MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - Spring is on the way and flowers will soon be blooming. For many of us in the Mid-South, this marks the beginning of allergy season. Before reaching for allergy pills as a remedy to your sneezing, try local honey.
Peace Bee Farm in Proctor, Arkansas bottles local honey from honey bees. Honey bees in the Mid-South bring pollen back to their hives after landing on plants and flowers. The local pollen incorporates in the bee’s honey so when you eat local honey, your body develops immunity against local pollen in the area.
Memphis resident Courtney Barnwell says eating honey has worked wonders on his spring allergies. “It's better than taking any sort of medicine. I’ve gotten hooked on the local honey. I use it to sweeten my coffee.”
For allergy-sufferers, this is good news. However, it’s a joint effort to keep the bee population from declining in order to keep this natural allergy remedy around. The honey bee population continues to decline by 30% each year nationwide.
Bee farmer Richard Underhill says, “We're training new bee keepers every year. It's very helpful. We need more bees and more people who are capable of handling them.”
Last week, the Memphis Area Beekeepers Association trained 150 people in the Mid-South to become bee keepers.
