Country Life Interests

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20498, 14 May 1938, Page 17 (Supplement)

Country Life Interests

A page devoted to the interests of the Country Women of the Waikato, and In particular to advancing and recording the activities of those two great national organisations, the Women's Institutes end the Women's Dlvtsioo of ttis Farmers' Union. t - i

HONEY AND HEALTH most important of natural sweets “Honey for Health” expresses a basic truth, the force of which has been recognised for centuries, says the New Zealand Dair>man. in Scriptural days honey was used as a figure of speech to express abunaancc of the thinzs necessary for human A land nowtng with milk and honey” was regarded as repWe and all-satisfying. The writer of the Proverbs in the inspired Book, many wise things, enjoined— My son, eat thou honey, for it is good Pliny, in the first century, refers to fish-fat probably cod-lis p r oil and honey as a good ointment, and from t.he day? of the Roman Empire down to the middle ages hone! was commonly use<l as i dressing for wounds—an early recognition of its remarkable antiseptic properties. In this connection, it is noteworthy that honey is fatal to disease germs. Nature guarantees the purity of its sweetener. \\ ell-autnent'-eated experiments carried out at Colorado Agricultural f.oliezp established the far* that the most virulent disease organism* which afflict the human race died in a few hours—or. at the most, a few day? when introduced into honey. Bacteria of epidemic disease? such as dysenter>, enteMc fe\er and typhoid, failed to survive in pure honey, proving its abs'Site safety a* a food for m'ant* and in\alids In marked contrast to the germ-carrying r totentlallties of water, milk, meat or vegetables, feoney is entire l - immune fr-vn germs of any kind It is of interest to add that honey f? now largely used in pharmaceutical preparation, as wen as ointments, soaps and cosmetics. Bottled Sunlight As far back as there is any record, the ancients regarded honey as of divine origin—a symbol of pientv and an object of delight and rejoicing. The ancients thought this product of the hive fell like a dew from the heavens: that It gathered on the flowers, and that the bees were •ent to the flowery meadows to gather it for mankind as a token of the Omnipotent Will, just as the rainbow was set in the sky. In short, it was a special gift from the gods to man. But anyone who has ever caught the first whiff of the exquisite odours which burst from a freshly opened can of honey, or from a fresh-cut bit of comb, or who has tasted its indescribable flavour, knows that It Is not necessary to go back to the ancients in order to weave a spell of romance and charm around this first and most important of the natural sweets. It suggests the odour of the woods and fields, the faint fragrance of new-mown hay, the hum of the bees on a warm spring dav among the clover blossoms, the spreading fields white with bloom bending under a summer breeze, the country roadside yellow with dandelion. Honev. untouched by hand of man. Includes everything Nature put Into It. Including a variety of strange and intriguing flavours, never twice the same, and as various as the flowers, and combinations of different flowers, from which the nectar was gathered. Clover, thisile, fruit flora, the eucalypts, lucerne, and dozens of others—each means something Ineffable and wonderful to the honey connoisseur. Fruit, partly because of its food value and partly for its flavour, makes a wonderful food, particularly when it is fresh. But. honey, eqiiallv wonderful in its way a? a food, has the additional advantage of keeping Indefinitely without deterioration. In fact, it is at its best when its flavours have had time to ripen. It is really a kind of bottled sunlight. sealed by the bees in wax container? to supply them with ihe heat that will keep* them alive through the winter: and, similarly, its chief use to man is an energy and heat-producing food.