Local Honey

[Mfamom]

anyone know anything about use of local honey to improve environmental allergies?  A local group is talking about it on facebook. 
It seems like if you have severe allergy to a pollen etc. you could end up with a reaction? 

[Mfamom]

it doesn't make that much sense to me because the things that people tend to cite as environmental allergens (grass, birch etc) aren'tflowering, so how would local honey help?  People don't seem to be allergic to flowering plants either (those being pollenated by bees).  Wondering if the structure/size etc of the pollens are different?

[lakeswimr]

Are you sure?  I think a lot of the things to which I'm allergic flower.  If so then I think it does make sense that it could help.

[Mfamom]

well, most people with environmentals seem to be allergic to Grass, mold, dust mites, tree pollen.  Birch seems to be a big one.  I don'tthink that most grass is pollenated by bees and I don't think birch is a flowering pollen either. 

Just seems like the "local honey" thing is not much more than hype. 

It would make sense as you noted though if you are allergic to a flowering pollen found in your community to try honey, but on the whole, seems far fetched.

[krasota]

It doesn't make sense to me.  Things like grass, birch, etc, *do* flower,but they're not insect-pollinated.  They're wind pollinated.  Bees go to flowering plants that have nectar and big, chunky pollen.  That pollen is rarely wind-blown and is generally not implicated in environmental/respiratory allergies.  It's just too big to get up our nose without actually sticking it up there manually, y'know?

Now, some of the dustier pollens do make it into honey, but not in any great quantity.  They blow into the hives the same way they blow onto our cars and into our windows.

Local honey is a great business to support.  Our orchards need bees.  Fresh local honey might have some good probiotic flora.  But I wouldn't count on it as an allergy treatment.

[hedgehog]

There was an article on local honey in a local newspaper.  In it Dr Mendelson is quoted as saying that it does not make sense.  I don't remember his exact words, but that was the main gist of what he said.

[CMdeux]

It doesn't make sense to me.  Things like grass, birch, etc, *do* flower,but they're not insect-pollinated.  They're wind pollinated.  Bees go to flowering plants that have nectar and big, chunky pollen.  That pollen is rarely wind-blown and is generally not implicated in environmental/respiratory allergies.  It's just too big to get up our nose without actually sticking it up there manually, y'know?

Now, some of the dustier pollens do make it into honey, but not in any great quantity.  They blow into the hives the same way they blow onto our cars and into our windows.

Local honey is a great business to support.  Our orchards need bees.  Fresh local honey might have some good probiotic flora.  But I wouldn't count on it as an allergy treatment.

QFT.   

The pollens that bees use as a protein source are NOT from wind-pollinating plants.  Wind-borne (tiny) pollens are the potent aeroallergens.  Bees don't really have much use for the stuff either, though. 

I happen to know a few Master Beekeepers IRL, and I live with a person who is nearing completion on Master cert.  I've learned more about honeybees in the past few years than I ever would have sought on my own.  LOL.

[TabiCat]

I have used local honey for years. If it CURES allergies I am still waiting.    Does it help in some ways yes for me I think it does but not significantly. I can tell the difference when I haven't used much just before spring wild flowering. Then other things like mold, grass and cedar well as said by others no help there.

Now non allergy -  raw honey is rich in natural phobiotic cultures, which are completely lost in the store bought shelved honey. Though not lower in glycemic count, being twice as sweet you are able to cut sugar intake when sweetening with honey.  Supporting local bee keepers benefits local crop growers, orchards, and flower crops. It also supports local business.     

Yes bee keepers in this family as well.

[candyguru]

I love buying local honey..  it tastes so much better than the store bought honey.

We usually pick up local honey from farms in Markham ON (ie: Forsythe Farm, etc).. it is so delicious.  This year's crop should start appearing in July

[YouKnowWho]

http://allergies.about.com/od/controversialtherapies/f/honeyallergies.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/10/health/10really.html

Among allergy sufferers, there is a widespread belief that locally produced honey can alleviate symptoms — the idea being that the honey acts like a vaccine. Bees that jump from one flower to the next end up covered in pollen spores, which are then transferred to their honey. Eating that honey — just a spoonful a day — can build up immunity through gradual exposure to the local allergens that can make life so miserable for allergy sufferers.

Or at least that's the thinking behind it. But when University of Connecticut Health Center researchers did a test, they found that the honey had no such effect.

In the study, published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in 2002, the scientists followed dozens of allergy sufferers through the springtime allergy season. The subjects were randomly split into three groups. One consumed a tablespoonful daily of locally collected, unpasteurized and unfiltered honey; another ate commercial honey; and a third was given a corn syrup placebo with synthetic honey flavoring.

After tracking the subjects' symptoms for months, the scientists found that neither of the honey groups saw improvements over the placebo group.

Dr. Stanley Fineman, president-elect of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, said he has seen a growing number of patients ask about local honey. "Seasonal allergies are usually triggered by windborne pollens, not by pollens spread by insects," he said. So it's unlikely that honey "collected from plants that do not cause allergy symptoms would provide any therapeutic benefit."

THE BOTTOM LINE

There's no evidence that local honey relieves allergy symptoms.

[hedgehog]

AS others have pointed out, local honey is great for non-allergy reasons.  I buy my honey locally, as well.  It tastes good, and supports the local farm we buy from.  I also buy local maple syrup, local milk (though that does come from a grocery store, but it is from local farms, and only available in our area),  and in the summer, as much local produce as possible.

[YouKnowWho]

We buy much of our produce locally when we can.  I try to do the same with meat as well.  We do buy local raw honey.  But we also buy our family's preferred honey - orange blossom.

The benefit to buying locally produced honey as opposed to mass-produced is that it's likely to be honey as opposed to honey like food products mixed from China.

[lakeswimr]

There was an article on local honey in a local newspaper.  In it Dr Mendelson is quoted as saying that it does not make sense.  I don't remember his exact words, but that was the main gist of what he said.

Well, that I find very compelling.  He is a fantastic doctor.

[hedgehog]

Yes, I love him.  He is so good with kids and adults alike, and certainly has a good reputation as a real expert. 

[Macabre]

We've just always bought local honey since before ds was born in case this works. We bought North Dallas honey rather than honey from other parts if Dallas.  If it works great. If not, we've still got great honey.