Dear hippies.

[tyggerjai]

So. I have been constantly sniffling since about April. At some point, I will get along to see a doctor, who will probably say "Yes, your house is full of mold since they ripped the floors up, and you're allergic to it, move out." and charge me for the privilege, but in the meantime....

One of my friends, who is not actually that much of a fucking hippy, despite being a yoga teacher, says a friend of hers, who possibly is a fucking hippy, was saying that chronic allergies and especially hayfever can be alleviated by eating honey produced by local bees. It's probably even worse than fucking hippies, it's probably downright homeopathy, but what the hell, it's probably worth a try. I've found Rooftop honey, which is definitely fucking hippy, but I'm not sure that a) I want to pay $15 for 450 grams of honey, or b) Heidelberg and Donvale are quite local enough. While I realise that there are unlikely to be cheap bees in, say, Fitzroy, can anyone recommend another source of "local honey" in Melbourne.

Comments

[azurelunatic]

The principle, which I'm not sure of the science soundness, involves allergies to the local pollen, and the presence of enough of that local pollen in the honey to convince the immune system that you're not dying of it, and to please STFU. So if it's mold allergies at the root of it, I am entirely unconvinced that honey would help.

Mold allergies

[erudito.livejournal.com]

I agree. Try pineapple juice every morning, it has a natural anti-histamine effect.

[foxfirefey]

So far it sounds like studies haven't found any benefits:

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

[foxfirefey]

One thing to try might be daily neti pot use:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/health/14real.html

And if you don't have an air filter in your home already, maybe try springing for that?

[azurelunatic]

Neti pots are awesome. I generally reserve mine for acutely bad moments, and have saline spray from the store in a bottle for general my-nose-is-icky, but it cleans the nose AMAZINGLY. Though if I'm not careful I'm spitting out saline-flavored nose-crud as well as snotting it out.

[qamar]

Yes, what foxfirefey suggests is goodness. *nods*

[kitling]

I have no idea of the effectiveness of honey, but your best bet for finding local honey is prolly small farmers markets, alternatively we have a 1 lt bucket of local honey we paid $10 for at pipeworks that is made by a local hippy bee farmer

[lirion]

Someone posted just yesterday that they came across local honey at the Preston Farmers Market - cold harvested and raw, if that makes any difference (I honestly don't know) - in a variety of flavours.

[(Anonymous)]

Peltrunner swears by the local honey thing! He said it helped him a lot. Should it be seasonal, it should quit after about, oh... 7 years? This year brought me little to no reaction in spite of pollen counts that previously nearly killed me when I started having reactions in 2003. How does honey compare to pills?

- Moo. <3

[17catherines]

Actually, I have heard that. I think it has something to do with pollen levels, but you're right, the honey has to be really, really local. I can ask one of my pet allergists if there is any truth in it, if you like.

You could try a farmers' market - the one I went to in Preston (not on again for another month, sorry) had local honeys. I don't know how local, but still. I think I paid $7.50 for 450g, so that's a little better - and if you bought a tub and returned it for a refill, there was a heavy discount.

I'm told quite a few people are now keeping bees in the CBD, too. And Latrobe Uni has a colony which one of my bosses is trying to move to our Institute in Parkville... if he succeeds, I'll let you know!