Rising cost of honey production, reduction of honey prices and global competition has meant that very few Canadian honey producers are profitable, leading to a drastic decrease in the number of commercial beekeepers. There are currently about 8,000 beekeepers in Canada, with the majority of them (2,600) living in Ontario.
One solution to help bring viability back to the domestic honey industry is to develop new products and niche markets. One high-value option is the use of honey in the treatment of burns and wounds. Honey has been used as a medicine from ancient times by many old cultures, including the Egyptians, Persians and Chinese. Hippocrates (357 BC) and Aristotle (384-322 BC) both wrote accounts of the use of therapeutic honey.
