Fill a glass jar with fresh bee balm flowers, slowly add raw honey. Be sure to use raw honey as raw is unprocessed unlike pure or natural honey. Keep poking and gently stirring with a knife until the flowers are submerged in honey. Cover with a lid and let infuse in a cool dark place for 2-4 weeks. The longer it infuses the stronger the honey will taste of the bee balm. You may have to keep turning the jar on it's side during the process as the flowers do have a tendency to float to the top of the jar. After infusing you can leave the flowers in the honey and use as is or strain the honey through a sieve. If you choose to strain the flowers out it makes it easier to warm the honey first. Keeping in mind to "gently" warm the honey. Too much heat will kill the medicinal properties in the honey. The used flowers added to a warm cup of water alone or with a little honey makes a delicious tea.
Besides tasting amazing, honey is loaded with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties which makes it great for minor burns, wounds and pressure / bed sores. When used for wound care, the medicinal properties promote healing and new tissue growth. It also creates a protective barrier which helps to prevent infections while the skin is healing. You can either place the honey directly on the skin, or apply the honey to a bandage and place that over the area. If using on burns, be sure to cool the area off first before applying honey. You can do this by running cool water, not cold, over the area for 10-15 minutes, then apply the honey.
Bee balm also has those anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties as well as pain relieving properties which can help soothe sore throats and coughs. So when infused with the honey you're getting even more healing benefits. I've found that taking a teaspoon of the honey 3 times a day really does speed up the healing of my sore throats. Also taste good in a cup of warm tea.
