As spring winds pick up around the borderland, pollen allergies cause itchy eyes and runny noses, but a local beekeeping family suggests raw local honey to help build up immunity to local pollen.

Lorenso Ceballos's family has been beekeeping in Fabens for nearly 40 years, selling unpasteurized honey at local farmer's markets and businesses. Ceballos and his wife Jamie-Mobley Ceballos started the Buzzbee Honey Company nearly two years ago, the same day the couple was married. The joint owners of the company said keeping the honey unpasteurized, or raw, is key when using the natural sweetener to battle allergies.

"The honey contains pollen from the plants the bees visit," Ceballos said. "If you keep the honey under certain temperatures and don't filter it too much, the pollen stays there. If it's not from your local area, and it's not raw, then it's not going to really do you any good."

Ceballos recommends about one teaspoon per day to build a steady resistance to pollen allergies, but said it typically takes about two weeks for a noticeable difference. And, unfortunately, the bees don't make it to every tree and flower.

"Raw local honey is not a catch-all," Ceballos said. "A lot of things are pollenated by the wind. That being said, bees pollenate a lot and they pollenate in a large radius."

Raw honey isn't the only produce Buzzbee produces from its bees. The company's new line, Body by Buzzbee, markets lip balm, candles, and soap made from beeswax, but the allergy-immunity properties are only found in the honey. The Ceballos said the family business is doing well, but recent drought in the area is also taking its toll on local farming.

"Lack of water leads to less mesquite, and less of the true wildflowers out in the desert so there's not as much pollen to turn into honey," Ceballos said.

You can find a list of locations where Buzzbee Honey Company sells its products on the company's website: www.buzzbeehoney.com