from the book, "Amaranth to Zia Holes", section: Human Health, "Honey as a
Dressing for Wounds" - based on an article in the October 1992 issue of
"Apis", a journal for beekeepers.

[As quoted in the November 1997 issue of "Tropical Fruit News", 31(11),
pg. 14]

"All honey gives off hydrogen peroxide, a known antibiotic. The hydrogen
peroxide is produced when the glucose in honey reacts with oxygen. The
problem with peroxide as an antibiotic is that in large concentrations it
breaks down in the presence of a common enzyme, producing the characteristic
fizz we see when we put it on a cut; because it is produced slowly in
honey, at low level, the peroxide doesn't lose its effectiveness. Provided
honey is kept away from light, the enzyme which breaks down the hydrogen
peroxide won't even activate."

Comments:

1) Keeping honey away from light, before its use as an antiseptic, is
difficult - the honey must be extracted, and doing that in darkness
would not be easy. I suspect he means keeping the honey away from
light when used as a wound dressing, by covering the wound with honey
and using a bandage to protect from light.

2) The above should not cause one to stop eating honey; the above refers
primarily to topical usage. When eaten, honey is absorbed by the body
very rapidly - in minutes.

3) Honey has been discussed on the raw-food e-mail list. You can search the
archives for that information:

            < http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/raw-food.html >

Note: the archives contain a lot of other info, besides honey!

I hope you found the above of interest.

Regards,
Tom Billings
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