Beeswax is a natural wax produced in the bee hive of honey bees of the genus Apis. It is mainly esters of fatty acids and various long chain alcohols.

Small amounts of beeswax have food and flavoring applications, and are edible in the sense of having similar toxicity to undigestable plant waxes. However, the wax monoesters in beeswax are poorly hydrolysed in the guts of humans and mammals, and are therefore of no significant food value.

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Royal jelly overview

What is Royal Jelly?
Sua ong chua Royal jelly is a milky secretion produced by worker honey bees. It typically contains about 60% to 70% water, 12% to 15% proteins, 10% to 16% sugar, 3% to 6% fats, and 2% to 3% vitamins, salts, and amino acids. Its composition varies depending on geography and climate. This product gets its name from the fact that bees use it for the development and nurturing of queen bees. Some people use royal jelly as medicine. Don’t confuse royal jelly with bee pollen or bee venom. Royal jelly is used for asthma, hay fever, liver disease, pancreatitis, sleep troubles (insomnia), premenstrual syndrome (PMS), stomach ulcers, kidney disease, bone fractures, menopausal symptoms, skin disorders, and high cholesterol. It is also used as a general health tonic, for fighting the effects of aging, and for boosting the immune system. Some people apply royal jelly directly to the skin as a tonic or to the scalp to encourage hair growth. How does it work? There is very little scientific information available about the effects of royal jelly in people. In animals, royal jelly seems to have some activity against tumors and the development of “hardening of the arteries.”
Royal Jelly Uses

• High cholesterol. Preliminary research suggests that royal jelly might lower cholesterol levels in people with high cholesterol.
• Menopausal symptoms.Some very preliminary research shows that taking a certain combination product containing royal jelly plus flower pollen (Melbrosia) for 12 weeks might help reduce symptoms of menopause and improve feelings of well-being.
• Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) . Some research shows that a specific combination product (Femal, Natumin Pharma) seems to decrease certain symptoms of PMS including irritability, weight increases, and edema when given over a period of 2 menstrual cycles. Each tablet of this product contains 6 mg of royal jelly, 36 mg of bee pollen extract, and 120 mg of bee pollen plus pistil extract. It is given as 2 tablets twice daily.
• Asthma.
• Hay fever.
• Liver disease.
• Pancreatitis.
• Trouble sleeping (insomnia) .
• Stomach ulcers.
• Kidney disease.
• Bone fractures.
• Skin disorders.
• Baldness.
• Boosting immunity.
• Other conditions.

Royal Jelly side effects and safety

Royal jelly is POSSIBLY SAFE for most people when used short-term. It can cause serious allergic reactions including asthma, swelling of the throat, and death. Rarely, it might cause the colon to bleed, accompanied by stomach pain and bloodydiarrhea.

There isn't enough information to know if royal jelly is safe when applied directly to the skin. It has caused inflammation and allergic rash when applied to the scalp.

Special Precautions & Warnings:

Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Not enough is known about the use of royal jelly during pregnancy and breast-feeding. Stay on the safe side and avoid use.

Asthma or allergies: Don’t use royal jelly if you have asthma or allergies. It could cause some serious reactions, even death.

Inflamed skin (dermatitis): Royal jelly might make dermatitis worse.

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