A Spoonful a Day

Does local honey help fight allergies? The jury is still out, but it works for us. Since we began eating a spoonful each day during peak sneeze season, Claritin™ has become a distant memory.

Now Manhattan has a new local honey, made from the same flowers responsible for all that pesky, sinus-clogging pollen. Let It Bee's Manhattan Rooftop honey ($12 for 12 oz) is collected from an undisclosed rooftop on the Upper East Side by Charles Branch and Christine Lehner. It's dark and incredibly runny (our keyboard is proof), with a pleasant, woodsy flavor, thanks to the maple and acacia trees in nearby Carl Schurz Park.

The couple also produces a lighter, spicier honey from hives they keep at their home in Hastings-on-Hudson and nearby Westchester. If you spend weekends upstate, we recommend picking up a jar of each.

Let It Bee honeys are available at Murray's Cheese, 254 Bleecker St.; 212-243-3289 or murrayscheese.com