1 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to food Stuff. I'm an Eries and 2 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 1: I'm Lauren vocal Bomb, and today we're embarking on our 3 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: Honey journey and it was quite the journey. A lot 4 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: of you emailed us asking for an episode on Honey, 5 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 1: and guess what we listened. Yeah, thank you all of you. Yes, 6 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: if you're one of those people, your email was received 7 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:32,199 Speaker 1: and we appreciated it. Thank you. Yes. So yeah, so, 8 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 1: in fact, you're getting not one, but two episodes about 9 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 1: Honey because, as it turns out, we have a lot 10 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 1: to say about Honey, and not just us, but the 11 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:41,800 Speaker 1: entirety of the human species because the history goes back 12 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: like pre prehistorical times. Yeah, and he's been around for 13 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:50,960 Speaker 1: a long time. And it is not, as the top 14 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: Google result would suggest, be poop. It might be partly 15 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: be vomit, but it is not pop. Yes, definitely be 16 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: vomit a little bit. Um. Also, honey bees are the 17 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:06,119 Speaker 1: official state insect of Georgia since nine. Yeah. The more 18 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: you know, states have snacks and insects, don't, You're learning 19 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:15,960 Speaker 1: a lot about state symbols as we embark on this show. Um, so, 20 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: so what is someone is honey? Exactly? It's a lot 21 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: of things, but a good starting point is that honey 22 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: is a sugary viscus liquid that is a combination of 23 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: flower nectar and the secretions of honey bees that honey vomit, 24 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: honey vomit, be vomit mentioned earlier, um honey vomit. Collect 25 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: the nectar in a special organ called their honey stomach, 26 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,080 Speaker 1: and then they carry it back to their hive and 27 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: tiny forty milligram loads. Yes, once they're they're in the hive, 28 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 1: they regurgitate it over and over again, and each time 29 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: they absorb a little bit of the water and impart 30 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:57,600 Speaker 1: a few enzymes into the mixture that helped the nectar 31 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:01,000 Speaker 1: form up into honey. They then word in honeycomb and 32 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: fan it with their wings, and thanks to the shape 33 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: of that honeycomb and the the sent of water evaporation 34 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 1: action caused by that repeated regurgitation and those fluttering little 35 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:16,080 Speaker 1: bee wings, Huala, you get honey. It retains some of 36 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:18,920 Speaker 1: the nectar's oils and other stuff, which is why different 37 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:23,519 Speaker 1: honeys taste and smell different. And if you're wondering why 38 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:26,680 Speaker 1: bees do this, which I kind of was, it seems 39 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:28,959 Speaker 1: like a lot of work right, and I've never really 40 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: thought about it before. I was like, what a strange thing. 41 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: They do it for the energy that the honey provides them, 42 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 1: especially during the winter when they heat their hives with 43 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: their shivering their wing muscles and releasing heat from their bodies. Yeah, 44 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:46,919 Speaker 1: they heat their hives with their own body heat, which 45 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 1: is just real metal. I don't know that that's intense. 46 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: I had to think about that sentence for a second. 47 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: The average high which is about forty to eight thousand bees, 48 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: needs on average twenty to thirty pounds of honey to 49 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,800 Speaker 1: asked through the colder months. That's about a nine to 50 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:07,239 Speaker 1: four for our metric friends. Hives yield an average about 51 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: fifty to seventy pounds of human usable honey per year. 52 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: On top of that that, that's about two kims, which 53 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: is way down from old yields that beekeepers used to 54 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: see of up to like a hundred and fifty pounds 55 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:24,359 Speaker 1: or sixty eight kgrams per year before things like colony collapse, 56 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,240 Speaker 1: disorder and other factors started to make BE populations and 57 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:32,519 Speaker 1: BE productivity decrease. More more on that depressing note later. 58 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: I promise, I promised most of this episode won't be depressing. Yes, 59 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: it will be full of b puns, though it will 60 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: be joyous. Okay, okay, okay, I feel better off. So 61 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: I didn't I didn't check the math myself. But according 62 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: to an excellent book called History of Food, it takes 63 00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:00,120 Speaker 1: bees one thousand to five hundred thousand nectar collection and 64 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 1: trips for a hive to make a single leader of honey. Whoa, 65 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: And probably everyone knows what a leader looks like. But 66 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: that's like about a quarter of a gallon. If that 67 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: helps you. Yeah, And if you're thinking maybe I want 68 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: to be a bee keeper, I know a lot of 69 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:19,600 Speaker 1: you were. Um, this is kind of the general process 70 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:23,160 Speaker 1: of how you go about doing that. So you actually 71 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: will probably buy your bees. That's the thing in a 72 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:32,160 Speaker 1: two to five pound pagage. Okay. Once this package your eyes, 73 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 1: the beekeeper will spray the bees with a solution of 74 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 1: sugar syrup one sugar, one part water. Simple syrup. Yeah, 75 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: that's nice. It does a cocktail. Addition, don't just drink 76 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: that unless your bees, unless you're bees, because they feast 77 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:54,320 Speaker 1: on this they get super sticky and more porrible. Insects 78 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:59,239 Speaker 1: are frequently porrible, I guess. So, and the queen who 79 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,360 Speaker 1: comes in her own separate cage thing that's sealed at 80 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:07,040 Speaker 1: one end with a sugary quote. Queen Candy is set 81 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: between the two middle frames. You should already have your 82 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: little bee hive framework set up by this point, by 83 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 1: the way um and the first important first step the 84 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,520 Speaker 1: bees slowly eat away at this Queen Candy to release her. 85 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:25,599 Speaker 1: Or you could just buy a colony. That's the thing too. Yeah, 86 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: and one of the most important tools for beekeeper is 87 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:33,920 Speaker 1: the smoker um, which a lot of you've probably seen. 88 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: That's how you kind of calm bees down. Yeah, it's 89 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: like a watering can looking thing. Um. Apparently pinch dog 90 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: grass and burlap are really good smoking materials. I wrote 91 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,279 Speaker 1: here also Marry Kay and Ashley reference. And what I 92 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: didn't write here is that I feel really old and 93 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:52,479 Speaker 1: have no idea what you're talking about whatsoever. It was 94 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: this They used to have this mystery show for kids 95 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:59,080 Speaker 1: that I loved, and one of the episodes was there 96 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 1: was a Ghost of Transylvania and the smoke and all 97 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: this stuff, and it was just a beekeeper with the 98 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 1: smoker in the suit. That was the like. That was 99 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:13,720 Speaker 1: the big reveal at the end. Of the scooby doo reveal. Okay, yeah, 100 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: so so you so you chill the bees out with 101 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:21,359 Speaker 1: the smoke and then and then you remove the layer 102 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: of wax the bees put over the honeycomb to keep 103 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: the honey in each comb which I'm not really sure 104 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: what we're called honeycomb, but this isn't an etymology show 105 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 1: UM over each compartment of the honeycomb frame. So you 106 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:40,839 Speaker 1: take the wax off of each of these uh compartments 107 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: of honeycomb in the frame, put the frame in an 108 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:47,919 Speaker 1: extractor or a centrifuge that spent the honey out of 109 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,040 Speaker 1: the frames UM and in case there are any honeycomb 110 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:54,920 Speaker 1: bits remaining, the honey is usually strained. Most beekeepers heat 111 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 1: the honey to make this process easier, which if done correctly, 112 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 1: doesn't make much of an impact on the final product, 113 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 1: or it's not supposed to UM. And then it's bottled, 114 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:10,400 Speaker 1: chipped and ready to buy our devour. And in case 115 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: you haven't seen these frames were talking about, they're provided 116 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: by the beekeeper for the bees as a hive, and 117 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,240 Speaker 1: they hang parallel inside rows and columns of topless and 118 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: bottomless boxes and at the bee colony which consists of 119 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: aforementioned queen, a couple of thousand male jone bees, and 120 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: way more thousands of female worker bees. Builds the honeycomb 121 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: inside these frames and at its peak, like I said earlier, 122 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: a healthy bee colony has anywhere from four thousand to 123 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: eighty thousand bees. And we have a video of this 124 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: you should totally check out. Yeah, it's going to be 125 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: mostly on on Amazon Prime, I believe. And according to 126 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 1: the u N Food and Agriculture Organization, China was by 127 00:07:55,880 --> 00:08:00,200 Speaker 1: far the largest producer of honey in making up scent 128 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:04,600 Speaker 1: of the one point seven million tons produced worldwide, and 129 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: the next largest producers Russia, Argentina, Ukraine and Turkey add 130 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: up to less than combined. Yeah. Okay, so so so 131 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: so all that all that being said about production, Um, 132 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:25,120 Speaker 1: once you've got this honey product, there's there's a bunch 133 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: of stuff going on in there, so much stuff going on. Um. 134 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: Chemistry wise, honey is made up of glucose and fructose, which, 135 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 1: if you remember from our sugar episode, are simple sugars 136 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:44,080 Speaker 1: also called monosaccharides, and some water to keep things interesting. 137 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:50,960 Speaker 1: Honey also has about two hundred other substances in it. Carbohydrates, fructo, aligo, saccharids, 138 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,040 Speaker 1: sometimes going by the easier to pronounce and snooty er 139 00:08:54,120 --> 00:09:01,199 Speaker 1: sounding higher sugars, higher sugars, amino acids, minerals, ensigns, proteins, 140 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: and vitamins. And this is so close to the matrix 141 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:12,120 Speaker 1: code everything the body needs. It also has die sacker 142 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 1: rides like sucros and maltos in a way lower qualities, qualities, quantities. 143 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:25,120 Speaker 1: I could have lower quality sucros. I don't know. I 144 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:28,319 Speaker 1: try not to judge sacres too much. Outside of that, 145 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:31,040 Speaker 1: I don't know. Our episode is pretty judgment. You're right, Oh, 146 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: I just lied. I just lied really hard. Speaking of sucres, 147 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:39,560 Speaker 1: taste wise, honey is sweeter than seacres, which is table sugar, 148 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 1: by about one point five times. The taste and color 149 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: depends on the flower plant the nectar comes from, and 150 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:50,440 Speaker 1: in the US there are over three hundred different types 151 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: of honey, and generally speaking, honey follows beer. The lighter 152 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 1: the color, the lighter the flavor. And you and you 153 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:04,440 Speaker 1: know this from person experience, Yes I do. I went 154 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 1: through a honey tasting. Honey tasting, which things exist, they do, 155 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:12,560 Speaker 1: and they're lovely. Uh, It's very similar to a wine 156 00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:15,600 Speaker 1: tasting where you get sometimes it's even in a wine glass. 157 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:18,600 Speaker 1: You get the honey and you're supposed to like do 158 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:20,760 Speaker 1: your best to swirled around. Sometimes they give you a 159 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 1: tool to like not to say swirl, you would look hilarious, 160 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:31,440 Speaker 1: swirl some money, but you you do that to release 161 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: the aroma and then you take a whiff and then 162 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:37,199 Speaker 1: you taste. You can do it straight up or you 163 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 1: can do it on something like bread. And there are 164 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:43,160 Speaker 1: a ton of honey types yeah, yeah, like like you 165 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 1: were saying, over over three in the United States alone. Yeah, 166 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:49,440 Speaker 1: like blueberry, firewheed, orange blossom, sour wood. You can go 167 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:52,960 Speaker 1: look them up if you're interested. I have a good 168 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 1: number of types of honey in my home some somehow, 169 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:57,760 Speaker 1: between me and my roommate, we have like nine jars 170 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:00,640 Speaker 1: of honey. And I'm not sure how and why this occur. Yeah, 171 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:02,400 Speaker 1: I asked Lauren about it the first time. A little 172 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:07,559 Speaker 1: better department. Like all of them are like halfway us. 173 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:12,560 Speaker 1: Some of them are from Israel. It's really interesting. Yeah, 174 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 1: I mean there's so many different kinds of honey and 175 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:18,400 Speaker 1: taste you could get. And there's even a honey tasting 176 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: wheel Honey tasting wheel. Yes, you should get one. It 177 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:29,200 Speaker 1: includes hilarious descriptors like mauldy, wet earth slash, hummus, sweaty, 178 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 1: locker room, and Cappye. If I tell you, if I 179 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:38,560 Speaker 1: taste any it's gonna be a real disappotment. A tablespoon 180 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 1: of honey if if you're concerned about calories, um and such, 181 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:46,079 Speaker 1: is about sixty four calories and about seventeen carbohydrates and 182 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,840 Speaker 1: uh and there's there's also different ways of processing and 183 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 1: eating it, like like as in whipped honey or just 184 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: straight up honeycomb. I enjoy both. I don't really like 185 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:57,480 Speaker 1: the honeycomb. It gets a little bits near in any way. 186 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:00,960 Speaker 1: Um On. On top of that, though, about nine of 187 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:03,800 Speaker 1: the carbohydrates and honey are fermentable, which is how you 188 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 1: get things like mead. Thanks for that honey, yeah mead. 189 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: As we discussed off air while plotting a trip to 190 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 1: the Georgia Renaissance Festival for an episode about fair food, 191 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:16,680 Speaker 1: meat is definitely getting a whole episode of its own. 192 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:19,680 Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, And we've even heard from a listener who 193 00:12:19,679 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 1: works in a meterary. Um, I missed that email. That's 194 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:30,960 Speaker 1: such an exciting email. Awesome. UM. Honey can be classified 195 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:35,640 Speaker 1: in a number of different ways. You've got viscosity origin 196 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:42,320 Speaker 1: which is monofloral versus polyploral um source nectar floral versus 197 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:46,040 Speaker 1: honeydew honey r. And this is honey that bees get 198 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:52,000 Speaker 1: from the plant sap secretions of other insects. That's ephemistically 199 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:56,160 Speaker 1: called honeydew. Yeah, this kind of honey is typically darker 200 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:59,880 Speaker 1: and more bitter. In another way you can classify honey 201 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 1: is by processing method. Yeah, I've heard that that honey 202 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:05,800 Speaker 1: bees or I've I read again like this wasn't like 203 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:08,560 Speaker 1: water cooler talk. Um. I read in a book that 204 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:12,199 Speaker 1: that bees, honey bees like like some kinds of ants 205 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:18,080 Speaker 1: will milk apids for their aid juice. The use of 206 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:23,080 Speaker 1: the word milk there. They like they like farm them 207 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:29,319 Speaker 1: in order to get their apid nectar. I don't know, Okay, okay, sure, Um. 208 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 1: Moving on, As far as types, you've got liquid, crystallized 209 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 1: and partially crystallized, and for styles you've got filtered and strained. 210 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:44,440 Speaker 1: And a lot of this is included in UM. The U. 211 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:49,479 Speaker 1: S d As they issued these standards under the Agricultural 212 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:53,960 Speaker 1: Marketing Act of and honey is voluntarily graded through this. 213 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:56,080 Speaker 1: You have to pay to get the U s D 214 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:59,360 Speaker 1: eight to do this, but I'm assuming you want to 215 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: pay to to it so that you can label it 216 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,439 Speaker 1: and for our purposes kind of like great a honey, right, 217 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:07,040 Speaker 1: and it's probably easier to get your honey in stores. 218 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: I guess, um, So what the U s d A 219 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:15,559 Speaker 1: is looking for when it's when it inspects honey are 220 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 1: mostly clarity, aroma, flavor, and defects. You can get a 221 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:27,200 Speaker 1: grade of A B C or substandard substandard, okay, And 222 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:31,600 Speaker 1: it follows the grading that we have like in school. 223 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:35,920 Speaker 1: Nine plus is A so on the points are broken 224 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:40,840 Speaker 1: down like this, fifty points for Roman flavor, forty for 225 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:45,160 Speaker 1: absence of defects, and ten for clarity. But apparently clarity 226 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: isn't actually scored because it's not based on any quote 227 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:56,040 Speaker 1: detailed requirements obviously, sure, okay, So whatever the two categories 228 00:14:56,120 --> 00:15:01,000 Speaker 1: score is added up, multiplied by one hundred and then 229 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: divided by ninety, which seems way overly complicated, but that's 230 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:08,880 Speaker 1: but that's fine us government. You keep doing you don't 231 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: change anything about that. I'm sure there's not an easier 232 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 1: way like just doing it on a nine point scale 233 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:19,440 Speaker 1: and don't be crazy. Okay, try to rock the boat here, Lawrence. Sorry, 234 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 1: in such a honey rebel um. The U s c 235 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:26,720 Speaker 1: A also has a chart of color designations determined by 236 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 1: the honey's optical density, which is how much a refractive 237 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:36,160 Speaker 1: substance slows down light rays. And there are seven colored categories, 238 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,920 Speaker 1: ranging from water white, which I accidentally put Walter white 239 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:43,320 Speaker 1: the first time. That's a different things, very different. That's 240 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,080 Speaker 1: that's also a blue color category, I believe, not a 241 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:50,800 Speaker 1: white one. Okay, so so water white, yes too. Dark 242 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: amber is the darkest. I kind of wish it was 243 00:15:54,640 --> 00:16:01,880 Speaker 1: Walter white. Uh, weird to levision math jokes aside that 244 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:08,440 Speaker 1: there are many other wonderful random things about honey so much. Uh, 245 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:13,640 Speaker 1: it's a great moisture absorber and um container container of moisture. 246 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, container of moisture because and because of this, 247 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:21,400 Speaker 1: bakers sometimes use it to extend shelf life of baked 248 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:24,720 Speaker 1: goods by locking in moisture um. And I learned a 249 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: new word researching this, hygroscopic. Hygroscopic. So so what does 250 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 1: this magical word mean? It means um. While it doesn't 251 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:40,040 Speaker 1: have much in the way of moisture naturally left unsealed. 252 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:43,360 Speaker 1: It's a super moisture absorber. Yeah, it just means it 253 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:48,320 Speaker 1: absorbs moisture basically. Yeah, but that's a great word. Okay, 254 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 1: honey doesn't really freeze, but it appears solid at negative 255 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:57,600 Speaker 1: four degrees fahrenheit are negative twenty degrees celsius. It enters 256 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:03,520 Speaker 1: the super cool, fun sounding glass transition when it falls 257 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,200 Speaker 1: somewhere in the range of negative forty two in negative 258 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:09,920 Speaker 1: fifty one degrees celsius or negative forty four in negative 259 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:13,359 Speaker 1: sixty degrees fairy knight, keep switching where we put the 260 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,440 Speaker 1: celsiusan fair knei. Yeah, no, that's that's that's rad people 261 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:19,800 Speaker 1: can It gives people something to to concentrate on. The 262 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 1: glass transition, by the way, is a thing that happens 263 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 1: in some materials, as specifically in a morphous materials, where 264 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 1: the stuff in question goes from being hard and like 265 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:32,199 Speaker 1: a rubbery sort of way to being hard in a 266 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:35,840 Speaker 1: brittle sort of way as it gets colder. Um and 267 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:38,640 Speaker 1: and yes, glass does this, since the name glass transition um, 268 00:17:39,359 --> 00:17:42,520 Speaker 1: glasses technically neither a solid nor a liquid. Um and 269 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:44,840 Speaker 1: the glass transition is a thing in physics that humans 270 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: are still really confused about, which which I actually find 271 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:52,040 Speaker 1: pretty neat. I'm always charmed by physics mysteries. Yeah, me too, 272 00:17:52,359 --> 00:17:57,720 Speaker 1: And I actually thought silly of me for some reason. 273 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 1: I thought it met like honey so crystallized and looked 274 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 1: like glass. Well, I mean that's kind of I mean, yeah, 275 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:06,880 Speaker 1: sort of. I mean it doesn't like crystallize, because that's 276 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:10,760 Speaker 1: not quite what's up. But I'm making really liberal use 277 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:13,040 Speaker 1: of air quotes right now. But yeah, it's but but 278 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:15,680 Speaker 1: it does. It would shatter like glass at that toplture 279 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: if you like, hit it with a hammer. So not 280 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:23,119 Speaker 1: so silly, perfect Um. Honey has a pH that generally 281 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:27,959 Speaker 1: falls between three point two and four five. And because 282 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:31,240 Speaker 1: of the unique mix of minerals and acids Honey's got 283 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:37,360 Speaker 1: going on for it, it can conduct electricity. Yeah, okay, 284 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: so many cool things. Yeah yeah, so okay. So what 285 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 1: you're saying is that if if we ever totally run 286 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:45,960 Speaker 1: out of wire, we can just filled tubes with honey 287 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:50,680 Speaker 1: in the future and get electricity that way. You're hypothetical 288 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:56,640 Speaker 1: situation as a very intrigued on a number of things unrelated. 289 00:18:57,119 --> 00:19:00,440 Speaker 1: But we'll discuss this more in depth after the podcast. Us. 290 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:05,879 Speaker 1: Another cool thing about honey is it doesn't really have 291 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:10,960 Speaker 1: an exploration date unless you expose it to moisture. So, 292 00:19:11,119 --> 00:19:15,960 Speaker 1: to clarify, sealed honey doesn't really go bad. Um Archaeologists 293 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: have found pots of honey thousands of years old, thousands 294 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:24,000 Speaker 1: of years old in Egypt that are still perfectly edible. What, yeah, 295 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:30,240 Speaker 1: I want ancient honey. Yeah, me too. Man, someone sends 296 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:31,960 Speaker 1: some hient honey, I assume it would come with a 297 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,080 Speaker 1: mummy curse, but I'm kind of I'm pretty much do 298 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: not need a mommy curse in my life. The reason 299 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 1: it doesn't really go bad if it's sealed has to 300 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: do with a couple of things. One being that low 301 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:48,880 Speaker 1: moisture bacteria pretty much just suffocate because there's no there's 302 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:53,159 Speaker 1: no moisture, there's no air, and this generally translates to 303 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:57,320 Speaker 1: no spoilage, at least on that front. Um. Another thing 304 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:01,199 Speaker 1: keeping those bacteria out is honey's acidity. It's about the 305 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 1: same as it's orange juice. Yeah. And what separates honey 306 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:10,960 Speaker 1: from something like molasses, which will eventually spoil is the bees. 307 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:16,840 Speaker 1: The bees. People always think of wicker Man when that 308 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:20,879 Speaker 1: with that, the bees always think of buyers shock. You 309 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:23,879 Speaker 1: play those bee tracks and you hear the big Daddy 310 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 1: scream and the next thing you know, you're getting at 311 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:28,200 Speaker 1: and you can and you can literally shoot bees out 312 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,119 Speaker 1: of your arms. My favorite power. I thought it was 313 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:32,399 Speaker 1: really lame when I read the description, but then you 314 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:35,840 Speaker 1: do it and you're like, oh, this is completely magical. Ever, 315 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:40,120 Speaker 1: I have to admit that if I could have that superpower, 316 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:44,720 Speaker 1: I probably would sorry other humans. You would attack other humans. 317 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:50,280 Speaker 1: I would watch out people. YEA, well, what the bees. 318 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,920 Speaker 1: The enzyme in the bee stomach, like we mentioned earlier, 319 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:59,119 Speaker 1: it breaks down the flower nectar into gluconic acid and 320 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:04,160 Speaker 1: hydrogen proc side hydrogen peroxide, as you know, kills bacteria 321 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:08,959 Speaker 1: and all of those equals practically unlimited shelf life and 322 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 1: long history of medicinal uses. Those medicinal uses we will 323 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:17,520 Speaker 1: get to in our second episode about honey. Um. In 324 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:20,000 Speaker 1: this our first episode about honey, we are going to 325 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:23,879 Speaker 1: go into the cultural and food history of the substance. 326 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:26,639 Speaker 1: But we will get to that after we take a 327 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:39,440 Speaker 1: quick break for a word from our sponsor, and we're back, 328 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:44,000 Speaker 1: Thank you, sponsor. UM. So, uh, we know that Egyptians 329 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 1: were all about storing honey, right, But that's not the 330 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:53,920 Speaker 1: first reference that we have to honey. Oh no, oh no, 331 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:58,840 Speaker 1: not by far. Oh. There are rock paintings going back 332 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:03,560 Speaker 1: over eight thousand airs that depict humans managing honey bee 333 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:07,560 Speaker 1: similar to our current method, like providing a frame home 334 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:11,159 Speaker 1: type one for bees to build their colonies. Yeah not 335 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:13,479 Speaker 1: just like not just like finding a hive and like 336 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:16,199 Speaker 1: pulling honey out of it with your media media fests. No, 337 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:21,120 Speaker 1: okay um. And there are bees wax lipids that were 338 00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:24,960 Speaker 1: discovered in cookware from northern Europe to as far as 339 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:28,600 Speaker 1: northern Africa, all the way back to seven thousand BC. 340 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:31,480 Speaker 1: And the risky business of collecting honey straight from the 341 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:38,120 Speaker 1: high that goes back even further, um, like twenty five 342 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:42,560 Speaker 1: thousand years ago, which we know thanks to rock art 343 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:46,680 Speaker 1: of honeycomb man ground in caves and I believe Spain 344 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:53,520 Speaker 1: sure yeah, um, the history of humans and honey could 345 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:57,680 Speaker 1: go back even further than that, given that our primate 346 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:01,639 Speaker 1: ancestors are known to eat and enjoys honey. Absolutely. Yeah. 347 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,920 Speaker 1: Paintings in Spain dating back to ten thousand years ago 348 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:09,359 Speaker 1: showman climbing ladders to get honey and evidence of bees 349 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:12,600 Speaker 1: wax being used as something to bind stuff with. Goes 350 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:16,960 Speaker 1: all the way back to six thousand BC. Um, Egyptian Jews, 351 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:21,800 Speaker 1: beeswax medicinally and in embalming and ret mummies. Oh yeah 352 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:24,960 Speaker 1: yeah um. And there are bees wax candles going back 353 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:30,359 Speaker 1: to three seventy five BC in China. The first time 354 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:34,040 Speaker 1: bee keeping popped up in writing was in Minoan and 355 00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:37,960 Speaker 1: Manoa was modern day Crete and some other gan islands 356 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:41,280 Speaker 1: that kind of area. And this writing was from the 357 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:46,919 Speaker 1: Bronze Age, and it described a honey store. And researchers 358 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:50,240 Speaker 1: think that beekeeping was fairly common in places like Egypt 359 00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:54,919 Speaker 1: and Sumair and sixth century Talmudic claws laid down the 360 00:23:54,960 --> 00:24:00,200 Speaker 1: best practices for seventh day honey harvesting. Um. And where 361 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 1: you should keep your hives as in safe human distance? 362 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 1: Oh yes, not very important, not right next to the schoolyard. 363 00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 1: A little bit of crowbar crowbar distance there. If we 364 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:16,400 Speaker 1: jump ahead to Israel sometime in or around eight hundred 365 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:19,120 Speaker 1: b C, we have our first instance of a large 366 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:24,000 Speaker 1: scale beekeeping operation. Archaeologists discovered the ruins of a large 367 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:28,640 Speaker 1: apiary that consisted of clay cylinders with a small hole 368 00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:32,000 Speaker 1: on one side for the bees. To enter and a 369 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: lid on the other side for the bee keeper to 370 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:37,720 Speaker 1: access the honey. So far, about thirty of these hives 371 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:43,280 Speaker 1: have been excavated. Estimated that they're about a hundred oh oh. 372 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:45,720 Speaker 1: So it was a large scale production kind of format thing. 373 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:48,400 Speaker 1: It was like a real deal. Yeah. Um. In cultures 374 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:52,920 Speaker 1: around the world, honey was used as an additive to sauces, stuffings, 375 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:55,879 Speaker 1: and cooking liquids, and also as a preservative for a 376 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,720 Speaker 1: for fruits and edible flowers. Um. And it's it's thought 377 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:03,080 Speaker 1: that the Chinese Stark of the tenth century CE we're 378 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:06,400 Speaker 1: the first to create honey cakes um, which were then 379 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,640 Speaker 1: passed through Asia and into Europe by folks like Genghis Khan. 380 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:15,040 Speaker 1: He keeps popping up no. Um. Also, my favorite part 381 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,560 Speaker 1: of this episode personally is that honey has been used 382 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:21,280 Speaker 1: as a biological weapon in warfare. I know when I 383 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: saw you add that like titled to the note, I 384 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:30,639 Speaker 1: was like, wait, what, I haven't gotten to that yet. 385 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:32,720 Speaker 1: But you had gotten to it. You had already done 386 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: some notes about mad honey, which is a type of 387 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:39,360 Speaker 1: honey made from the nectar of poisonous flowers. Um. This 388 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:46,440 Speaker 1: honey contains something called gray and otoxins, which are found 389 00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:51,240 Speaker 1: in flowers like mountain laurels and azaleas rhodendrons too. I 390 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:57,440 Speaker 1: didn't include that because the pronunciation intimidates me um. While 391 00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:03,440 Speaker 1: typically not fatal, it doesn't sound with symptoms like nausea, vomiting, 392 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:08,439 Speaker 1: sweating excessively, and dizziness. In rare cases, you could be 393 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:13,280 Speaker 1: looking at convulsions, low blood pressure, shock, and heart irregularities. 394 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:16,880 Speaker 1: And in rare cases you could be looking at dead. Yeah. Um, 395 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:20,400 Speaker 1: it depends on the dose. Grigana toxins I'm just gonna 396 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,560 Speaker 1: go with that pronunciation are a neurotoxins that affect the 397 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:27,119 Speaker 1: vagus nerve, which is a huge reaching nerve bundle that 398 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:31,080 Speaker 1: affects your stomach and heart and brain functions see yogurt 399 00:26:31,119 --> 00:26:35,400 Speaker 1: episode and documentation of this goes all the way back 400 00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:38,720 Speaker 1: to four hundred and four hundred and one BC writings 401 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 1: of Greek warrior Xenophon quote, but the swarms of bees 402 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:46,199 Speaker 1: in the neighborhood were numerous, and the soldiers who ate 403 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:48,800 Speaker 1: of the honey all went off their heads and suffered 404 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 1: from vomiting and diarrhea, and not one of them could 405 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:54,879 Speaker 1: stand up. But those who had eaten a little were 406 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:58,119 Speaker 1: like people exceedingly drunk, while those who had eaten a 407 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:04,000 Speaker 1: great deal seemed like crazy or even in some cases dying. Man. Oh, yes, 408 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:08,520 Speaker 1: I hope you appreciated that dramatic reading. Yes, absolutely, Dramatic 409 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:11,200 Speaker 1: interpretations are always welcome. But I do want to point 410 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:14,640 Speaker 1: out that was an accidental poisoning, right, not wor fare, 411 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:19,080 Speaker 1: not warfare. Around six b C. King mythree d Is, 412 00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:21,880 Speaker 1: the sixth of Pontus Um set a trap for the 413 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:26,240 Speaker 1: invading Roman army led by POMPEII the Great Um the Romans. 414 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:28,240 Speaker 1: At the time, we're moving along the coast of Black 415 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:31,480 Speaker 1: Sea in present day northeast Turkey, UM, the same area 416 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 1: actually that Zina fun had been traveling through a couple 417 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:38,640 Speaker 1: hundred years before. Mythree DDIS troops set out poisonous mad 418 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:42,040 Speaker 1: honeycombs along their route, and the Romans fell for the 419 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:47,000 Speaker 1: tasty trap, whereupon mythree DDIS army attacked and killed about 420 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,360 Speaker 1: a thousand of them once they had been rendered helpless 421 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:55,160 Speaker 1: by this honey what Yeah, if you're curious. Eventually Pompey 422 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 1: defeated me three days and ended his expanse into Rome's territories. 423 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,679 Speaker 1: Um Supposedly my three D's died after being overthrown by 424 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:05,280 Speaker 1: his son. Underguard with D's tried to kill himself with poison, 425 00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:08,920 Speaker 1: but was inured to it after years of mild preventative doses, 426 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:10,760 Speaker 1: and he finally had to ask a guard to run 427 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:14,439 Speaker 1: him through. Oh my gosh. Armies have at least twice 428 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:18,679 Speaker 1: used mad honey wine, mad mead, mad meade um as 429 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:23,040 Speaker 1: a biological weapon in the same region. In about ninety six, 430 00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:27,200 Speaker 1: ce Olga of Kiev had his allies sneakily offer mead 431 00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:31,439 Speaker 1: to his Russian foes and then slaughtered five thousand of them, 432 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:35,800 Speaker 1: and then in nine a Russian army left behind casks 433 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:38,600 Speaker 1: of poisoned mead when they abandoned a camp in the 434 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:41,720 Speaker 1: face of an incoming Tatar army, and then swept back 435 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:45,360 Speaker 1: through and killed some ten thousand of them. Honey was 436 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:48,000 Speaker 1: pretty effective weapon, right well, I mean, I mean it 437 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 1: was delicious, like I mean, and it was a treat 438 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:52,360 Speaker 1: like if you just find some honey or some mead, 439 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,000 Speaker 1: I mean, you eat it like it's it's It's not 440 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:56,840 Speaker 1: like you can go to like the Dollar General and 441 00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:01,640 Speaker 1: pick up some snickers. That's I don't I don't know, 442 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:03,680 Speaker 1: if I like walked into a room that my inevies 443 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 1: have just left and like, my goodness, they loved fine 444 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 1: all this honey. But it's all right here, I should 445 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:13,760 Speaker 1: definitely stuff my face full of this. I'm just gonna 446 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 1: go mouthfuls as quickly as possible. Um. Outside of honey 447 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:24,520 Speaker 1: war warfare, I did want to put in that the 448 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:27,240 Speaker 1: honey bees that we have today in North America were 449 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:32,800 Speaker 1: not around in North America until after Columbus arrived. Um. Uh. 450 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:36,640 Speaker 1: The other bees, other North American bees, uh, did create 451 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:40,520 Speaker 1: honey like substances uh and and and existed. Um. These 452 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:43,000 Speaker 1: populations were mostly wiped out, however, by the Eastern honey 453 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 1: bees once they arrived here. Oh oops, okay, well, speaking 454 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:56,920 Speaker 1: of bees, we're gonna we're gonna talk all about bees 455 00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:00,320 Speaker 1: and what's going on. What's going on there? Well yeah, yeah, 456 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:01,720 Speaker 1: so so yeah, all of this has been kind of 457 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 1: the history of bees and beekeeping and honey and uh. 458 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 1: We wanted to talk next about the future and we'll 459 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:11,920 Speaker 1: do that after another short break for a word from 460 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:29,320 Speaker 1: our sponsor, and we're back, Thank you sponsor. Okay, so bees, So, 461 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:32,640 Speaker 1: speaking of depressing things, we have to touch briefly on 462 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:38,960 Speaker 1: colony collapse disorder yea. Prior to two five, beekeeper's loss 463 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:42,480 Speaker 1: about five to ten percent of their hives during wintertime. 464 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:44,800 Speaker 1: That was like a normal, totally normal thing to happen, 465 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:51,280 Speaker 1: But now it's more than half. Newer pet sides called 466 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:57,120 Speaker 1: neo nicotsnoise thank you, Lauren, thought to be the culprit. 467 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:00,280 Speaker 1: But we don't know for sure, our scientists and I 468 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:04,640 Speaker 1: definitely don't um, but I do know it's pretty it's 469 00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:13,440 Speaker 1: pretty likely it's. Yeah, and these people forget, but these 470 00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:16,920 Speaker 1: not only make honey, but they also pollinate a lot 471 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:20,440 Speaker 1: of what we eat, like a fourth of it a lot, yea. 472 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:25,240 Speaker 1: And this equates to fifteen billion dollars worth of crops 473 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:33,720 Speaker 1: um and between beekeepers reported losing eight percent of their 474 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:36,200 Speaker 1: colonies out here in the United States, I think, right. 475 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:41,360 Speaker 1: And the number one culprit according to them was verroa mites. Yeah, 476 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:45,200 Speaker 1: there's there's a there's a few kind of intersecting things 477 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:48,040 Speaker 1: going on here. There's a different parasites that affect bees, 478 00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:50,920 Speaker 1: like these mites and and also the nicotroids and and 479 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:54,760 Speaker 1: some some researchers think that it's a combination of those things. 480 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:58,520 Speaker 1: That's causing the dramatic effects that we're seeing. Yeah. And 481 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:03,000 Speaker 1: I know and local u G a University of Georgia, 482 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:08,800 Speaker 1: they are studying this. And I remember reading that for 483 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 1: rome mites, it was one of the big things that 484 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:17,680 Speaker 1: they were studying as being a problem. Um. But this, like, 485 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:20,000 Speaker 1: that's a lot of money, and that's all lot of crops. 486 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:23,000 Speaker 1: So yeah, and and some things, I mean without pollination 487 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,640 Speaker 1: of bees, like bees are solely responsible for the pollination 488 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:29,280 Speaker 1: of for example, almonds, like almond trees. So if if 489 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:31,960 Speaker 1: enough bees go away, we could lose We could just 490 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,280 Speaker 1: lose those crops if if other steps are not taken 491 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:36,360 Speaker 1: to figure out a different way to do things. Yeah, 492 00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:38,800 Speaker 1: but I would rather just just have bees. I mean 493 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:42,960 Speaker 1: that sounds nice. Love So I love bees too. And 494 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:47,720 Speaker 1: that's a weird halo reference. Uh. And people are trying 495 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:52,400 Speaker 1: to do things about this. Uh. One interesting one interesting 496 00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:55,959 Speaker 1: thing is that Maryland just passed the law that allows 497 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,040 Speaker 1: beekeepers to shoot black bears that put their hives in danger. 498 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:03,600 Speaker 1: Oh no, okay, stay away from my eye, Carol. Sorry. 499 00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:11,120 Speaker 1: Bears kind of unrelated but interesting. My alma mater, Georgia Tech, 500 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:15,280 Speaker 1: is looking at the way bees forage and they did 501 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:20,280 Speaker 1: this by and they started they put tags on bees. 502 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:25,320 Speaker 1: What little tech. Yeah, these tags show that the bees 503 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:30,240 Speaker 1: operate at pretty much maximum efficiency. And years later, this 504 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:34,720 Speaker 1: honeybee algorithm is used to maximize the allocation of a 505 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:38,520 Speaker 1: web hosting computer servers to the Internet's ever changing whims 506 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:43,640 Speaker 1: so unpredictable that in a net. Yeah, and during some 507 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:46,480 Speaker 1: of the first test of this algorithm, the honeybee one 508 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 1: outperformed the other algorithms being used by major companies at 509 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:54,600 Speaker 1: the time by and it's still used today and other 510 00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:57,600 Speaker 1: companies have benefited from it and made their own versions. 511 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:01,240 Speaker 1: So thank you honeybees. Yeah, there's lots of there's lots 512 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:03,840 Speaker 1: lots of other things that bees are amazing at, and 513 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:06,600 Speaker 1: lots of other reasons to keep honey bees around. Um. 514 00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:09,000 Speaker 1: I mean they're their methods of communication are super interesting. 515 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:13,879 Speaker 1: They have excellent senses of smell, um and like yeah, 516 00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:15,879 Speaker 1: like like like certain kinds of of dogs. They can 517 00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:19,040 Speaker 1: be used in a laboratory setting to sniff out like 518 00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:24,799 Speaker 1: cancer and other diseases. Oh. Um, it's piece are great. Um. 519 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:27,160 Speaker 1: And there are lots of solutions that are being proposed 520 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:30,040 Speaker 1: to help out with colony collapse disorder. Thing um over. 521 00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:33,359 Speaker 1: On my old podcast Forward Thinking, we once did an 522 00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:35,680 Speaker 1: episode about the future of bees that was in May, 523 00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:40,799 Speaker 1: and it was called appropriately the Future of Bees. Um So, 524 00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:42,920 Speaker 1: of course it's it's slightly out of date now, but 525 00:34:43,160 --> 00:34:45,080 Speaker 1: but if you're curious, it's a pretty good primer on 526 00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:49,239 Speaker 1: the on the entire issue. Yeah, check that out if 527 00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:58,000 Speaker 1: you're interested. Just to another way to hit home, how 528 00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:02,120 Speaker 1: honey how much we've value it? Yeah, And and as 529 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:04,960 Speaker 1: so to not end the episode on a totally depressing note, Yes, 530 00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:09,719 Speaker 1: the most expensive honey in the world is Turkey's Elvish 531 00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:14,040 Speaker 1: honey honey. Yeah, at what I'm sure is the very 532 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:20,400 Speaker 1: reasonable six thousand, eight hundred per kilogram. What Yeah, thousand, 533 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:25,440 Speaker 1: eight hundred dollars, not like pennies are like monopoly moneys 534 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:34,400 Speaker 1: are uh six US buckaroos. And the beekeeper attest that 535 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:36,880 Speaker 1: the reason for this price price point is because the 536 00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:42,240 Speaker 1: honey is harvested organically in a mineral rich eight hundred 537 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:48,320 Speaker 1: deep cave. And these minerals, according to am really flavor 538 00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:52,640 Speaker 1: cave aged honey. I mean, I've had caged cheese, caveged wine. 539 00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:55,160 Speaker 1: View that sounds are nice. I bet it's I mean, 540 00:35:55,280 --> 00:36:03,120 Speaker 1: I bet it's wonderful the beekeeper found this cave because 541 00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:07,560 Speaker 1: you just noticed bees like entering and leaving the cave. 542 00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:11,439 Speaker 1: He's like he went down there and saw whoa eight 543 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:14,000 Speaker 1: kilograms of honey on the wall. So it's not on like, 544 00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:18,360 Speaker 1: it's not a hives. It's on the walls. Okay. And 545 00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:20,880 Speaker 1: this this was just in two thousand nine, right, and 546 00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:24,040 Speaker 1: the first kilogram was told on the French stock stock 547 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:29,040 Speaker 1: market for a modest forty seven thousand, six hundred seventy 548 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:34,719 Speaker 1: five dollars since Yeah, all right, so if you think, 549 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:36,799 Speaker 1: if you think you're a little bear of honey has 550 00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:39,200 Speaker 1: been going up in price lately. Man, I wonder who 551 00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:41,960 Speaker 1: bought that and what did they do with this? Right? 552 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:48,480 Speaker 1: Like a safe thing? Is it insurable? I'm sure it's insurable. 553 00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:52,279 Speaker 1: That basically wraps up our first episode about honey. Um 554 00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:55,920 Speaker 1: we uh, we do not have a listener mail for 555 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:58,600 Speaker 1: this episode, but we did want to mention thank you 556 00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:02,759 Speaker 1: to all of Canada for writing in and telling us 557 00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:06,520 Speaker 1: that the Caesar, a bloody mary cocktail made with a 558 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:10,000 Speaker 1: clomado instead of just straight tomato juice, is a very 559 00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:14,600 Speaker 1: popular thing. Yes, thank you Canada. Yes, all of Canada 560 00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:19,560 Speaker 1: wrote to us, and we're very appreciative, appreciative and and 561 00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:23,880 Speaker 1: and slightly overwhelmed. It was. It was lovely though, thank you. 562 00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:27,879 Speaker 1: It's the best kind of overwhelmed. And now I want 563 00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:30,880 Speaker 1: to try that. I've never I don't I've never had clomato. 564 00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:34,319 Speaker 1: I've always been kind of my aunt drinks it. Yeah. Yeah, 565 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:36,359 Speaker 1: I can't believe I totally forgot because as a kid, 566 00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:39,960 Speaker 1: I was like, you can't see my face, but it 567 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:45,480 Speaker 1: was very dubious, very suspicious. That's still how we feel 568 00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:47,879 Speaker 1: about clomato to this day. So and that's I'm kind 569 00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:51,840 Speaker 1: of giving the same face towards this Caesar concept. But 570 00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:54,880 Speaker 1: my mind is open. Yeah, I'm happy to try it. 571 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:56,879 Speaker 1: I mean, I also like a clam a lot better 572 00:37:56,960 --> 00:38:00,080 Speaker 1: now than I did when I was younger. So I 573 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:02,320 Speaker 1: don't know. That's the way things go. Yeah, it's to 574 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:05,719 Speaker 1: your palate. Your palate expands, it changes. It's lovely if 575 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:10,560 Speaker 1: you find your mind expanding and changing. And do you 576 00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:13,080 Speaker 1: want to tell us about it? Uh, you can totally 577 00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:16,759 Speaker 1: get in touch. Yeah, we've got an email address at 578 00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:19,600 Speaker 1: food stuff at how stuff works dot com. Yeah, we've 579 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:23,040 Speaker 1: got a Twitter account which is uh food stuff hs 580 00:38:23,239 --> 00:38:27,120 Speaker 1: W and an Instagram account at food stuff and uh 581 00:38:27,719 --> 00:38:31,200 Speaker 1: yeah um. Before we leave, we'd like to say thank 582 00:38:31,239 --> 00:38:36,400 Speaker 1: you to producer no um absolutely yes uh and to 583 00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:40,440 Speaker 1: our to our new audio editor, Tristan Yes, thank you, 584 00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:44,239 Speaker 1: Thank you so much. We look forward to hearing from you, 585 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:47,600 Speaker 1: and you can hear from us again soon in part 586 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:51,719 Speaker 1: two of our Honey episodes. Yeah, Honey and health, because 587 00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:53,920 Speaker 1: it's been used as medicine for basically the entire time 588 00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:56,640 Speaker 1: that humans have known that it exists as far as 589 00:38:56,719 --> 00:38:59,400 Speaker 1: we can tell, Yeah yeah, yeah, so so so so 590 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:01,400 Speaker 1: that's coming up next, and we hope that lots more 591 00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:02,719 Speaker 1: good things are coming your way