(P03-048-24) What’s the Buzz About Ingested Honey Bee Products? A Literature Review of Clinical Trials

Objectives: Humans have ingested honey bee products for flavor and health for centuries. We assessed the bias, rigor, and transparency of published clinical trials that investigated the effects of ingested products sourced from honey bees. 

Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE and Embase were searched for clinical trials of honey bee products, including honey, propolis, royal jelly, bee glue, bee bread, and pollen, published in English. 2,237 records were identified. Covidence screening software and automation tools were used to remove duplicates (n = 5) and ineligible publications (n = 599). Remaining publications (n = 1,633) were screened for eligibility by two independent reviewers. Publications were excluded if the study did not investigate a honey bee product, the honey bee product was not ingested, or the study was not a clinical trial.

Results: Approximately 25% of the publications identified in the literature search met the inclusion criteria, but many had weaknesses jeopardizing replicability of findings. These included small group sizes (average n  < 100), unreported chemical characterization of the product, unclear randomization and/or blinding, lack of pre-registration, poorly defined and/or inconsistent primary and secondary outcomes, and using products supplied by a manufacturer associated with the authors. 

Conclusions: Most of the publications reviewed on potential health benefits of ingested honey bee products for humans lacked one or more characteristics of rigorous clinical trials. Researchers designing clinical trials or attempting to isolate active ingredients of honey bee products should weigh the rigor of studies forming the basis of such research and avoid repeating the weaknesses identified here.

Funding Sources: None