Honey may help provide allergy relief

Beekeeper claims it can work better than drugs

by Jason Boyer | KWGN News

May 14, 2008

"Ahh, there they are," said Steve Lechner as he opened up one of his hives on his bee farm in Larkspur.

There's certainly a 'buzz' going on in Lechner's backyard.

"This hive will have about 60,000 bees in it."

Combined, Lechner said there are about two-million of them in his bee farm. And his bees are busy.

"A good year, a hive like this can produce between 45 and 50 pounds of honey."

Which he sells locally.

"Last year, I think we sold about three-hundred pounds of pollen and probably two to three-thousand pounds of honey."

Many of Lechner's customers enjoy the taste of it, but there are other reasons why they eat it.

"You're allowing your body to build up a natural resistance to pollens that are out here."

There's been a growing trend in the number of people seeking natural, homeopathic remedies to treat allergies.

Lechner added, "I would say that probably one-third to one-half of our customers buy it for that reason or they know that natural honey has those properties in it."

And, he said, it works.

"People are reporting great success, not just people, but we have two German Shepards and at least two or three horses that are on, either the honey or pollen as well."

Lechner says some of his customers spend as little as thirty bucks a month on honey for allergy relief. For someone who takes allergy medication everyday, the savings can be as much as hundreds of dollars a year. Even so, there are skeptics.

Dr. Rohit Katial, an Allergist with National Jewish said, "Even though the major ingredient may be something that's natural to the body, their may be other excipients or things in the vehicle that could potentially have a down side, they're just as tightly controlled, so even though they're cheaper, you don't always know what you're taking."

"If you're doing things that are more natural, not putting those chemicals in your body, some people value that greatly, so I don't think it can be denied, " said Lechner.