By SHARON McMAHON
Be Well
“The world is plentiful with honey, but only the humble bee can collect it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Honey – mmm! Possibly my favorite food! My grandfather in North Carolina was a beekeeper in his spare time and I loved watching him go into the hive area with his white outfit and helmet! I remember the many jars of honey, some with honeycombs, sitting in my grandmother’s pantry. Delicious memory for so many reasons.
So – we love our honey for its sweetness, but do you know honey also has many other benefits to our health? Honey has been reported to have an inhibitory effect on around 60 species of bacteria and some species of fungi and viruses. Antioxidant capacity of honey is important in many disease conditions and is due to a wide range of compounds, including phenolics, peptides, organic acids, enzymes, and Maillard reaction products. Honey has also been used in some gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, inflammatory and neoplastic states.1
Honey is as old as written history, dating back to 2100 B.C. where it was mentioned in Sumerian and Babylonian cuneiform writings, the Hittite code, and the sacred writings of India and Egypt, and has been used for thousands of years for its antibacterial properties. Note: Honey is NOT appropriate for babies or young toddlers. Please contact your physician or health care provider for more information.
Now – who are these blessed little critters who enable us to have this delicious and formidable health additive? The almighty BEE! However, our little friends have been in jeopardy for some time now. Sadly, bees of all types are in decline worldwide, as are many other insects. The honeybee has suffered greatly from colony collapse disorder, in which hives suddenly lose their adult members. Populations of bumblebees and other solitary bees have steeply declined in many places, largely because of insecticide and herbicide use, and habitat loss due to overdevelopment.
As honeybees gather pollen and nectar for their survival, they pollinate crops such as apples, cranberries, melons and broccoli. Some crops, including blueberries and cherries, are 90 percent dependent on honeybee pollination. One crop, almonds, depends entirely on the honeybee for pollination at bloom time.
Parents and grandparents … as a child do you have any memories of picking a dandelion bouquet for your mothers? Did you enjoy sitting in your yard, playing campout, rolling around in the grass, and making clover chains for hours? Am I the only one? Maybe so! Although I enjoy a lovely green lawn as much as anyone, most children would not be safe rolling around in the grass these days – pets as well! Our lawns are full of pesticides and herbicides to take care of those “nasty” dandelions and clovers – which honeybees have also enjoyed over the years.
Remember, too, that there are many types of honey out there for sale. When you shop for honey make sure that it is safely sourced if possible. For me, there is nothing to compare with Sourwood honey from North Carolina! My last jar is almost gone so I am off to the mountains to secure another supply! Yum!
1 U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health
Sharon McMahon, CNWC
The opinions expressed in this article are not intended to replace advice of your personal physician or licensed health professional. Please consult your physician for any issues you may have related to nutrition or fitness activity.
I want to thank writer Sharon McMahan for her article on “Bees”. This spring was one of our most beautiful springs. Every known tree and bush was filled to the end of the branch with full blown bloom. What was missing was the hum of the honey bees and many other insects enjoying the nectar from the many different flowers. As a small child I remember oh so well the hum and busyness of the insects in each and every flowering tree and bush. Our yards were full of dandelions in the spring along with the spring beauties and the bees and insects were everywhere. This spring I looked everywhere and found one or two honey bees and no other insects around. It was disappointing and sad. Where have our insects gone? The birds may be wondering the same thing.
After WWII, many chemical companies had an over blown crop of chemicals leftover. This is when our communicators started making comments about “bugs” and how to get rid of them. And the door opened for bug sprays. Was this necessary? And then subdivisions popped up and along with that were strict rules of how your lawn looked. The HOA’s demanded landscapes to look like golf courses. No Weeds Allowed! No more dandelions which the greens are very healthy to eat and dandelion wine and jelly is also delicious. McMahan mentioned clover. I too as a child made rings of clover and lay in the grass to look up at the clouds in the sky guessing what they looked like. You would not be advised to do this now as I know of one teen girl who was sunbathing in the back yard and later started to have seizures from the recently spread chemicals in her yard.
All insects are an important part of the food chain. One example are moles who grub underground for them. No need to try to get rid of the mole, let him do his job for you on the insects and the dirt left behind can be used to spread somewhere else such as covering newly sewn grass seed. Make use of what you have. As a child it was fun to step on the mole runs as you sank down into the grass.
I would encourage everyone to stop spraying pesticides and herbicides on anything. Use insecticidal soaps. The lawn mower will take care of the weeds from seeding. Invite insects to your yard with blooming flowers, shrubs and trees. You will not get stung if you just stay away and leave the insects alone to do their job. I hope it is not too late.