As the Northern Hemisphere begins to warm once more and the bees return to our gardens, it is important to remember that we can all do our part to keep them well fed and watered as they fulfil their earthly mission of pollinating the plant realm. Whether you have a garden, balcony, window boxes or even just space for a single hanging basket, each of these spaces can be put to good use, providing honeybees and other pollinators with a daily feast of nectar and pollen.

The first line of defence is the skin acid mantle, for it is on the skin that most germs are going to end up. The other danger areas are the eyes and the respiratory tract. This is why - during this present Coronavirus pandemic - the advice given asks you not to touch your face after handwashing, and - when this is not possible or practical - to use an alcohol cleansing product with at least a 60% alcohol content. Many hand wipes or gels fall short of this recommended level.

Herbalists are well familiar with the idea of multi-role materials. Consumers - the users of herbal medicines - seem readily to accept that an herb has many roles. For example, a cup of chamomile tea is readily accepted to have painkilling, anti-inflammatory effects as well as being soothing and calming.

Most of these ‘flu’-type viruses come and go in cycles. The longer you live the more you will see. To live they need a human host to replicate, hence the use of quarantine...

If you think the Coronavirus panic, pandemic and pandemonium is unprecedented , then you would be wrong. True, the media keeps on saying so, but there is nothing new about plagues and pandemics.

With so many bugs and viruses circulating at the present time, it is very easy for the more health-conscious amongst us to level-up our daily cleansing routine. In particular, the use of alcohol-based hand-sanitisers are seeing a huge increase right now as a first line of defence in the war against disease. Quick and easy to apply, it is no wonder that this method is a go-to for so many, but, as with most things in life, overuse of the process does have its drawbacks.

What is so special about Manuka honey? Compared to ‘normal’ honey it is very expensive and has a lot of medicinal claims attached to it. Manuka Honey is a natural honey made by bees who collect nectar from the Mānuka bush; a wild shrub which grows widely across New Zealand but flowers for only a few weeks each year.

Plastic - Post Consumer Recyclable