While the efficacy of local honey to help alleviate allergies is under debate, some people, including Heifer International's own Geneti Nemera, swear by the remedy. Nemera is Heifer's regional director of Southern Africa and a beekeeper extraordinaire. He has kept bees since he was 14 and has never had allergier. His daughter, however, had allergies so severe that the Nemera family considered moving; that is, until they started giving her a teaspoon of local honey every morning.
"Her allergies are much more manageable now," says Nemera.
But why local honey? Well, bees collect pollen and nectar from the loyal flora and vegetation native to your area to make honey, meaning that local honey contains small amounts of pollen spores that trigger reactions in allergy sufferers. Some believe that by introducing these allergens to your body, you're slowly building up immunity and reducing the severity of your symptoms, though studies on the topic have yet to yield conclusive results.
Intrigued?
Remember to use local honey that you can find at your farmers market. Store-bought honey is generally imported and is a mixture of several different types of honey from around the world.
Give the gift of bees and make sure these pollinators remain an active part of our ecosystems around the world. Also, check out our other posts on bees and the environment.
This article originally appeared in the Summer edition of World Ark magazine.
