A bee health product with cancer-fighting properties could become an even bigger export earner than Manuka honey, according to the professor who uncovered its benefits.

Melbourne-based professor Hiroshi Maruta led international research that found Bio 30 bee propolis from New Zealand suppresses neurofibromatosis, a condition that affects the skin and nervous system of one in 3000 people.

Dr Maruta is a visiting professor at Hamburg University Hospital, the University of Maryland in Baltimore, and La Trobe University in Melbourne.

The war of words between two rival brands of manuka honey testing is set to continue after a new study backed the effectiveness of the newer testing method.

The Active Manuka Honey Association (AMHA) and Manuka Health New Zealand (MHNZ) have been embroiled in a long-running stoush over their different methods of testing for the antibacterial properties manuka honey is famous for.

AMHA licenses the use of the UMF test, which rates manuka honey’s bacteria-killing activity in comparison to the laboratory disinfectant phenol.

A New Zealand manuka honey producer who has offered to test what he calls a “rip-off” of manuka honey says fake versions of the health product cost the industry millions.

And he says educating consumers is the key to fighting the misleading claims on the labels of these shonky products.

Cornwall beekeepers have imported manuka plants from New Zealand to produce their own version of medicinal manuka honey which they are selling at £5 ($13) a teaspoonful.