Bill Truesdell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

(Referring to  glucose oxidase.) 

>I have never seen anything that shows it goes into "food" (pollen?).     

Hello Bill,

I did the favor of digging up some references that show that glucose 
oxidase is found in pollen “food”.

Reference A:
“…Certain bacteriostatic effects have been demonstrated (Chauvin et al, 
1952) but this is attributed to the addition of glucose oxidase (the same 
enzyme responsible for most antibacterial action in honey) by the honeybee 
when it mixes regurgitated honey or nectar with the pollen (Dustmann and 
Gunst, 1982). Therefore, this activity varies between pollen pellets and 
is much higher in beebread. A very slight antibacterial effect can also be 
detected in pollen collected by hand (Lavie, 1968)….”

Reference B:
“…All amino acids essential to humans (phenylalanine, leucine, valine, 
isoleucine, arginine, histidine, lysine, methionine, threonine and 
tryptophan) can be found in pollen and most others as well, with proline 
being the most abundant. Many enzymes (proteins) are also present but 
some, like glucose oxidase which is very important in honey. have been 
added by the bees. This enzyme is therefore more abundant in "beebread" 
than in fresh pollen pellets….”

>Also it is not a bacterial inhibitor. It is an enzyme that oxidizes
>glucose to gluconolactone which, in turn goes into equilibriums with
>gluconic acid,  the principal acid in honey. 

‘GOx’ is a bacteria inhibitor, according to my references.
Please find in ‘Reference C’ a quote concerning the anti bacterial agent 
found in honey and pollen known as glucose oxidase or ‘GOx‘.

Reference C:
“The evidence for the existence of other antibacterial factors is mainly 
that the peroxide-generating system does not account for all of the 
observed antibacterial activity, but there have also been some reports of 
isolation of antibacterial substances from honey that are not hydrogen 
peroxide. Furthermore, it has been found that heating honey, which 
inactivates the glucose oxidase, causes loss of activity against some 
species whilst it is retained against others.”

>What "harmful bacteria" are we talking about?

As far as I am aware, researchers have not determined that as of yet and I 
won’t make any assumptions here.

They state this on the page I submit as Reference D:

Reference D:
“Other researchers have shown that both harmful and harmless bacteria may 
infect the feeding location."
http://www.psu.edu/ur/2005/beemite.html

>The main issue with glucose oxidase in honey is more in its breakdown
>products acting as a preservative to prevent fermentation, especially at
>the honey/air/moisture interface. When honey is "thin" it will ferment

Louis Pasteur made a discovery that fermentation is caused by 
a ‘bacteria‘.  

> Varroa have nothing to do with it. BTDT.

Not getting what you mean by BTDT?

Joe Waggle 
Ecologicalbeekeeping.com 
‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries' 
Feral Bee Project:
 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FeralBeeProject/ 

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