Hi All Ken asked about the mechanism of how eating honey with a bit of pollen in it, from ones area may reduce hayfever symptoms. Lloyd, Robert, Barbara, Tim, Ted, Stan, all mentioned a bit about this. I would like to add mine. Pollen mainly causes allergies through it's accidental germination in the nasal cavities, as well as the lungs if things go wrong, where it, being a small specialised plant grows out a pollen tubule in search of a femal egg to fertilize. This it does not find, but it does often find a blood vessel or some tissue into which is grows and is eventually popped by certain unspecific immune reponses - releasing all sorts of foreign particles into the blood stream and tissue. Your body becomes sensitive and develops a response to this. The response is due to a range of cells that produce the allergic response antibodies, IgE's - which are in much lower concentrations to others like the IgG's which usually get rid of most infections. If one eats a lot of pollen - even a teaspoon full of honey will have million times more pollen than a room full of air - about what we filter a day - your body is posed with a huge exposure to pollen particles that do the hayfever thing all the way down your throat. In some people this makes them throw up - my girlfriend cannot eat bluegum honey. I have to give her honey from the desert where no bluegums grow. I cannot use a super that has had eucalyptus honey in it otherwise she gets nauseus - a strong allergic response. However, for most of us, the exposure to lots of pollen makes us develop a population of cells producing IgG to that stuff, as well as special cells which control the cells which release histamine - and the allergy goes away. Just like exposure to a cold for two weeks make's it go away, and so does flu and everything else. One just has to watch out for conmen during this time period. Alternatively, one can go and have 'this or that pollen' desensitization shots - administered by doctors who are educated in institutions that would close down if it were not for the 'donations' they recieved from the pharmaceutical companies - ie doctors are told - if somebody has hayfever give them celestamine and desensitizing shots at 1% of their anuual income or whatever. The celestamine will cause possible permanent psychological problems if taken for too long, and the expense will as well. Honey on the other hand is cheap and nobody gets royalties for it except us beekeepers who are not important as a tax base at all - and we don't donate millions to universities that train doctors. So my answer - yes sell people honey as an antidote to hayfever. If it does not work, at least it won't damage their brains like antihistamines do - even although these don't really work either!! Keep well Garth Garth Cambray Camdini Apiaries 15 Park Road Grahamstown Apis mellifera capensis 6139 South Africa Time = Honey If you are not living on the edge you are taking up too much space!!