Pliny described honey as ‘Sweet of the heaven’, perhaps writing this on the reusable writing pads the Romans made from beeswax. Human relations with bees and honey go back at least 15,000 years, as depicted in South African rock art. Ancient Egyptian tombs contained beeswax figurines and sealed jars of honey, still edible after thousands of years. Bees and honey-hunting feature in the 5000-year-old Indian Rig Veda.
In addition to producing honey to sweeten the world, bees are vital to our food supply as they pollinate two-thirds of the world’s crops and flowers. A single bee will visit 7,000 flowers in a single day. Plus, bees can protect us in many ways. The phrase ‘to make a bee line’ comes from Phoenician sailors releasing bees to lead their ship safely to landfall. Romans used bees in tunnels to fight off enemies; the Macedonians used pottery hives of wild bees as missiles, catapulting them into enemy armies or ships.
Bees still play a part in today’s high-tech warfare; the Viet Cong trained them as mine detectors and UK researchers have used bees, which are cheaper and quicker than dogs, to trace explosives, drugs, radioactive metals and pesticides. In Germany bees have been used to detect pollution levels.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Summer 2023 من Sommelier India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Summer 2023 من Sommelier India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Uncorking The Past: Exploring The Fascinating World Of Wine
Shalini Singh takes us on a tour of four unique wine museums that create an interactive and immersive wine experience
Cure, fine Irish cuisine at its best
Chef Andrew Walsh draws on his Irish roots to create his own brand of Nua Irish Cuisine at Cure restaurant
SARPOSH - A Kashmiri Oasis in Bengaluru
An unusual restaurant, styled after a living room in a Kashmiri home, Sarposh presents a new style of dining as it explores a vast and nuanced regional cuisine. Sarposh introduces a different kind of restaurateur. Azmat Ali Mir, an engineer by training, left corporate life to take on the challenging role of showcasing a cuisine that is frequently misrepresented. Her interest lies in sourcing the best ingredients and presenting a menu that is embedded in the wider culture of Kashmir. Kaveri Ponnapa speaks with Azmat Ali Mir, who is slowly changing people’s perceptions of Kashmiri cuisine and through it, of Kashmir itself.
Indian whiskies to the fore
Indian single malt whiskies have come into their own winning international awards. Here, Gagan Sharma lists the whiskies to keep in your drinks cabinet
WINE AUCTIONS - The Collective Napa Valley program raises funds year-round
The wine fraternity in Napa Valley is known for giving back to the community generously, reports Mira Advani Honeycutt who attended its latest Auction
Historic Wine Cellars
Britain’s famous universities have long held prized wines, estimated at millions of pounds in their venerable cellars
The Women in Wine Network
The international Women in Wine Expo brings women from around the world together to collaborate and exchange experiences. Ruma Singh attended the Expo in London this year
Spring frost - A Burgundian winemaker's singular cross
Raymond Blake on winemakers’ battle against dreaded spring frosts in Burgundy – just one of the many nasty curveballs that nature hurls from time to time
BORDEAUX EN PRIMEUR BORDEAUX 2022 - A Collectors Vintage
Namratha Prashanth shares her personal experience of the wines at the 2022 En Primeur tastings in April
WINES OF HUNGARY - LIQUID GOLD
Tokaji Aszú is a sweet botrytised wine from northeastern Hungary, prized by connoisseurs around the world.