Page 37 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2017

EMPLOYEE WARREN LEWIS pours the newly extracted honey into a stainless steel drum that is kept at 85 degrees.
TOMMY MCCAFFREY uses smoke to calm the bees while he removes honey from the hives at his home in Pur vis.
Health benefits of honey
Every kitchen should have a honey jar nearby. It's one of the oldest sweeteners on earth, and is considered to be a power food by many, according to Care2 Healthy Living, www.care2.com.
Here are some of the benefits:
• It contains flavonoids and antioxidants which help reduce the risk of some cancers and heart disease.
• It can help disorders such as ulcers and bacterial gastroenteritis.
• It is antibacterial and has a long shelf life.
• It heals wounds and burns.
• It is probiotic.
• It helps improve skin.
• It is superior in maintaining glycogen
levels for athletic performance.
• It reduces cough and throat irritation. • It is low on the hypoglycemic index so
helps regular blood sugar levels.
AN EXTRACTOR that operates like the spin cycle on a washing machine spins the honey out of the combs.
“A friend and I went out and pulled the bees out of the wall. We didn't know what we were doing, and got stung so many times. It took us all day,” Tommy said.
However, with those bees and the ones he purchased, his honey production got started. Tommy has around 200 hives at his home in Purvis, Pat and Randy have around 40 hives at their home
in Orange Grove, and Pat has
an additional 40 hives on the property off Dedeaux Road in Gulfport where the Honey House is located.
The Honey House is where their precious honey is extracted from the honeycomb frames and bottled and labeled with the name “Super Natural Stinger Juice Honey.” Tommy came up with the name. “There aren't too many serious bones in my body, so I wanted a name that was creative and silly,” he said.
The honey is bottled in 2 pound,
1 quart or 1 pint sizes, and sold at health food stores in Orange Grove and Hattiesburg.
The docile honey bees they
work with are not as endangered as in other parts of the country because South Mississippi is not heavily agricultural, Pat said.
It's pesticides used around large crops that will kill off hives. Unfortunately many stores sell re- flavored syrup that is labeled as honey, he said.
Pat is president of the Red
Creek Bee Club, and a member
of several other beekeeping groups. He enjoys introducing the ancient art to others, and joining a beekeeping club is a good place to start.
“Have you ever sat and watched a fire burn? It's that way with beekeeping. They are so amazing with each bee having a function and purpose. What you see in a jar of honey, the bees and God made,” Pat said.
Stinger Juice
Pat McCaffrey, 228-547-0801; Tommy McCaffrey, 601-520-0006; Randy McCaffrey, 228-860-3187 gptbees@gmail.com
FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net
July 2017 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 37