(no subject)

[ewx]

So people say that "local honey" helps against hayfever. I don't like honey anyway (though I do like mead...) but this got me wondering.

Presumably the logic is that the bees that make the honey will have pollen from local flowers on them, and that some of this will get into the honey, and that this somehow causes you not to react to the pollen when you encounter it in your eyes and nose; and that it has to be "local" so that the mix of kinds of plants is right for where you are.

But surely, the plants that use bees to spread their pollen won't be spraying it into the air?

Can anyone clarify this (either regarding the final question or the whole thing)?

Comments

[juliet]

I am not a botanist, but... I assume that plants use a mixture of ways to spread their pollen, rather than necessarily specialising. Also, pollen has to be very light and loosely-attached in order to cling onto the legs of the bees, so it'll also be easy for it to get into the air (and it'll tend to float around, rather than settling, once there).