Bee Venom
Nectar Ease contains only two ingredients: Manuka honey and bee venom. Bee venom is considered the active compound in the product.
Venom composition and strength varies between honeybee species and small variances are identifiable between bee breeds and locations.
The bee venom used in Nectar Ease is extracted exclusively from the Apis Melifera species of honeybee. Venom is extracted from bees using low voltage electrical stimulation. This causes bees to release the venom without losing the barbed sting (which usually results in bee deaths.)
The following table expresses the composition of venom from a worker honeybee as recorded in the findings of two separate studies (Dotimas and Hilder, 1987; Shipolini, 1984). These components were measured as a percentage of dry venom. Water makes up approximately 88% of venom before drying.
| Class of Molecules Component | % of Dry Venom (1) | % of Dry Venom (2) |
| Enzymes Phospolipase A2 |
10-12 | 10-12 |
| Hyaluronidase | 1-3 | 1.5-2.0 |
| Acid phosphomonoesterase | 1.0 | |
| Lysophopholipase | 1.0 | |
| a-glucosidase | 0.6 | |
| Other Proteins and Peptides Melittin | 50 | 40 - 50 |
| Apamine | 1 - 3 | 3 |
| Mast Cell Degranulating Peptide(MCD) | 1-2 | 2.0 |
| Secapin | 0.5-2.0 | 0.5 |
| Adolapin | 1.0 | |
| Protease inhibitor | 0.8 | |
| Tertiapin* | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Small peptides - Less than 5 amino acids | 13 - 15 | |
| Physiologically Active Histamine | 0.5-2.0 | 0.6-1.6 |
| Amines Dopamine | 0.2-1.0 | 0.13-1.0 |
| Noradrenaline |
0.1-0.5 | 0.1-0.7 |
| Amino Acids t-aminobutyric acid | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| a-amino acids | 1.0 | |
| Sugars glucose and fructose | 2 | |
| Phospholipids | 5 | |
| Volatile compounds | 4-8 |