The Benevolent Bee: Capture the Bounty of the Hive Through Science, History, Home Remedies, and Craft

In The Benevolent Bee, beekeeper and herbalist Stephanie Bruneau explores the uses of six products of the  beehive: honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly, beeswax, and bee venom.

Not all new beekeepers realize that a honeybee hive produces a lot more than just honey. While your hard working ladies will produce delicious honey, the hive as a whole also produces pollen, propolis, royal jelly, beeswax, and bee venom; all very useful things for humans, if we know how to use them.

The Benevolent Bee describes how and why the bees make these products, how they've been used by humans throughout the ages, and how beekeepers can harvest the products. It also presents simple do-it yourself recipes for using the products in health and wellness, body care, nutrition, and craft.

You'll learn how to make salves for burns and a cough syrup from raw honey; how to make a tincture, an infused oil, and a mouthwash from propolis, the anti-bacterial "bee glue" that lines the inside of the hive; and much more. Get crafting now, it's all already in your hive!

Stephanie Bruneau is a beekeeper, herbalist, and artist. She runs The Benevolent Bee, a small business selling honey, beeswax candles, herbal body care products, and other handcrafted and hive-derived items. At the Benevolent Bee "Teaching Apiary" Stephanie observes, learns, and teaches about bees and bee behavior to students of all ages. Stephanie has also taught classes about bees and the products of the honeybee hive at Northeastern University, The Cambridge Center for Adult and Community Education, The Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, The Boston School of Herbal Studies, and Temple University.