Nature's own remedy for turtles

This story from The News and Observer (a local paper from North Carolina) caught my eye the other day. Apparently, vets at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center are using a new remedy to treat rare loggerhead turtles that have been injured by boat propellers, and it's proving very successful. It's nothing high-tech, though: it's honey, mixed up with beeswax. Honey has great antibacterial properties - which have been well-recognized since Roman times - and when mixed with wax it can plug a tear in a turtle shell, keep out water and bacteria and help it to heal. This story underscores once again the importance of the humble honeybee to our planet - and reminds us that many of life's best remedies are really very simple.