Not only humans have their own health specialists. Honeybees do too.

According to the latest research, each hive has a group of worker bees specialized in caring for ill members of the swarm.

But how do they perform their task? By feeding ill bees a particular mix of honey, laced with antibiotics or other chemicals, according to the illness.

The research has been carried out by Silvio Erler and his colleagues of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Halle, Germany. In Erler's study, nurse bees used a choice of honeys. Three were made from the nectar of plants - black locust, sunflower and linden trees - while a fourth was honeydew honey made from the secretions of scale insects or aphids. Each of the honeys was known to have antibiotic activity. The study suggests that different honeys are effective against different diseases.