I'm glad to see this notion put to the test, because it always intrigued me. But when you get down to it, the bulk of allergy problems are the result of tree pollen, not flowers. Sigh.

Excuse me now while I reach for kleenex, eyedrops and Zyrtec!

At least it is delicious while it doesn't cure our allergy symptoms!

Now that you mention it, I have never seen a bee sneeze!

I feel very, very, very sorry for the placebo group. I have been fed corn syrup in lieu of honey, and it is incredibly nasty.

The same principle applies to flowers that people think they're allergic to. As a botanist I often have people tell me they are allergic to some plant with large, highly visible flowers (sunflowers, goldenrod, etc.) when the real culprit is an easily overlooked flower that blooms at the same time. Big, bright flowers are there to attract pollinators like bees and butterflies and have heavy, sticky pollen to sticky to those little legs. It's the tiny green flowers on the tumbleweed and elm trees that throw their pollen to the wind (and up your nose!)

I've never heard of that but a friend of mine did tell me that honey can heal burns and help with diarrhea

a spoonful of honey can be a decent expectorant.

AT needs a 'like' button for comments! :-) Seriously, though, I love that someone actually scientifically tested this claim. There's a man who sells honey at my farmers market, and he makes the wildest claims about raw honey. Any time I hear the word 'superfood,' I tend to cringe. It just seems a bit fanatical to me.

And I agree with kcunning. Sad to be in the placebo group!

I'm glad this has been tested, I agree with breezyslp. I made my boyfriend (who gets hayfever) try this 2 years in a row (I really wanted it to be true!) and it didn't affect his allergies at all so I wondered whether that was coincidence or common. I know an anecdote doesn't carry as much weight as a study, but just sayin' :oP

P.S. Though I can't help wondering, surely the placebo group could taste that the corn syrup wasn't honey?!

I tried it for a while. As reported, didn't seem to do anything. After about a week, I started to get really sick of the taste of honey....took some time before it tasted good again.

An fyi; I now take Respir-ALL by NOW Foods.....it has changed my life (no joking).

Sorry, but one study is just one study, not the definitive truth. I would never believe that honey in and of itself, used incidentally, is a magic bullet for allergies, but I think it's definitely part of a bigger, less allergic picture.

Seems like there is a tendency of honey-eaters (and local food enthusiasts) to be healthier eaters in general. Since allergies are an immune reaction and the immune system has a HUGE gut-mediated component, a healthier eater (honey included or not) has less allergies because their diet cultivates vs. supresses a healthy gut. They are likely to have a stronger, more prodigious native flora vs. junk food junkies with weaker, leakier gut.

Honey and stuff bees make has been used therapeutically since about the beginning of dirt. If it didn't work, that history wouldn't exist.

it may not work for allergies, but a spoonful of honey works wonders for a sore throat and cough. our local honey tastes so much better than anything I can buy in the supermarket!

I agree with splatgirl.

Additionally I've been eating honey every day since I was 16, just a spoonful, usually of the local stuff, and this spring was the first year I didn't, and it was the first year I ever had allergies. I just don't think stuff like that is coincidental.

Interesting...a pharmacist of all people once told me to skip the allergy meds and use honey.

while I'm generally inclined to believe studies, especially when it comes to obscure urban myths such as this, I was convinced by my parents to try it anyway, I mean, at worst its honey, right? I had been having a particularly bad day, and was sneezing non-stop, but literally, within seconds of putting the spoon in my mouth, I felt almost ALL of the irritation go away. I think its a matter of finding the right honey, some probably work better than others. and I've heard it works best if its from the same year, so in might take a couple months for the good stuff to make it out.

My initial reaction is that the study is flawed because anyone I've ever talked to about this (family and friends in California, New York and Europe) indicates that the first season they do this they don't see huge relief but that the second season they see a marked improvement in their allergies. Not all allergies, of course, but enough to help them limit or eliminate their over the counter meds.

I've tried it, but I just don't like the taste of the honey blend for my area, I have a really hard time sticking to it! I wasn't raised on honey so pretty much anything except orange flower honey is an acquired taste for me.

I've known for some time that this idea was unproven, but it's so easy, delicious, and harmless that I keep eating local honey just in case!

Even if my slight improvement is placebo effect, what do I care? I'll take any improvement, psychosomatic or not!

I think it has to do with exposure to allergens: and there are some people allergic to allergens that might be incorporated into a given honey. Just like if you have an allergy to something some doctors recommend you slowly try it and see if the allergy goes away over time (of course you should stop this kind of treatment if your allergic reaction ever gets worse).

I am not saying the study is wrong but it's only one study and I haven't look at it: there could be a number of errors. Trial size, length of time, method, whatever. But it should be pretty sane I think to say that the first time you try something it will not make your allergies disappear over night, no. It might even take a whole season.

And I think the type of honey you eat will have a huge effect so who knows what their standard of local honey was for the trial. For me, I only eat *very* local honey. As in honey that is made within 5 miles of my house (or sometimes my parents house which is actually where I have suffered the worst allergy symptoms).

Something to consider with all of the above observations and the mentioned study is that the same bees make different honey acording to the season. Early honey is lighter taken in the late spring/early summer and late honey is darker, richer and tastes different. Different folks can be affected by different pollens, so if a late season sufferer is studied with early honey, and the spring pollen allergic are tested with late honey, the study would be flawed because the allergens are very different. So mark me in the "on the fence" group. More studies, please.

I've also heard honey will stop the bleeding from a major wound. One of my teachers swears she carries a jar of honey in her trunk just in case!

local BEE POLLEN people is the answer! I swear it helped alleviate my terrible allergies and they have never returned. Honey is too mild. and BEE POLLEN is loaded with goodness. research it and try it for yourself!! but use it spareingly at first, it is VERY potent medicine.

Okay. The local honey does not affect seasonal allergies.

I love the reactions and "beliefs" of some of the above posters. Its like... "I don't believe in gravity because I can jump."

Is it superior to corn syrup? Yes.
Is it more economically sustainable vis a vis supporting your local economy? Yes.

Apartment therapy REALLY needs a scientist on board if you guys are going to tackle these types of topics. Even the lame NY Times article concludes by saying, "there is no evidence". That is different than saying that the answer is no. Ever hear of the precautionary principle?

The study was legit, but very incomplete. I did not read the study yet but I assume, if it was a good study, it mentioned the limitations, as all good peer reviewed studies are supposed to.

Here are the limitations:

1. It only tested subjects during the summer months. Folks who have used this remedy know that they begin it in February, and give time for the effects to kick in.

2. The original thinking was that the honey gave you "immunity" to allergies. Does that make sense to you? Of course not, it's pretty nonsensical. So I'm surprised they tested the honey this way.

3. The next line of thinking was that it's the enzymes. Again - does that make sense? No, because the enzymes get digested, they don't become part of your chemical makeup.

4. The new thinking is that the remedy is a compound antioxidant found in honey, called quercetin (also found in apples and onions). This treatment is so promising that my doctor prescribed supplements for my allergies
(and he's a statewide renowned doctor).

****Does this mean that honey works? No! But the study we're reading about here is wholly inadequate to answer the question. Just like any other scientific matter, we need a body of evidence that covers all bases and repeats tests over and over again.

Please aim for better reporting next time.

What this research concluded is that local honey does not affect seasonal allergies IN THE 36 INDIVIDUALS STUDIED. In addition to the extremely small sample size, there are a number of other limitations (problems) with this study that are not difficult to spot. Dressing up and labeling something as science doesn't make it factual.
How this became main stream media "news" at all is beyond me.

Sorry to double-comment, but I wanted to mention that I've reined in my allergies with almost no medication. This is just anecdotal, but I'm saying it in case it can help any sufferers here: (and most of this advice came from my doctor):

Some med and non-med ways to curb allergies:

Take a shower at night or after being outdoors. Yeah, it's not ideal so far as water conservation goes, but it's for your health and sanity. This has helped me more than anything. Pollen sticks to your mucosa in your nose and your eyes, skin, it gets in your hair. Get it off mechanically before attempting anything else.

Use a nasal spray after the shower

Wash your clothes.

Meds: stinging nettle works nicely as a mild symptom-killer, and loratadine (otc) has worked wonders for me.

Fish oil is incredible for reducing inflammation, and I've never had to use an inhaler despite having asthma. Vegetarians: find the type of algae with omega 3s instead of flaxseed oil: the algae is probably what the fish eat which gives them omega 3s in the first place.

Covering my butt: ask a doctor before trying any of these things. ;)

My husband is a beekeeper - I definitely agree with those who have pointed out that all honey isn't equivalent. We're in the Carolinas, so bees here primarily collect tree-based pollens in the early spring, but switch to ragweed in the late summer. So someone with allergies to poplar or maple pollen might see relief from spring-flow honey, while someone allergic to ragweed would be better off with fall-flow honey. Bees collect a wide variety of pollen while searching, so there may be small amounts of other pollen flows represented too. Honey isn't a cure for allergies, but it can expose people to small amounts of local pollens - when exposed in small amounts, people can develop antibodies to fight off the allergens on their own. Its not revolutionary, its something that's practiced in medicine all the time.

Read the paper for oneself. The journal — Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology — has a pretty good impact factor. Ie. the reviewers do their job, and it is viewed as a valued source for its reporting/work.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11868925

I personally believe that doctors do not want patients to believe in the healing effects of natural remedies. It is more important for them to have us depend on big pharma than on the goodness of good honey - what is the benefit to them or that? Like McIntyree above mentioned, the honeys are specific to season - the bees collect in different places trees, ragweed etc depending on the month/season. And for a study to be taken seriously, I would want to see results on a scale over the period of 2 years - I believe that these things take time to see results. I personally do not suffer from Rinus/sinus allergies, but had major immunity issues years ago due to candida overgrowth - it took me 2 years to get rid of it, without medication, just super good diet, no sugars, no cheese, etc etc, to bring myself to a healthy state - so I can not imagine that one could perform a true study on the benefits or lack of honey, on a period of a few weeks or months.

::shrugs:: I live in one of the worst allergen cities in the country, I think (at least the state) - I didn't have allergies until I'd been living here a couple of years.

A friend of mine recommended the local honey thing, and I figured I'd try it. It took some time before I did, especially since I'm not a huge honey (or sweets in general) eater. I ended up hiding a little bit of it at a time in variouher cooking, mostly savory (like spaghetti sauce, baking bread, etc.) I didn't take it every day, but I made an effort.

Did my allergies go away immediately? No. But they went down eventually. Was it because of the honey? Maybe not - allergy season does have to come to an end sometime. But the next year, they didn't come back either. (The year after, they did a bit, but they weren't as bad as those of a lot of people around me.)

Does that mean the honey works? Who knows? But I don't think it's harming me, and if it's the power of suggestion making my allergies go away, suggest away!

I tried it. It seemed to help, but looking back at it, I am certain it was equally if not more influenced by the tea I was drinking as a vehicle for the honey, 2-3 times a day.

I recently moved to Santa Barbara, California from Arkansas. I am a 27 year old female and when I moved here, for the first time I started to have asthmatic attacks and allergy symptoms, along with a runny nose and coughing throughout the night. It was absolutely horrible. I had never had any kind of allergies or asthma before. I stayed for a few months and just dealt with the symptoms by taking medicine. But I was miserable.
I moved back to Arkansas for three months and my symptoms went away. But whenever I would start strenuous exercising the coughing would rear its ugly head again. I think the stay in Santa Barbara had triggered something. Then I moved back to Santa Barbara and my symptoms came back worse. I went to an urgent care facility and they diagnosed me with bronchitis and put me on antibiotics, and inhaler, pain medication and coughing medication. I took everything but I felt so frustrated because I felt like the doctor was just covering up my symptoms and not really addressing the underlying problem. Three weeks later, my bronchitis had cleared up but I was still having the asthma attacks 4 to 5 times a day with horrible sneezing, wheezing, painful coughing, and all of the allergy symptoms. It was so embarrassing. I could hardly go anywhere and I knew that holding down a job would have been impossible with all the coughing and hacking I was doing. I hated the antihistimine medicine because even though it may stop the runny nose, it gave me a headache and sinus pressure.
I started taking raw, local, unheated honey because I was at the farmers market and I just wanted to try some, not thinking it would have any effect on my allergies and ashma. I just love honey and I always eat it straight and use it with hot tea, but up until that point I had just been using some raw organic honey from whole foods. But it was not LOCAL. I remember buying the raw local honey from San Marcos Farm at the farmers market and then walking back to my car, coughing the whole time. It would not go away!!! After a week of using the local honey my coughing and runny nose and asthma attacks started to become less and less. I went from using my inhaler several (5 or 6) times a day to 1 time a day. It has now been about a month after starting the local honey and I have not had to use my inhaler for the last 2 weeks. All of my other symptoms (the runny nose, painful sneezing, the headaches, the coughing, and wheezing) have completely disappeared. I am so excited. I had no idea local raw honey could have this effect until I noticed my symptoms were all gone and tried to figure out what it was that could have possibly gotten rid of them. Then I realized that switching from regular to local honey was the only thing I had been doing differently. So I am a firm believer in local raw honey. It treats the causes, not just the symtoms.
Now I have recently gotten two jobs singing for entertainment and working at a tea shop which would have been impossible 4 weeks ago. I could barely talk normal, much less sing. I have been eating at least 2 tablespoons a day. I just love the stuff! It tastes so good. I put it on toast, put it in hot tea, and eat it straight. E-mail me if you want some more info. stephanieleeshepherd@gmail.com . So I looked it up and contrary to most people’s opinions there has been a study done by a university on the subject and it proved local honey to be effective. Here is their statement and webite: "At least one informal (unfunded) study on allergies and honey conducted by students at Xavier University in New Orleans produced positive results. Researchers divided participants into three groups: seasonal allergy sufferers, year-round allergy sufferers and non-allergy sufferers. These groups were further divided into three subgroups with some people taking two teaspoons of local honey per day, others taking the same amount of non-local honey each day and the final subgroup not taking honey at all. The Xavier students found that after six weeks, allergy sufferers from both categories suffered fewer symptoms and that the group taking local honey reported the most improvement."
Full article link: http://health.howstuffworks.com/local-honey-for-allergies.htm

Here are a few websites that could argue with the Scientist in the NY Times article.  The same pollen collected by the bees comes from the same pollen sources that are carried by the wind. Unfortunately it may not include all plants but I'm sure if a pollen spore can land in our nostrils it can also land on a flower pollenated by bees and then be transported into the hive. Therefore putting ”windborne” spores in the hives.  Read the articles which will explain the rest including a rather successful study that the scientist would not like to publicly admit.
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/06/09/can-raw-honey-cure-seasonal-allergies/
and
http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/allergies/allergy-treatments/local-honey-for-allergies.htm
and
http://www.carlislehoney.com/allergies.htm

It has to be raw honey (so enzymes aren't dead) to help with allergies, and as another poster suggested, you can't just try one kind of honey and expect it to just work on any kind of allergy.

It's really annoying when someone does a study and just pronounces a definitive result like that. What a skewed test.