Someone a lot more informed than me should comment on this, but as I 
understand it, from my use of honey on wounds, bacteria is fought and 
killed at the honey/water interface by the production of Hydrogen 
Peroxide and in the honey itself by the effect of a supersaturated sugar 
solution on bacteria (suck the water out of them).

But this is in regard to live bacteria not bacteria in a dormant state. 
In the dormant state, bacteria can survive in what we would consider 
impossible conditions. We know botulism spores survive in honey, so why 
not a host of others, bad and good?

We also know that bacteria are everywhere, including the bee's gut, so 
those bacteria will be in honey.

What is amazing is that they are being found now, since they have been 
there all along.

If you change the honey/water interface by flooding it with water, the 
peroxide will lose its strength and bacteria will flourish. Those 
botulism spores shift from dormancy to alive, along with all the other 
bacteria. So you can have a host of things happening in the interface, 
both good and bad. Even yeasts kick in which cause fermentation.

What is interesting about that interface, it is a natural preserver of 
honey in the cell. The bees work to keep moisture content down, and that 
keeps the Peroxide strength high if the honey comes in contact with 
water. The complexity of the workings of bees continues to amaze me.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and  other info ---