The award-winning biologist, food scientist and natural bee products provider sat down to discuss how her company, BEE & YOU, is a family affair.
Asli Samanci, PhD, has worked with companies in the bee industry for over 15 years. But it wasn’t until she had her first child that she took matters into her own hands and launched the company with her husband, Taylan Samanci, an agricultural engineer, and her academic advisor, Prof. Dilek Boyacioglu, PhD.
Samanci explained that her son was experiencing recurrent infections and was highly resistant to antibiotics. He was prescribed antibiotics to cure his condition, but then he started having adverse reactions to them. He was eventually diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Henoch-Schöenlein Vasculitis, an acute immunoglobulin A (IgA)–mediated disorder characterized by a generalized vasculitis involving the small vessels of the skin, the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, the kidneys, the joints, and, rarely, the lungs and the central nervous system (CNS).
After six months, Samanci said the propolis and royal jelly helped her son make a full recovery.
“I feel happy when I have the bees, they helped me to save the life of my son. I feel very happy when I see that I can help them as well,” said Samanci. “We have to increase the number of bees in the world. We have to increase the number of beekeepers who apply good beekeeping practices, which is written very strictly in our contract, not harming the bees, not harming the environment, but providing a good sense and combining all the goodness and providing high quality bee products.”