In the past few days, I’ve had what began as spring allergies but felt more like the flu by the end of the week.  I tried all my homemade remedies such as drinking ginger, honey, and lemon tea. Plus chewing on garlic as well. I’m not sure if it helped, since now it’s more of a cold.  But maybe if I had some local honey, I would have been better off.

Lovely jars of local honey for sale at Alaska Farmer’s Market.  Photo from AK Root Cellar taken by Alison Arians, of Rise and Shine Bakery.

A while back, I remember hearing about eating local honey to help combat allergies.  The idea is that you are ingesting the pollen (from the local honey) that caused your allergic reactions in small amount, so you begin to build up a resistance to it.  The same with allergy shots.  Dr. Leonard Bielory, an allergist and immunologist at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, said there is no data supporting this case but he does believe there is something to it.  Since honey does have small antimicrobial effects when put on the skin and more potential medical benefits.  Honey is also a natural substance that prevent mold growth.

Tom Ogren, a California horticulturalist and botanist is an advocate of consuming local honey.  Tom Ogren likes the idea of using honey instead of getting shots, as it is less expensive, easier to manage and painless and taste good too. He explains in more detail at Local Honey and Allergies.  Local honey is described as being harvested within a few miles of where you live. I suppose if you are lucky enough, you will find them at your local Farmer’s Market.

Even if local honey is suppose to help fight allergies, they are difficult to locate for many urban dwellers.  Maybe if you are not afraid of bees and have a good size backyard, you can just have your own backyard beehives. It’s all the local honey and beeswax you could ever want! And the bees are also good for pollinating your garden plants.

More info:

Does eating ‘local honey’ help prevent allergies? - Boston Globe

Local Honey for Combating Allergies - Beyond Allergy

To locate a local farmer’s market near you, try Local Harvest.

Backyard Beekeepers - At BackYardHive, we are committed to information and hive technologies that encourage and enable backyard beekeepers to be successful.

I love this picture of local Umbrian honey, especially with a bee on the lid.  Photo from Umbrian Fine Food.