---- Beekeepers <[log in to unmask]> wrote: 
> >the antibiotics did not do their job- the honey did. So
> with my left hand he gave immediate approval, and honey worked fine. 
> 
> My wife and I have used honey in this way for many years.  It has cured chilblains and minor cuts many times.
> 
[...] The nurse sent for the doctor immediately and they decided to use a special silver impregnated dressing.  When I got home I removed the dressing a replaced it with honey and the improvement was seen very quickly, although it took 3 months for everything to get back to normal looking skin.

I cringe whenever I read postings of these "home medical cures" on Bee-L - this isn't informed in the least. I suspect that if it was someone writing similar stuff about impact of pesticides on honeybees everyone would immediately jump in with "correlation does not equal causation".

Yes, honey has antibacterial properties, but its efficacy is no better or worse than what is used by physicians (there was an article about this a few years back in ABJ). Home applications, not to mention source of the honey, cannot guarantee sterility. Most importantly, not all skin infections are the same, especially ones caused by abrasions in nature, which teems with wild bacteria. Let the physician figure out the best course of treatment, otherwise why are you wasting their time?!

I've posted on this before, but the whole Manuka honey craze is a massive consumer ripoff (nothing against New Zealand, I hear it's a lovely country), but the antibacterial properties of Manuka are topical, yet it's sold for ingestion. Nothing survives the acid bath of a human stomach, so once again, gullible consumers are being taken for a ride, including those who waste their time carrying honey as a "medical kit." Give me a break...

Przemek

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