Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 254, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 October 1919 — Flavor and Quality of Honey Vary With Plants Upon Which Bee Feeds. [ARTICLE]

Flavor and Quality of Honey Vary With Plants Upon Which Bee Feeds.

Honey, which Is now a luxury, was in old times a necessity; for it was then the principal sweetener of food. Sugar was pot Introduced until the latter days of the Roman Empire, and was first oddly described as an Indian salt that was as sweet as honey. The numerous references to honey in the Bible are due to its being the common sweetener used by the people. Honey from the comb is considered ta be the most luxurious form of this (leleeTable sw»Td7“and many persons eat the wax with the honey. That is a foolish thing to do, however—as foolish as it would be to eat the paper that butter is wrapped op in, or the bag fhaTlonmins migar. TThe wax in the honeycomb is in no way nutritions, and is decidedly indigestible. The proper way to eat.honey In the Ttnrtt Is to- phtre a ptece" of The "c»»b on one’s plate, with the cells in a vertical position, and press one’s knife firmly upon it. so that all the honey runs out. Eat the honey and leave th« wax. The bees do not care for blossoming flowers, as the poets imagine. They are practical, utilitarian creatures and prefer the period just before fructification. They dearly love clover, but most kinds of forest trees are very useful to them. The flavor and the quality of honey vary with the plants upon which the bee feeds. Heather honey is naturally popular in Scotland, and the famous* Narbonne honey owes its flavor to rosemary. Occasionally the bee is injudicious, however, and chooses injurious herbs. The soldiers of Xenophon. after eating the honey of Trebizond, became either mad or drunk. The effect was owing To The bees having eaten a poisonous azalea.