Flower honey

Serra Bonvehi, J., Gomez-Pajuelo, A., and Gonell-Galindo, F. (1987). Composition, physicochemical properties and pollen spectrum of various single-flower honeys from Spain. 

Pure wild-flower honey should lightly bum or sting the back of the throat when taken undiluted. 

Fig. 19.14. Protein profiles of two honey varieties as revealed by gel filtration on Sephadex G-200. (a) Cotton-flower honey (b), honey from sugar-fed bees (according to White, 1978)...

Produced by honeybees from the nectar of flowers, honey is primarily a mixture of the two simple sugars... 

D-glucose. As free sugar in fruits, flowers, honey as a glycoside in compound saccharides as a glycoside in many plants as a polymer in cellulose, starch, dextrin and glycogen. 

Rowland, C. Y., Blackman, A. J., D Arcy, B. R. and Rintoul, G. B. 1995. Comparison of organic extractives found in leatherwood Eucryphia lucida) honey and leatherwood flowers and leaves. J. Agric. Food Chem. 43 753-763. 

To make elder tea using the flowers, bring one cup of fresh cold water to a boil. Turn off the heat and add a heaping teaspoon of dried flowers (2 teaspoons if fresh). Cover and allow to steep for about 10 minutes. Then strain into a cup. Honey or lemon can be used as a flavoring, if desired. 

Both elder flowers and elderberries can be used as teas, tinctures, syrups and tablets for children for colds, sniffles and fever. The syrup is especially effective to lessen the severity of an oncoming flu. It is pleasant -tasting and most children like it. Avoid giving anything with honey to children under one year of age. 

Wash and pat dry 6 cups of elder flowers. Place them in a large crock and cover with 10 pounds honey and 3 gallons of water which has been heated and then cooled. Add I cake of wine yeast to the juice of 3 oranges and 1 lemon. Mix everything together. Add 2 pounds of raisins. Let stand 10 days. Keep in a covered crock for 4 months, then bottle. It is best to store the wine 6 months before drinking. 

Flowers of some orchids mimic both the appearance and sex pheromone of virgin females of certain species of bees or wasps. This sexual deception results in pollination by male hymenoptera that would not normally visit flowers. Japanese honey bee drones (Apis cerana japonica) cluster on the oriental orchid (Cymbidiumpumilum) while on their mating flights [ 134]. By comparing volatile profiles of orchids and the female hymenoptera they mimic, or by GC-EAD and GC-MS analysis of orchid volatiles, several compounds have been identified that may mediate this attraction for the solitary bee Andrena nigroaenea [135, 136] and the scoliid wasp Campsoscolia ciliata [135]. 

Moffett, J.O., A. Stoner, and R.M. Ahring. 1982. Effect of fenvalerate applications on honey bees in flowering alfalfa. Southwestern Entomol. 7 111-115. 

Obviously, pollinators are indispensable to most flowering plants. What is more easily overlooked is that they are critical to our own survival as well. Agriculture feeds the world, and about two-thirds of the world s crops require visits by animal pollinators to set fruit and seed. Various kinds of bees pollinate 60 percent of these crop plants, honey bees being the most important single species in this regard. In the United States alone, their contribution to crop pollination is worth billions of dollars every year. 

Feverfew was administered in a variety of ways. It was recommended that the herb be consumed as a dried powder taken with honey (presumably because of its bitter taste), to bath in a decoction, sometimes made in wine (for the women s conditions) or to make a syrup to be taken through the winter months. In most cases it was recommended that the leaves be used, but for some conditions it was suggested that the flowers could also be beneficial. 

Waller, G. D. 1972. Evaluating responses of honey bees to sugar solutions using an artificial-flower feeder. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 65 857-862. 

Honey (Miel in French). A sweet, sticky substance made by the honey bee from the juices it collected from flowers. It can be nitrated to ... 

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