Bees, honey, and hay fever

12 years ago

We have high pollen level today, yet none of us have allergies. It dawned on me that the local raw honey we consumed helped. Too bad I threw the honey-jars in the recycle. I can't find their address to buy more.

It was last summer that I visited the rose park. They had a "Green Fair" with bee farmers selling honey. People were showing electric cars, compost bin, and giving out "green grocery bags", and plastic bags made from corn. I talked to a bee farmer who operates his farm on the edge of a forest preserve. He assured me that his honey is raw, and his bees feed off from the weeds and wildflowers of the prairie. He was selling a large jar for $7. I wish I had bought more.

That fall was the best allergy-free season I had, and it was the best tasting honey I had tried. I once spent over $1,000 on desensitization shots with no luck, and countless prescribed medications. The $7 jars of honey solved my hayfever. I also tried expensive Manuka, Buckwheat, and wildflowers honey from stores with no luck.

So I told my brother, a physician, about my success. To my surprise he already raised bees in his land for raw honey. It solved his family's hayfever. One more reason to go green for the bees.

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nikthegreek

7 years ago

Took some time..

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Comments (14)

Kippy
12 years ago
Back in the day, my parents kept bees and sold the honey. The cappings honey was very popular for that reason. A honey local to you could help with allergies. Cappings tended to have the most pollen in it.

Try a local farmers market, Roadside fruit/veggie stand, health food store (small not corporate) or feed store.

Keeping backyard bees is all the rage right now, you might be able to find some in the "farm and garden" section of craigslist.

Happy Honey
strawchicago z5
Original Author
12 years ago
Thank you, Kippy, for your help. My Google search engine wasn't working right today, so I tried another search engine. I found a local bee farm under Illinois Department of Agriculture, Sugar and Sweeteners section.

The time I spent in locating that farm was frustrating. I wish I had kept the jar!
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Well, I'm in Africanized Bee Territory and get a hive with AFB aggression very rarely. Russian bees are on the scale more aggressive than Italians and Carniolan bees. So that might explain why they aren't behaving the way you thought they would. Also you seem to be new to bee behavior and you will come to notice that they don't always react the same way from hive to hive. One hive I can open without smoke of any kind (not recommended) and even play with them while another will send 1/2 of all bees in the hive onto me, all attempting to get inside my suit as soon as I open the hive. Each hive is different. You can change the temperment of the hive by requeening them. The most gentle available bees will be Italians. They also make the most honey of all commercial lines and will fit well to your climate. California doesn't really use Russian lines at all since they work out more in actual cold climates. I wouldn't say they are necessary for your area. Or stay with the Russian bees and learn how they respond to what you do. Realize that the larger the hive gets, the more aggressive they will be able to become. The number of guard bees and foraging bees are much greater in a large hive. As for smoke. I started with pine needles. Boy do I hate pine needles. Pine needles, when I used them, made everything including my honey/combs/suit/truck/hair smell like burnt pine needles. I switched to those compressed cotton plugs for a while and they work great, but I didn't like the smell that much. I have been using burlap for years now, old coffee bags, and I it still works better than twine or anything else I've read about. I love the way it smells, the amount of smoke it produces, and that the source is free for me (coffee shop near my house). You'll need to find a coffee shop that roasts their own beans, they will be the ones that will have bags available. I haven't tried the wood pellets, but I do know that wood and paper (in any form) make for hot smoke. Hot smoke not only stresses out the bees, but could damage the bees closest to the smoker. Burlap burns cooler. I remember starting out and puffing smoke at the entrance. I worked for a commercial operation for a while and I was shown the first day to stick the tip of your smoker right at/in the entrance and puff 4-6 big puffs of smoke in the entrance. I still start a hive by puffing right inside the entrance to the hive. Puffing smoke at or around the entrance isn't going to get that smoke into the inside of the hive. You want all the bees in the hive to come in contact with the smoke, not just some of them. You can then open the lid pretty rapidly and you'll see them all slurping up honey. However, you'll find that not every hive will all be busy doing something else. Also, you're probably used to being in the hive for more than a minute or two and the effect of the smoke is temporary. Puff the top bars every so often and make sure to be inside the hive for only a few minutes or so.
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claire25
12 years ago
Interesting thread. I got spring allergies (tree pollen) this year for the first time in my life and definitely want to avoid a repeat next year...this idea seems too good to be true, but hey, it can't really hurt, can it? Anyway, I've been wanting to support the beekeepers in my area for some time (especially after finding out that a lot of grocery store honey has been extensively processed and/or imported from China) and this gives me one more reason to do so.

Claire
claire25
12 years ago
Interesting thread. I got spring allergies (tree pollen) this year for the first time in my life and definitely want to avoid a repeat next year...this idea seems too good to be true, but hey, it can't really hurt, can it? Anyway, I've been wanting to support the beekeepers in my area for some time (especially after finding out that a lot of grocery store honey has been extensively processed and/or imported from China) and this gives me one more reason to do so.

Claire
strawchicago z5
Original Author
12 years ago
Thank you, Claire for that info. I didn't know that they get honey from China! There's a brand called "Really Raw Honey" that works well with hayfever. When my kid was in 1st grade, the school kept sending her home since she was sneezing and hacking constantly. She would rub her eyes before bed time until it's red. I got her a prescribed eye-drop for hayfever ($85 of cash for a tiny bottle, even after insurance's payment). She refused the eyedrop.

I was desperate, so I fed her "Really Raw Honey". Within 2 weeks, no more rubbing eyes. That was 2 years ago, and she's hayfever-free. Really Raw honey has bits of honeycomb in - but it gave her diarrhea, whereas the FRESH, RAW honey I got from the local farm didn't cause any problems.
Kippy
12 years ago
On honey:

To filter it to the clear look, honey has to run through screens, heating it will get it through faster. But you are also loosing the pollens to the screens

"Raw Local" is what you are really looking for if you want to try for allergies.

Lighter colored honeys often have a lighter flavor, darker honey a deeper one. Honey's have flavors and people also add flavors, make sure you know which you are buying.

If your honey crystallizes, you reverse that buy setting it in a warm location. Window, etc....

China unused to import so much honey that many bee keepers went out of business or went to supplying farmers with bees to pollinate sprayed crops with the knowledge that the hives would die back and the honey was not edible. (Almond crops were popular and well paying at the time)

Thankfully, people have recognized that bees are needed and are raising them again. Personally, I would not have a backyard hive, but they are popular now.
strawchicago z5
Original Author
12 years ago
Thank you, Kippy, for the info. on honey. I didn't know that the pollens are lost to the screen if heated. That explains why the "Really Raw Honey" with bits of honeycomb is cloudy (creamy beige), rather than clear "China" honey.

My brother's backyard is 23 acreas in Michigan. Folks there really have a big land!
ohiohoney
7 years ago
Hi Kippy - i just saw your post - and we have been beekeeping for 20 years...just want to say that here at our company we don't filter...but we do use a large strainer to take out the chunks of wax. Lots of people want wax, while others just want the raw honey. The tiny pieces of wax stay on the top of course...so our honey here in NE Ohio still is a strong fighter against fighting the allergies we have in our area....grass, trees.... If anyone has any questions, feel free to contact me at ohiohoney@ohiohoney.com or OhioHoneyCompany on Facebook...or here, of course :-)...we love to hear from you. In the meantime..have a bee-autiful everything! www.ohiohoney.com
ohiohoney
7 years ago
yes, it took time because i just got on here after a long absence :-D
Jasminerose, California, USDA 9b/Sunset 18
7 years ago
Welcome back :-)
ohiohoney
7 years ago
thank you!
toolbelt68
7 years ago
Ohiohoney, do you take orders over the internet? I'd hate to have to drive all the way to Ohio.... lol
ohiohoney
7 years ago
Hello there, Toolbelt68....yes, we take orders over the internet. Just go to www.ohiohoney.com Thank you! :-)

Bees, honey, and hay fever

nikthegreek

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Bees, honey, and hay fever

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