Wild Ferns Bee Venom
What is Bee Venom?
Bee venom is a complex combination of chemical substances produced by the worker and queen honeys bees. The venom is used together with parts of the bee’s anatomy (called the “sting apparatus”) to sting intruders in defence of the honey bee colony. Drone (male) honey bees do not produce venom and do not have a sting apparatus.
Bee venom is produced in the venom (or acid) gland of the bee, and is stored in an adjacent sac in the bee’s abdomen. The amount of venom a bee has depends on its age. Newly hatched bees don’t have any venom at all, but the amount increases rapidly for the first two weeks of a worker bee’s life, reaching a plateau of about 0.3mg (dry weight).
If a bee stings tough skin (eg a human’s) the whole apparatus pulls out the abdomen of the bee. The venom sac is pulled out with it and it keeps pumping venom until it runs out. Because the removal of the sting apparatus ruptures the bee’s abdomen, the bee dies within a short period of time VENZ™ (Venom New Zealand) has invented a collection device for venom that doesn’t kill the bees. The device consists of a glass sheet that is put on the bottom of the beehive. The glass sheet conducts a gentle electric current. When the current is turned on, bees that are on the sheet automatically stick out their stingers, and the action of the muscles pushing the stinger also pumps a small amount of venom out the end of the sting. This venom falls on the glass where it is collected and purified for storage, it is freeze-dried it to ensure the venom’s bioactive materials don’t oxidise and decompose. It takes one million sting deposits on a collector board to make 1g of dry venom. This is the reason the cost of bee venom skin care products is so high.
The skin benefits of Bee Venom
Bee Venom is a unique multi-component complex of which 18 biological active compounds have been found to have pharmacological activity. The main groups of compounds are enzymes, peptides, aminos, sugars, phospholipids and volatiles.
Bee venom contains a number of unique low-molecule peptides and “miracle” enzymes such as Phospholipase A2 and Hyaluronidase.
Phospholipase A2 dissolves the skin cell membrane and allows other ingredients to penetrate into the skin cell, resulting in a product working more effectively.
Hyaluronidase enhances the delivery of different active ingredients across the skin barrier. It is very important for fighting dermal ageing, as the ageing process significantly decreases skin penetrability. As we grow older, hyaluronic matrix responsible for the moisture retention in our skin becomes tougher and low-permeable. Hyaluronidase accelerates disintegration of the old molecules and activates the synthesis of new molecules of hyaluronic acid by skin fibroblasts, thus improving skin penetrability.
Other bee venom peptides, such as Melittin or Apamin are also known to provide additional anti-aging effects to skin:
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Melittin is beneficial for the red blood cells and supports normal blood circulation in the deepest layers of skin, thus improving metabolism and stimulating cell regeneration as well as elastin and collagen production.
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Bee venom peptides stimulate facial muscles, thus providing a lifting and plumping effect.
Not all Bee Venom is equal, which is why at Wild Ferns we have used VENZ™ Bee Venom in our products to ensure you get the best quality Bee Venom available, which is also ethical and humane. We have used VENZ™ because of their in depth biological and biotechnology research.
Wild Ferns Bee Venom also contains premium certified New Zealand Manuka Honey 80+, Manuka Honey that has been tested under tight controls which assesses the purity of the honey based on pollen count. This testing ensures that the product we bring to market contains the greatest levels of natural Manuka properties; which make Manuka Honey unique for its abilities in helping to enhance the health and appearance of the skin.