evidence: I also heard about the potent antibiotic properties of mānuka honey, and I thought about combining it with a CBD-rich cannabis extract. While honey has been known since ancient times for its antibiotic and wound-healing properties, mānuka is something special. Made by bees from the nectar of Leptospermum scoparium (more commonly known as tea tree, a plant indigenous to New Zealand and Australia), mānuka honey has unique bacteria-busting abilities that scientists have only recently begun to investigate. A 2016 article published in Frontiers in Microbiology discusses how mānuka honey disrupts invading bacteria’s ability to produce biofilms. In another study, mānuka was shown to prevent bacterial subdivision, and it appears to evade bacterial resistance. Not only is mānuka honey effective on its own, but it also works synergistically with other antibiotics, increasing their effectiveness. [...] Unlike my experience with pharmaceutical antibiotics, whole-plant CBD-rich cannabis combined with mānuka honey did not cause any adverse side effects. Nor did it trigger a backlash of antibacterial resistance, which is threatening the very foundations of Western medicine. We’ve become increasingly dependent upon medical conveniences, quick fixes and silver bullets, while often ignoring their broader consequences. In our impatience to get on with the business of life, we don’t always pay attention to the subtler conversations our bodies carry on, day and night, in our microbiomes and beyond. Maybe it’s time to listen.