Bees may be an MRSA beater

HONEY bees could help in the fight against the hospital bug MRSA, Scottish researchers said yesterday.

Beeglue, or propolis, which the bees make out of material from trees and plants in the Pacific region, was found to stop the bacteria from growing.

Two compounds, propolin C and propolin D, were isolated during tests on 15 strains of MRSA obtained from the NHS. Both compounds stopped MRSA growing but the researchers from Strathclyde University said more tests were needed to establish if the extracts can actually kill the bacteria.