You’ve probably heard something to the effect of, if honey bees went extinct, then humanity would have four years left to live—a quote often attributed to Albert Einstein. Regardless of which scientist may have said it first, there is some truth to the alarming message. Bees are a crucial pollinator, and without them many plants and crops would drastically reduce in number and yield.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), there are 100 crop species that provide 90% of the food around the world, and 71 of these species are pollinated by bees. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that bees pollinate $15 billion worth of crops annually in the U.S., not to mention their honey production that accounted for about $3.2 million in 2017. While honeybees are clearly important in terms of the food we eat, their products are also used in sealants, lubricants, construction materials, medications, salves and more.
The gravity of the honeybee decline and the significance of honey as a natural remedy are heartfelt topics for Winterville beekeeper Wesley Grantham. In 2020, Grantham combined this passion with his equal passion for the health and environmental benefits of hemp plants by starting the company Mellow Bear Honey. Under this company Grantham sells Delta-8 infused honey products. Delta-8 is a cannabinoid, legal in Georgia per the Farm Bill of 2018, that comes from the cannabis or hemp plant. Its primary difference from illegal marijuana is a much smaller percentage of THC.
Not unlike bees, hemp plants are also responsible for maintaining a healthy Earth and supplying essential materials. An article published by the National Library of Medicine touts the hemp plant’s above-average ability to clean polluted soil of toxins, metals, pesticides and more. The plant can also be used in making textiles, clothing, shoes, food, paper, bioplastics, insulation and biofuel. All of that aside, Delta-8 is another product with natural health benefits, and this is what the infused honey delivers in addition to its own benefits.
The farm bill that made Delta-8 legal is up for renewal this year. Grantham explains that there is always a worry it could be banned or restricted. However, the new bill could also move Delta-8 from being categorized under the Georgia Medical Cannabis Commission to the Georgia Department of Agriculture, which would be a win for local farmers, says Grantham. The key to the community maintaining access to Delta-8 is proper education and usage.
“I think that this would be the first year you’re going to see Georgians really stand up, even those conservative Republicans who would have never said a word before. Now, since they’re on it, they see it’s really helping,” says Grantham. “It is more of a natural approach, a holistic approach, to taking pharmaceuticals.”
Grantham currently sources his 99% concentrated food grade Delta-8 distillate from Colorado, with hopes of soon being able to utilize an Asheville, NC lab that uses Georgia-grown hemp. Mellow Bear’s honey is 100% raw and sourced from Grantham’s own local bee farm, and the two products are bonded together with a powdered emulsifier. The recipe and products have been tested and verified by a Drug Enforcement Agency-certified laboratory. This provides accountability that the product is entirely legal under state laws and not accidentally, or otherwise, a “hot” product.
Delta-8 vendors are becoming more popular at public events and family-friendly festivals, though they’re not always welcome or allowed everywhere. Proper certifications, such as a certificate from the lab, help protect everyone involved. Mellow Bear regularly appears at such events, and Grantham says that being transparent in advertising helps funnel in the right crowd while alerting others, like parents with young children, that they might want to bypass the booth.
When introducing people to his product, Grantham makes it clear that he is not providing any medical claims, but he is able to advise on potential benefits based on a lengthy list of testimonials. People have experienced relief from anxiety, depression, poor sleep and even side effects of cancer and Parkinson’s disease. Grantham estimates that he gives out as many free samples as he sells, especially for those suffering from the latter diagnoses who may be uncertain but need help. Making sure clients take the appropriate amount of honey and start with less than a normal serving is important to ensure the most benefit and help end the stigma.
“One of the biggest problems in the edible industry is people just take too damn much by accident. They eat a gummy, and it tastes really good. Then an hour later they’re like, ‘Well, I’m not feeling anything, give me another gummy.’ Then boom, they’re just blown away,” says Grantham. “The small serving spoon is crucial. With this honey, you can’t taste it, so it’s easy to overdo it.”
After all, at the heart of Mellow Bear is the honey, and Grantham’s bee farm is the culmination of a lifelong passion. He recalls being about 6 years old when he first saw a colony of bees in a tree while wandering in the woods, and this sparked his beekeeping hobby, led by an older mentor in the community. When Grantham moved to Winterville in 2011, he started his first apiary—a group of 10 or more hives—which led to a full-fledged bee farm by 2014. Although it is an expensive hobby, it’s one that Grantham says can be taken up by anyone anywhere, even in the middle of downtown Athens. For personal use, this can look like one or two small hives.
When personal food gardens were a household staple, beehives were popular for both pollination power and the honey contents. Grantham advises that a mentor will ease the learning curve and financial burden of starting up your own colony. For instance, buying bees online is a high-risk, high-cost gamble. When starting up, a colony can easily die off or fly away altogether. All of Grantham’s bees were caught in the wild, and even though he gives them the freedom to leave if they choose, he’s been able to keep a healthy population.
“When we take the bees, we’re not really necessarily taking them out of nature. We’re just moving them from one location in nature to another location in nature, which is our backyard,” says Grantham. “At that point we treat them for mites, hive beetles or wax moths. If I have two hives, one is booming and doing really good and the other is struggling, then…[we] can give them more bees, and that colony now starts thriving and doing better.”
The art of good beekeeping is a symbiotic relationship that provides valuable bee products in return for maintaining a healthy colony of bees that go on to pollinate plants that sustain life. It’s a crucial cycle becoming increasingly threatened each year. From Grantham’s observations, beekeeping is an older generation’s hobby. In the Madison County beekeeping group of which Grantham is a current member and past president, a large majority of the members are over 55 years old. Bringing awareness to younger generations about the importance of bees and engaging them in beekeeping will be significant in curbing their decline.
Honey and Delta-8, both powerful natural remedies, currently have shaky futures that require support from the same communities that they aid. Education is key in helping more people understand what these resources provide, and activism in their respective ways could be what saves them. The observance of World Bee Day is coming up on May 20, and FAO has provided information about its importance and ways to celebrate at fao.org.
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