Bill wrote:

> If you look in the Hive and the Honey Bee, honey acts in a variety of
> ways. First is is a supersaturated sugar solution (also used as such
> with sucrose in medicine) in which bacteria do not do well.

This is due to osmosis.  The cell wall of a bacterium is a semi-permeable
membrane, so when it is placed in a supersaturated solution, the bacterium
is effectively dried out and it dies.
(Osmosis occurs when solutions with different concentrations are placed on
opposite sides of a semi-permeable membrane.  Water then passes through the
membrane until the concentrations are equalised).

Clearly, this can also be achieved by treating wounds with a supersaturated
solution of plain sugar.  However, as Bill has pointed out, in the case of
honey there are other factors, such as the production of hydrogen peroxide
by the action of glucose oxidase.  Until fairly recently, it was believed
that these two modes of action accounted for the healing properties of
honey, but fairly recent articles in Bee World (I think - it is too late to
look them up!) showed that there are many, many more ways in which honey
fights infection and actually promotes healing.

Another great advantage of using honey is that it prevents the dressings
sticking to the wound, so that they can be removed without damage.  How
often in the past have we pulled off a plaster, only to re-open the wound?

Peter Edwards
[log in to unmask]
www.stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk/

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