Therapeutic uses of stingless bee honey by traditional medicine practitioners in Baringo County, Kenya

Abstract

African traditional medicine knowledge, skills and practices have often been passed verbally from the older generation to the younger generation. However, the current traditional medicine practitioners (TMPs) are rapidly aging, while the younger generation is not taking up the practice. Therefore, this study aimed at documenting the therapeutic uses of stingless bee honey among TMPs in Baringo County. Briefly, 91 TMPs were conveniently sampled and interviewed using an interviewer-administered questionnaire specifically designed to capture source of traditional medicine knowledge and skills, traditional therapeutic uses of stingless bee honey, duration of therapy and associated side effects. All the 91 TMPs knew about stingless bee honey and used it as a traditional medicinal product to treat various health-related disorders. Respiratory disorders, stomach disorders, oral thrush, wounds, measles and poisoning, were the five top-most common disorders that were commonly treated using stingless bee honey by the TMPs. The honey is also used to treat cancer, allergies and pain. The majority of the TMPs (72.34%) reported that the honey was not associated with side effects and all of them said that it was a highly effective form of traditional therapy. Duration of therapy ranged from 1-5 days (39.77%),  6-10 days (11.36%), 11-15 days (9.09%), >15 days (3.41%) until when the health condition improved. In conclusion, stingless bee honey is widely used as a traditional medicine to treat various disorders by TMPs in Baringo county. There is need for future detailed pharmacological studies on the stingless bee honey from the study area. Key words: stingless bee honey, therapeutic uses, therapy duration, respiratory disorders, gastrointestinal disorders