To be honest I am sceptical about some aspects of this subject - or perhaps
there are mechanisms at work here that are not immediately obvious.
 
Most pollen related allergies/hayfever are induced by wind pollinated
plants, e.g. grasses etc.in the Spring and Ragweed in the late summer and
Autumn.  The makeup of these pollens is greatly different to that of insect
pollinated plants.  Insect collected pollen (most of the pollen found in
honey - > 99%+) tends to be larger, more protein and actually provides a
food source for the gathering insect.  Most have usually evolved with their
pollinator(s) of choice and are attractive and nutritionally useful to these.
 
The references about a 50 mile radius for "local honey" are also open to
question.  The main cause of hayfever from now on in large areas of the US
is ragweed.  Perhaps some comments on its nectar and pollen source potential
(or lack of) from others on the list will add information to this
discussion, but due to its widespread nature, any "local" honey reference is
meaningless. I would be the first to admit that "local honey is better" is
not a bad marketing ploy. :)
 
Comb honey is often cited as being beneficial for hayfever and the presumed
reason is that it contains more pollen than filtered honey.  This is true if
the honey is filtered below around 10 microns, but strained (above 200
microns), normally extracted honey has around 2-3 times the number of pollen
grains (30,000 to often over 1,000,0000 per 10 grams) as comb honey (usually
below 50,000/10g)
 
Any research in this area needs to look beyond what in the initial instance
appears to be an enticing piece of "logic".  Perhaps there is something more
complex happening that may have wider (more beneficial?) implications.
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Peter Bray, Airborne Honey Ltd., PO Box 28, Leeston, New Zealand
Fax 64-3-324-3236,  Phone 64-3-324-3569  [log in to unmask]
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