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Like the opening scenes of a horror movie, last month scientists described the discovery of ancient bacteria entombed within a Romanian ice cave that was resistant to 10 modern antibiotics.<\/p>\n
The 5000-year-old bacteria thawing from the ice could theoretically pass their drug-resistant genes<\/a> to infectious microbes, highlighting yet another way microbial evolution can render once-lifesaving drugs useless.<\/p>\n But as efforts to craft new antibiotics flail, and many pharmaceutical companies give up all together<\/a>, a Sydney researcher has turned to a natural yet potent elixir in the fight against antimicrobial resistance: honey.<\/p>\n \u201cThe current arsenal of antimicrobial drugs that we have is not going to be very effective for resistant bacteria much longer,\u201d Dr Kenya Fernandes, a microbiologist at the University of Sydney, said. Superbugs kill an estimated 100 Australians a week<\/a> and about 5 million people globally<\/a> each year.<\/p>\n \u201cHoney is a really unique solution because it\u2019s a natural product. It\u2019s been honed by millions of years of evolution, and it\u2019s really, really complex in a way that\u2019s hard for us to replicate.\u201d<\/p>\n For a new study published in Microbiology Open<\/a>, Fernandes took 56 Australian honeys from 35 apiaries and put it to work in Petri dishes festering with E.Coli and golden staph (Staphylococcus aureus).<\/p>\n Three-quarters of the different honeys killed both bugs even when diluted to 10 per cent.<\/p>\n The crucial finding was that bees which fed on a diverse range of flowers made the most antimicrobial honey. The study, in some ways, draws a direct line between the biodiversity of the Australian bush and potential human health benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cIt actually turned out that it\u2019s not this or that one plant that\u2019s important in a medicinal honey sense. It is just having that biodiverse native forest available,\u201d Fernandes said.<\/p>\n The honeys in Fernandes\u2019 study were made from the nectar of a range of eucalyptus trees such as jarrahs and ironbarks, and other natives including marri bloodwoods and jellybush, a type of tea tree.<\/p>\n Honey evolved as a crucial carbohydrate source to get bees through cold winters.<\/p>\n \u201cThey need to generate heat to stay alive. And they do that by taking honey, rehydrating it, consuming it, and then that gives them energy to vibrate flight muscles, which generate heat,\u201d honey bee technical specialist for the NSW Department of Primary Industries, Liz Frost, said.<\/p>\n But a hive\u2019s honey is essentially a delicious, ultrarich lump of sugar sitting out in the open. The honey must withstand attack from ravenous bugs and microbes; otherwise, bacteria quickly would spoil the bees\u2019 smorgasbord.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why honey has evolved to be so antimicrobial, with more than 200 compounds acting to kill invading bacteria.<\/p>\n Part of that bug-busting power is borrowed from plants, with botanical antimicrobial defence compounds passing from nectar into the honey.<\/p>\n Bees also inject an enzyme called glucose oxidase into the honey from their salivary glands. When bees dilute the viscous honey to feed the queen\u2019s babies, the compound forms hydrogen peroxide \u2013 an antiseptic.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of stuff we don\u2019t know as well,\u201d Fernandes said. \u201cWe know that there are antimicrobial peptides, maybe bee immune defence peptides, but many of them haven\u2019t been characterised.\u201d<\/p>\n Unlike traditional antibiotics, which might target one part of a bacterium to kill it, honey can kill a microbe in seven or eight different ways, which makes it far harder to out-evolve, Fernandes said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s so good against bacteria \u2013 because it\u2019s so complicated. But it\u2019s one of the problems with standardisation.\u201d<\/p>\n Addressing that issue will partly form the next stage of research. Fernandes says the most realistic medical application is to expand honey\u2019s potential to treat topical wounds such as scrapes and cuts.<\/p>\n \u201cBut also, chronic wounds are a huge problem. Diabetic ulcers, pressure sores, burn wounds, that kind of thing \u2013 particularly in those cases where patients have resistant bacteria, so normal antibiotics are not able to work.\u201d<\/p>\n Golden staph frequently inflicts drug-resistant skin infections, particularly in hospital patients, and could be a target for new honey-derived creams or gels.<\/p>\n Frost said the research into the medicinal potential of Australian honey nourished by our uniquely diverse native bush could open new commercial opportunities for beekeepers as the industry battles the parasitic varroa mite<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Microbiologist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/098e1909e4bdaaac05fbea51ff63d9e05f4c971e.jpeg\")
Microbiologist Dr Kenya Fernandes has turned to honey to address the critical global health crisis of antimicrobial resistance.Janie Barrett<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0100cf473310500077adb640df84be1b6e1bba4a.jpeg\")
A range of honeys were tested against E.Coli and golden staph, which causes drug-resistant skin infections.Janie Barrett![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/797d415eca3e139df63e3b911f89ac21391ba39e.jpeg\")
Dr Fernandes took swabs of bacteria and fundi from bee hives at the Tocal Bee Research and Training Centre.Steven Siewert<\/p>\n![\"Liz](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/f92b34affe224b827e40655ec1e3a21cb9739940.jpeg\")
Liz Frost checks a bee for varroa mite. Expanding the medicinal market for honey could help an industry under extreme stress.Steven Siewert<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ca41d2e487b8f412bdf1f4b85244c578c79a164a.jpeg\")
The finding that diverse flowers create better honey and healthier hives draws a direct link between bush biodiversity and the health of bees and humans.Steven Siewert<\/p>\n
![\"Lyn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/e8367a3881e9329f49afdb7367771fcfeb9cf6c9.jpeg\")
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