Well, it finally happened. After several winters of anxious but virus-free living, I caught a cold.

It’s my own fault. I got busy, and careless, and neglected to follow all the things I’ve had in place since we all started to really think about having such things to follow. And I got sick.

It’s not COVID or the norovirus (thank heavens), it’s just a nasty, drag-you-down, old style head cold, the kind I used to get every winter. But what with masks and physical distancing and all, it’s been a few years since I’ve had one and I’m feeling grumpy about it.

In times like these, we turn to our old comforts. Chief among these (with Agatha Christie novels a very close second) is that most staple of foods: honey.

Honey has been used by us humans as both a sweetener and a medicinal aid for thousands upon thousands of years.

According to Smithsonian Magazine, “Ancient Egyptians bestowed their pharaohs the title ‘Bee King’ (among others), thanks to the extensive beekeeping in lower Egypt that kept the land flowing with honey. Images in tombs show cylindrical hives dating as far back as the 7th century B.C. … Gathering honey from wild bee colonies dates even further back – with some of the earliest evidence recorded in a rock painting from around 6,000 B.C. in Valencia, Spain, that depicts a honey hunter raiding a hive.”

So, 6,000 B.C. That’s over 8,000 years ago that people were not only raiding bee hives, but considering it important enough to depict in their art.

It shouldn’t be surprising. Honey is perhaps the most astounding superfood ever.

A 2013 medical journal article noted, “Honey has been reported to have an inhibitory effect on around 60 species of bacteria, 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 … Honey has also been used in some gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, inflammatory and neoplastic states.”

The article goes on (and on) to note other ways in which honey is beneficial as a healing agent, with no notable side effects save for those few unfortunate souls who have an allergy to it.

Basically, it is good for what ails you. And it’s yummy, too.

Here in Maine, we are extremely fortunate. According to BeesWiki, “Maine is a noteworthy honey producer nationwide. A USDA report found that, in 2018, Maine had produced nearly 400,000 pounds of honey for a total value of more than one million dollars” – and in all sorts of varieties too, thanks to our abundance of flora.

We are home to several bottlers of local honey as well as manufacturers of honey-based products. Some are large and some are your local farm down the road. Some might even be your backyard gardener neighbor. Which leads me to want to talk about “rewilding” our lawns for pollinators … maybe next time.

Keeping bees in Maine requires a license, but lots of hive activists are out there. Portland even has a honey exchange that sells products to the public while also offering classes, equipment and refining machinery for small producers to extract their honey.

If you too are suffering with a head cold, or just want to boost your overall health and happiness quotient, I suggest you head on out and pick up a jar – or even a slab of solid comb. In tea, on bread or a straight up spoonful, this amazing, all-natural golden superfood can put you back in the pink.

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