Its followers swear it might remedy coronary heart palpitations, dodgy stomachs and even impotence. Yet yearly tons of of individuals find yourself in hospital after gorging themselves on Türkiye’s “mad honey.”
But beekeeper Bayram Demirciler is adamant the honey his bees make excessive within the mountains above the Black Sea “has never caused any problems.”
In good years his hives within the province of Rize in northeast Türkiye produce as much as 350 kilos of “mad” rhododendron honey.
The lush inexperienced Pontic Alps is dwelling to a subspecies of rhododendrons whose purple flowers drip with pollen that give “mad honey” its colour. They additionally comprise a neurotoxin known as grayanotoxin which might gradual the heartbeat and that additionally packs a hallucinogenic punch.
“This honey is very good for people with hypertension,” mentioned Mustafa Oguz Alparslan, whose hives, shielded from sweet-toothed bears by an electrical fence, are even larger up the mountains at 1,400 meters (4,600 toes).
But should you eat an excessive amount of “it can also cause a rapid fall in blood pressure,” warned the beekeeper, who mentioned he at all times “tests his honey as he takes it out the hive.”
Knocked out a bear
Doctors, who acknowledge its virtues in small homeopathic doses, say the honey can gradual the move of blood to the mind, inflicting dizziness, fainting and even hallucinations. Intoxication with “mad honey” was even documented in historic instances.
The Greek historian Strabo, who was born within the Black Sea area, mentioned three of Pompey’s Roman cohorts have been put out of motion by allies of the Pontian king Mithridates who left “pots of mad honey” of their path.
And it additionally figured in Agatha Christie’s novel, “A Haunting in Venice,” filmed final yr by Kenneth Branagh.
The “Queen of Crime” – who wrote a part of “Murder on the Orient Express” in Istanbul – had Rowena Drake kill her personal daughter with it and even used it to offer Belgian detective Hercule Poirot visions.
The honey may even put beasts on their again. A younger brown bear made headlines in August 2022 when he was discovered unconscious close to hives in Duzce province on the different finish of Türkiye’s Black Sea. It had keeled over after overindulging in “mad honey,” in line with the Ministry of Forestry and Agriculture.
The identical month a bus driver travelling between Rize and the port metropolis of Trabzon blamed the honey for him passing out and crashing into vehicles at a visitors gentle.
In his hospital in Trabzon, professor Abdulkadir Gunduz treats between 30 and 100 individuals who have been knocked sideways by the honey in unhealthy years.
The physician mentioned it was “possible that there are thousands of cases” throughout the broader area.
“If we have a sunny May and June, the bees will feast on the rhododendrons,” making the honey even stronger, mentioned Gunduz, who has lengthy researched the topic.
One specific element pricked his curiosity. “More than 80% of the intoxicated patients are men over 50. Some believe (the honey) ups their sexual performance,” he mentioned.
Almost died for nothing
In his store in Cayeli, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Rize, Necmettin Colak recommends his prospects “take a soup spoon of the honey on an empty stomach.”
For extra mature purchasers searching for a sexual pick-me-up, he advises his chestnut honey as an alternative, which he swears is “more efficient.”
He shops his “mad honey” for a number of months to permit its extra problematic attributes to dissipate earlier than tasting it himself and promoting it at 55 euros ($60) per kilogram.
But not everybody takes such precautions. Alaattin Demirci, from Trabzon province, needed to be taken to hospital after consuming some “mad honey” in January 2021.
A number of days later the 60-something posted images of himself on Facebook on a drip, insisting that he would “never again” strive it, saying he “almost died for nothing.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com
