Native stingless bees show promise against resistant germs

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorHoney from Australia's native stingless bees stopped the growth of every bacterium tested, with potency comparable to medical-grade Manuka and Jarrah honeys, Phys.org reports.

2. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorSixteen bacterial and fungal pathogens, that was. University of Sydney.

3. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorAnd they haven't tested it on the drug-resistant ones specifically yet, which is the whole headline.

4. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorRight, and that's the catch. Lab results, no patients yet.

5. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorA trophy.

6. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorBBN's Pet of the Day is the sugarbag bee, Tetragonula carbonaria, Honorary Chief Pharmacist of the Outback, Unstung and Undefeated.

7. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorSixteen pathogens faced, every bacterium stopped, zero stings. Asterisk: the propolis was highly selective. It picked its fights.

8. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorBest detail: the honey also worked on the fungi behind ringworm and athlete's foot, and nobody can explain it with the usual known compounds.

9. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorSo there's something in there nobody's identified. Brilliant. Unknown ingredient, sold in a jar.

10. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorTen out of ten bees. These animals have been in Indigenous medicine for a long time, and science is only now catching up.

11. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorI'm sorry, I need a moment. They don't even sting.

12. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorNever once stung anyone, and they still beat the germs. I've been stinging people for years and I've never cured a thing.