Are You Aware of Mad Honey’s Strange History?
The Black Sea region traded the powerful Mad Honey produce with Europe in the 1700s, where it was added to beverages to give drinkers an even stronger high than alcohol could provide.
Even though the majority of people have probably never heard of it, there has been hallucinogenic honey known as “crazy honey” for thousands of years.
At Real Mad Honey, you can get 100% organic mad honey for your consumption. Let us discuss a few properties of mad honey in this short article. Mad honey has a very strange and interesting history.
One of the finest authorities on honey in the world, Vaughn Bryant, a professor of anthropology at Texas A&M University, claims that crazy honey has a fascinating past that includes its usage in battle.
A natural neurotoxic known as grayanotoxin is present in several species of rhododendron blossoms, which are pollinated by bees in the Black Sea region of eastern Turkey.
Bryant observes that the resulting honey is the most costly in the world at $166/pound and that consumption can result in dizziness, exhilaration, and even hallucinations.
However, if consumed in excess, crazy honey can result in fatalities, rare cases of which include vomiting, diarrhoea, loss of consciousness, and convulsions.
Turkey is home to a large number of poisonous rhododendrons, which thrive in the humid, hilly slopes surrounding the Black Sea, where they grow in monocrop-like swaths. In these fields, the honey produced by the bees is pure and potent because no other nectars are added.
Despite accounting for a very little portion of the honey produced along the Black Sea, Turkish consumers have long been loyal to the commodity.
People consider this honey to be a form of medicine, according to Turedi. “It is used to treat various stomach conditions as well as hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Additionally, some individuals utilise deli bal to enhance their sexiness.”
According to Bryant, American legends of crazy honey date back to the Civil War, when Union troops discovered beehives in the highlands and feasted on the honey. Bryant continues, They fell ill and lost their bearings much like the Roman warriors who had been in Turkey centuries earlier.
If consumed in high quantities, honey made from Kalmia latifolia, the mountain laurels of the North-eastern United States, and related species like sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia), can cause illness or even death.
How about the bees, then? Do they also sense a “buzz”?
According to Bryant, some compounds that are dangerous to humans have no impact on bees. The honey produced when bees get their nectar from some flowers can be psychotropic or even dangerous to humans yet harmless to bees and their larvae.
He continues, that generally this honey must be taken in modest amounts in either of the following ways:
- Occasionally cooked in milk
- Ingested immediately before breakfast
- Avoid spreading on toast or pour heavily into tea as would any normal honey.
Because of its appeal to consumers, beekeepers have been encouraged to continue going to those rhododendron areas and producing it alongside their regular honey products.