Photo by Prescott Watson

I have two great fears: ghosts, and more embarrassingly, bees.

Ghosts are a fear of many, as is evidenced by the multitude of Hollywood thrillers that make use of this type of faceless villain to bring a chill to any viewer’s spine. But when it comes to bees I feel alone, and I have come to accept the fact that when I see one of those tiny, flying stinger machines, I am abnormally terrified. This is coming from the girl who’s been stung twice, possibly three times, although I think I blocked it out. God help me if I ever have a job interview at an outside café or near a flower bush.

So it may be surprising that from something that I determine to be so evil springs something so sweet. I devour honey by the bottle these days, using it with everything from my toast to my mashed sweet potatoes, secretly cursing and worshipping my worst enemy for supplying me my new favorite condiment.

Even when I was vegan I ate honey. I really couldn’t give it up. Despite moral objections to the employment of the bee expressly for human consumption, I figured I would take a little wisdom from the Bee Movie — which glorifies the bees’ right to work in a way similar to industrial propaganda movies in Soviet Russia — and let bees do what they were meant to do. This is one case where I can comfortably stretch my moral compass in order to secure sweet happiness.

But there are other things that honey does besides taste great. It boosts your immunity and increases your energy. Honey is similar to fruit in the way it benefits you. Runners even use it to keep their energy levels high during long-distance races, as my brother reminded me just this past weekend.

Honey is also an antioxidant, helps get rid of the excess bacteria in your body, and can actually prevent cancer, according to the Environment News Service. And if that isn’t enough evidence to prove that honey is good for you, it has also beeb proven to help hangovers and sore throats, and put you to sleep when you’re tossing in bed thinking about your big test in the morning.

There are many other circulating, partially proven rumors about honey’s good health, like how it can help you lose weight while you sleep and cure bad breath. However, as much as I might not believe in all the benefits that I’ve heard about honey, one thing is indisputable: that honey is overall a huge benefit to your health.

All I can hope now is that honey gives me the strength to face its creator, and that the bee can keep me happy with a never-ending supply of my favorite sweet treat, no matter how much I want to swat away at (or more likely run away from) my much loved and coveted adversary.