honey

15 Stories

African Honey Foragers Have a Unique Guide
This Bird
Really
Likes to Share
Nature's Secrets
new study

This Bird Really Likes to Share Nature's Secrets

The Greater Honeyguide leads foragers to beehives, learns to recognize their human calls

(Newser) - Honeyguide birds in Africa know all the best places to score the sweet stuff from hives hidden in trees—and luckily for human foragers, they are apparently eager to share this info. NPR takes a look at new research in the journal Science that demonstrates the birds have learned to...

'Mad Honey' Blamed for Bear Cub's Woozy State

Luckily, bear rescued in Turkey is going to be OK after ingesting hallucinogenic neurotoxin

(Newser) - Only a few places in the world host native rhododendrons that produce grayanotoxin, a powerful neurotoxin. The honey created by bees who consume the plant's nectar is known as "mad honey" and can cause intoxication. One of those locales is Turkey's Kaçkar Mountains, where a brown...

Nuclear Fallout From Long-Ago Tests Show Up in US Honey
Newest Ingredient
in US Honey:
Nuclear Fallout
NEW STUDY

Newest Ingredient in US Honey: Nuclear Fallout

Scientists say we shouldn't be worried about radioactive traces from bomb tests in '50s and '60s,

(Newser) - Some cesium with your chamomile tea? If you use honey, there's a distinct possibility you may have ingested the radioactive version of the element, thanks to nuclear fallout from decades-ago bomb tests that's showing up in US honey, per Science . In research published last month in Nature Communications...

Single Mom Gets Warning on Honey Sales From Big Star
Desperate Mom
Sold Honey.
Then Came
Mel Gibson's
Lawyer
in case you missed it

Desperate Mom Sold Honey. Then Came Mel Gibson's Lawyer

Mel Gibson's attorney contacts unemployed Chilean woman for selling 'Miel Gibson' product

(Newser) - Trying to make ends meet while in coronavirus quarantine has been a struggle for millions around the world, including in Chile, which has had one of the most rigid lockdowns. Yohana Agurto, a Chilean single mom of four who hasn't been teaching during the pandemic, was desperate to bring...

Hospital Home to so Many Bees Honey Was Dripping Down Walls

100,000 bees removed from British hospital

(Newser) - It was a sticky situation. The AP reports a British hospital discovered it had become home to more than 100,000 bees when patients noticed honey dripping down the walls. Beekeepers were summoned to Rockwood Hospital in Cardiff, Wales, after the discovery last month, and found a large colony of...

11-Year-Old's Lemonade Now on Sale at Whole Foods

Mikaila Ulmer first won a $60K investment on Shark Tank

(Newser) - A sixth-grader in Austin, Texas, has turned a lemonade stand into a booming business now that she has expanded her reach to multiple states through a deal with Whole Foods, reports Time . Mikaila Ulmer's secret recipe for BeeSweet Lemonade comes from her great-grandmother, and contains flax seed and honey...

No, Honey Won't Cure Your Allergies
 No, Honey Won't 
 Cure Your Allergies 
OPINION

No, Honey Won't Cure Your Allergies

Slate writer explains why the notion is wrong

(Newser) - Indulging in honey from a local beekeeper has much to recommend it—except for the misguided notion that it will cure your allergies, writes Rachel E. Gross at Slate . This widespread myth is rooted in the idea that because bees make honey out of pollen, consuming it in low doses...

Honeybees Stung by Bad Winter, Pesticides

4-year run of dropping numbers just got worse

(Newser) - Beleaguered honeybees are having a harder time than ever before after an especially harsh winter and heavy pesticides discovered in their hives and pollen. A massive die-off of the valuable creatures is topping off 4 years of troubling population declines. Scientists are trying to nail down the exact mechanism causing...

'Suspicious' Honey Closes Calif. Airport
 'Suspicious' Honey 
 Closes Calif. Airport 
HONEY, I SHUT DOWN THE AIRPORT

'Suspicious' Honey Closes Calif. Airport

Airport evacuated after 'amber substance' found in bag

(Newser) - California's Bakersfield airport was evacuated and shut down for hours yesterday after security staff became suspicious of honey in a man's luggage. The passenger, a gardener who had been carrying the honey in Gatorade bottles, was released after questioning, Reuters reports. Authorities trying to figure out why the honey made...

Beekeepers Stung by Rustlers

High price of honey motivates thieves to cart off bees by the million

(Newser) - A spate of thefts has rocked Britain's once close-knit beekeeping community, the Independent reports. Many farmers have lost hives, sometimes up to 100 in one theft, worth many thousands of dollars. A shortage of honey after massive bee die-offs over two harsh winters has made bees valuable enough to be...

Honey Packers Fail to Report Tainted Imports
 Honey Packers Fail to 
 Report Tainted Imports 
INVESTIGATION

Honey Packers Fail to Report Tainted Imports

Companies often simply send honey back to importer

(Newser) - US honey packers often don’t tell authorities about imports contaminated with banned antibiotics or other chemicals, and instead simply send the products back, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports after a lengthy investigation. Importers can then get the tainted honey into the American market through another packer, as two Chicago businessmen...

Vegans: To Bee or Not to Bee?
 Vegans: To Bee or Not to Bee?
Opinion

Vegans: To Bee or Not to Bee?

Debate over bee explotation risks deluting animal rights message

(Newser) - Although many vegans view buttered toast and milk as sacrilegious snack fare, a growing “flexitarian” attitude could loosen up the menu to include honey, writes Daniel Engber for Slate. Vegan hardliners argue consumption of the beekeeping byproduct amounts to supporting forced labor, while nectarous proponents counter that such logic...

Making Mead Creates a Buzz Among Foodies

Ancient brew kinda cool, but not likely to replace Bud

(Newser) - Mead, that honey-based alcoholic drink last popular around King Arthur’s Round Table, is making a comeback—well, sort of, Nicholas Day reports in Slate. Meaderies are springing up around the US, publishers have printed a spate of how-to books, and the Internet is rife with mead-making sites that include...

Honey Works on Kids' Coughs
Honey Works on Kids' Coughs

Honey Works on Kids' Coughs

Study says it soothes throat, helps children sleep

(Newser) - Parents looking for an alternative to cold medicines for their young kids might consider a sweet solution—honey. A new study suggests that a commonly available dark variety soothes children's coughs and helps them sleep better, the Houston Chronicle reports.  The study comes in the wake of the FDA's...

Safer Farms Sting Chinese Beekeepers

Cleaning up honey industry means facing swarms of opposition

(Newser) - Stung by recent scandals over tainted food exports, a small group of Chinese beekeepers is trying to sweeten up local honey production. They're throwing out standard practices, like using antibiotics to treat their colonies, and pushing natural options. But the old guard is using violence in its attempts to prevent...

15 Stories