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[Don Bowen <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>]

At 9/10/2006, you wrote:

> Who woulda thunk it? Not sure why people would want to eat bitter honey.
>
> Scientists warn of 'mad honey disease'

Sounds like another non problem to me, something to keep your minds off the 
real problems much like the recent "bird flu" propaganda.

As for bitter honey, Star Thistle can sometimes be a little bitter and is 
always very strong tasting.  The beekeepers in the northwest do not try to 
sell it but use it to build winter stores.


Don Bowen              Awl Knotted Up                       KI6DIU
http://www.braingarage.com
My travel journal
http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html

I am omnivagant.  
> From billj AT harborside.com  Mon Sep 11 16:43:47 2006
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Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 13:43:39 -0700
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Subject: Re: [Homestead] Don't feed your bees on rhodies, laurels or  azaleas
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Don Bowen wrote:

> As for bitter honey, Star Thistle can sometimes be a little bitter and is 
> always very strong tasting.  The beekeepers in the northwest do not try to 
> sell it but use it to build winter stores.
>
>
>  
I assume it must be a non-native, because I can think of so many other 
deadly, bad, awful plants that aren't on any list for removal, just 
because they're "natives".

I'm still waiting to hear the slightest evidence for why native plants 
are even the least bit preferable, let alone evidence that they're the 
only things anyone should ever plant (the dogma now being spewed forth 
at government offices).

There's a place near here called Pistol River.  There's only sand there, 
and whatever native plants of substance that once grew there were 
scraped off long ago to make room for cattle.  Now there's only sparse 
grass.  It's one of those situations where one or two farmers have been 
given sole water rights to the entire area, where steers graze 
continuously whether the owner is present or not.  Now there's a 
fantastic tree that's ready to turn this desert into a lush green 
oasis.  It's called Silk Tree, a leguminous tree with incredible flowers 
and tons of seed for wildlife.  It has proven its vigor in the Coos Bay 
area, where it loves the sandy soil, and was even found growing on docks 
in Charleston with no soil whatsoever.  Legumes are known for improving 
the soil so that more demanding plants can return.  It's also very 
difficult for native plants to return to the land here without some 
shade, without summer rain.

But of course, since the religion of freaks and weirdoes has taken over, 
whose idea of environmentalism is a parched wasteland, as long as it 
doesn't have any starlings or silk trees in it, all the possible great 
ideas will now never come to pass.  Maybe one shouldn't try to impose 
one's value system on the earth, but stick to the tried-and-true values 
of clean air, clean water, and a verdant landscape.

Bill
S. Oregon coast