Increased Opportunities for Professional Development in Apitherapy Sector

Today Europe’ figures says 600,000 beekeepers and 14 million beehives in this continent, this is a great industry. Honey is important for beekeepers but beekeeping is not limited only with honey production. Today bee products including propolis, royal jelly, and bee pollen are popular, traditional health foods. On the basis of the scientific assays, propolis is the most powerful antioxidant of all the bee product examined. Pollen too, exhibited strong antioxidant effects. Today the use of bee products in the health sector calling APITHERAPY.

Apitherapy is a growing sector and a fascinating one as well. The project overall goal is to develop a new curriculum for an awareness of the beneficial aspects of bee products to beekeepers, agricultural, medical sectors and aiming at finding alternative solutions to known health problems with human in Europe. Because there are too much dirty details and approaches that deceives the people in this sector too. Therefore marketing of these products is not easy. Traditionally honey is considered the major beekeeping product. Wax has played a considerable role in only a few parts of the world and propolis is even less known. However, with increasing knowledge about beekeeping and an awareness of the beneficial aspects of many bee products, the use and demand for other products is increasing. Many agricultural and medical research have shown that many bee products can be used in alternative medicine recently. The five popular honeybee products work in different ways to treat various ailments and conditions. But most of beekeepers and health care providers need a scientific training and information about bee products for health at both, national and European level. Today the beekeeping industry produces honey, wax, and other bee products the fruits of beekeeping that have a number of medicinal applications. Their use in medicine, called „apitherapy” has been practiced for centuries in many parts of the world. This practice is receiving renewed and increasing attention from scientists. Modest training develop a new curriculum will suffice to enable people to other bee products like royal jelly, propolis and bee venom. On the other hand, increase in the EU support for the beekeeping that approved the national programmes of the 27 member states to improve the production and marketing of apiculture products for the period 2011-2013.

The main objective of the project is to create completely updated teaching materials on bee products in alternative medicine. The main targets are vocational education institutions (public, private) adult education centers’ teachers on beekeeping, alternative medicine and food sector, related vocational high school teachers (agriculture, veterinary, pharmacy) and vocational high schools in beekeeping and environmental foundations and training centres.

Duration of the project: 24 months (1st September, 2014 – 31st August, 2016)