Regular patrons of the Murfreesboro Saturday Market and the Nashville Flea Market most likely recognize husband and wife team Charles and Rita “Molly” Hamilton.
The duo, along with other family members and employees, operate Molly’s Sweet Shop, a traveling extravaganza of Tennessee honey and fabulous homemade baked goods.
At the Molly’s Sweet Shop booth, wherever it may be, the Hamiltons offer their fine honey—various sizes of wildflower, clover or flavored honey—as well as bee pollen gleaned from Charles’ many hives.
“I absolutely love their honey,” said Molly’s customer Sarah Beth Talley, “it’s the best local honey around!”
Charles keeps about 24 hives at his McMinnville home and another 20-something at a friend’s property in Wilson County, he told a customer recently.
Charles says he can get 12 to 14 gallons of the sweet golden liquid per hive each year, if weather, crop conditions and other variables are right.
Molly’s Sweet Shop also sells a great deal of bee pollen, the bits of pollen that bees collect from plants and then pack into tiny balls and use as a food source for their hive.
This “bee bread” is becoming known as a “superfood” for humans, promoted by many nutrition professionals who claim that taking these nutritious, protein-packed pebbles of food can provide physical benefits ranging from increasing metabolism, helping prevent cancer and extending life to boosting fertility, regulating digestion and strengthening the immune system.
While living a long and healthy life seems important for many Molly’s customers, many of whom return on a regular basis for the honey and pollen, other loyal customers just want some cake!
One may find a variety of small cakes at Molly’s ranging from German Chocolate to Orange Crush and many other tasty flavors, along with cookies, cinnamon rolls, candy, and a selection of jams and jellies.
“You have to try the jalapeño peanut brittle!” Trea Miller said.
Kevin Trowbridge recommends the sourdough bread and pumpkin roll.
“Both are exceptional,” he said.
Pumpkin rolls are large, thin sheet cakes with cream cheese icing spread on top and rolled into a magical log, which the consumer can then slice into portions.
Occasionally, Molly’s will offer similarly prepared red velvet rolls, also filled with cream cheese icing.
If all of this sweet calls for something salty to balance out the sugar, the booth offers various flavors of pork rinds, bacon chips and more.
The traditional sourdough rolls and loaves have gained plenty of fans as well. And Molly’s dresses up some of the breads also, such as the focaccia breads topped with cheese and herbs.
“Everything they make is to die for,” Mallory Anne Owens said.
While the Hamiltons display a genuine respect for each other and their customers, and have a deep love for family (ask them about their grandbabies), Charles’ apron suggests that he sees his wife as the real boss of the operation: “Mr. Molly,” the stitching on his apron proudly proclaims.
Keep Molly’s in mind if you need to order a cake or bread for a special holiday meal. To try out some honey, bee pollen, honeycomb, sourdough bread or a sweet cookie or cake, pay the Molly’s Sweet Shop booth a visit on Saturday mornings on the Murfreesboro Public Square, or once a month at the Nashville Flea Market. Molly’s Sweet Shop is also a regular vendor at the Chattanooga Market.
For more information, find Molly’s Sweet Shop on Facebook, call 931-212-4131 or visit mollyssweetshop.vpweb.com.
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8 Benefits of Bee Pollen
Dr. Josh Axe, a Nashville-based chiropractor, nutritionist and doctor of natural medicine, operates one of the top natural health websites in the world, draxe.com.
There, he posts information and columns on nutrition, natural medicine, fitness, healthy recipes, home remedies and the latest health news.
Here’s what he had to say about bee pollen:
Bee Pollen
1. Reduces Inflammation
The anti-inflammatory activity of bee pollen has been compared to drugs, such as naproxen, analgin, phenylbutazone and indomethacin. Researchers suggest that it can be used in acute and chronic inflammatory conditions, initial degenerative conditions, and liver disease or toxicity. A 2010 study published in Pharmaceutical Biology found that honeybee pollen displayed significant anti-inflammatory activities when given to mice with acetaminophen-induced liver necrosis.
2. Acts as an Antioxidant
Recent studies have revealed that enzymatic hydrolysates from bee pollen are beneficial for patients undergoing various diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and hypertension. The antioxidant properties were measured in a 2005 study, and researchers found that it has remarkable antioxidant activity, suggesting that the inhibitory activities of bee pollen were similar to those found in fermented foods.
3. Protects Against Liver Toxicity
One 2013 study published in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine found that chestnut bee pollen promotes the healing of liver damage caused by toxicity. Rats with liver damage were separated into two groups—one group took chestnut bee pollen orally, and one group was given silibinin, a medication that contains flavonoids.
The researchers detected that both treatments reversed the liver damage, but silibinin caused significant weight loss and death due to severe diarrhea. These findings suggest that bee pollen is a safe alternative to the silibinin in the treatment of liver injuries and can be part of a liver cleanse.
4. Boosts the Immune System
Bee pollen has antimicrobial and antiviral properties. A 2014 study published in Food and Chemical Toxicology demonstrated that all of eight commercial bee pollens sampled exhibited antimicrobial activity.
Bee pollen may also be a natural allergy fighter. A 2008 study conducted in Japan investigated the effect of bee pollen on mast cell activation, which plays a central role in various allergic diseases. The researchers found that bee pollen does have anti-allergic action because of its ability to inhibit the activation of mast cells, which plays an important role in the early and late phases of allergic reactions.
5. Serves as a Dietary Supplement
Studies have proved that mice and rats fed with pollen showed a higher vitamin C and magnesium content in the thymus, heart muscle and skeletal muscles. They also had a higher hemoglobin content and greater number of red blood cells after pollen consumption. Bee pollen has actually lengthened the life span of experimental animals.
An interesting study published in the Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition evaluated the effects of bee pollen on 40 New Zealand white rabbits. Female rabbits fed bee pollen significantly increased body weight, conception rate, milk yield and litter size. It also improved biochemical profiles of blood. Bee pollen also significantly increased the growth of baby rabbits and their survival rate until weaning.
These animal studies suggest that bee pollen has a high nutritional value and works as a supplement for animals with nutritional deficiencies. Researchers suggest that it can be helpful when given to children who have a lack of appetite or experience a developmental delay. It may also help malnourished children and adults, especially before and after surgery, when recovering from an addiction to alcohol, or when they’re under physical or mental stress.
6. Relieves Menopausal Symptoms
A 2015 study conducted in Germany found that both honey and bee pollen honey improved menopausal complaints in breast cancer patients on anti-hormonal treatment. Over two-thirds of the patients who completed the study reported an improvement in their symptoms.
Researchers suggest that bee pollen and honey may be offered to women who have failed to respond to other alternatives to cope with postmenopausal symptoms. They also note that the flavonoids found in honey and pollen have been found to prevent breast cancer, supporting the use of these products in women with menopause symptoms and problems with or without a history of breast cancer.
7. Helps Relieve Stress
Because of bee pollen’s nutritional and tonic properties, it improves blood supply to nervous tissue, boosting mental capacity and strengthening the nervous system when it may be weakened by stress. That makes it one of the most effective natural stress relievers. It may be particularly useful for people with a lack of energy, especially the elderly. Even small doses of bee pollen over an extended period of time can improve mood and physical endurance, thereby strengthening one’s desire to live.
8. Promotes Healing
Bee pollen can be used as a topical ointment to speed up the healing process, especially useful as a home remedy for burn relief. The pollen includes kaempferol, which inhibits the activity of enzymes after a burn and decreases inflammatory reactions and swelling.
Pollen helps improve blood circulation in the vessels, and it moistens the skin. The anti-inflammatory and analgesic action of flavonoids in bee pollen helps relieve pain and prevent platelet aggregation. Pollen also helps prevent infection because of its antimicrobial activity, allowing a wound or burn to heal quickly.
Because bee pollen is a great source of many vitamins and minerals, it can also help keep your skin looking younger and glowing. It stimulates blood supply to all skin cells, helps detoxify the body, reduces the appearance of wrinkles and speeds up the healing process.
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Information courtesy draxe.com
