I was reading up on beekeeping and read about poison honey -- honey which made people dizzy & nauseous etc because it had been made from nectar from such plants as rhododendrons or mountain laurel etc. I also am an avid student of homeopathy. I looked up what homeopathic rhododendron and mtn laurel would cure, and found many of the same symptoms. My question is, has anyone experienced poison honey? What was it like? Do you know what plants were the culprit? If I obtained a homeopathic dilution suitable for it, would you be interested in having it on hand, in case you accidentally ate some poison honey again, to see if it would alleviate the symptoms? thanks....snoozy

-- snoozy (allen@oz.net), May 12, 2000

Answers

I have never heard of this--I call my wife a "mountain witch" or "herbal queen" and she has not heard of this either. I have heard of chemical posioned honey from our attempts to cure the mite problem. My hives border the national forest and bees fly up to 15 miles in search of nector--so ---my bees encounter all the plants you mentioned. Do you have anything more than "urban legend"? I'll try to check it out.

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), May 13, 2000.

Joel, it's not urban legend, but the bees have to be feeding almost exclusively on the poison plants in order for the honey to cause problems. It's been known for many years -- several of my husband's beekeeping books mention it. I know you have an antipathy for government agencies, but if you check with your state beekeeper, he should be able to verify this for you. I think most beekeepers are aware enough of the potential problem to be cautious in areas where there are sufficient rhodies and mountain laurels to cause this.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), May 13, 2000.

Here is more -- first, from Guide to Bees and Honey, by Ted Hooper (1976) "Natural Poisoning This can be caused by plants producing poisonous nectar. This is very rare and I have no personal experience of it. A case did occur in the Isle of Colonsay in Scotland in 1955 when the island was planted with a large number of Rhododendron thomsonii which poisoned the bees, killing colonies outright. the West Scotland College of Agriculture Study showed that the poison andromedotoxin was involved. Similar problems arise in other parts of the world from other species of plant."

This reference was to the poisoning of the bees, but I wouldn't think the honey would've been too good for people, either!

Fron American Honey Plants by Frank C. Pellett (first copyright 1920, this edition printed 1976) (I'm going to quote excerpts from this, as it's quite long.) Poison Honey . . . Well authenticated cases of serious poisoning from honey are rare, so rare, indeed, that many persons doubt whether such cases occur. There are persons with a peculiar susceptibility to honey from any source. To such, honey may seem to be poisonous, which can be eaten by others without any ill effect. . . . An extended discussion of the poisonous effect of nectar from buckeye in California written by George H. Vansell, appeared in the American Bee Journal, December, 1925. Mr. Vansell proved experimentally that honey from this source was poisonous to the bees. . . . The mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) is the plant most frequently reported as yielding poisonous honey. This shrub is common to the mountain regions of the Eastern States, and it would seem that cases of poisoning would be reported much more frequently if there was good reason to suspect the honey from this source. It is a well-known fact that disagreeable odors disappear from honey that is well-ripened. In this connection a writer in American Bee Journal, page 664, 1884, suggests that there is no evidence of poisoning from well-ripened honey. He further states that uncapped honey from the yellow jasmine is actually poisonous and has produced death, but that after it is capped there is no honey more wholesome. It should be noted that special emphasis was placed on the fact that the cases of poisoning in New Zealand [which I omitted] were from eating uncapped honey. Writing in Gleanings January, 1875, Dr. J. Grammer who had been a surgeon in the Confederate army writes as follows concerning honey from Mountain Laurel:-- 'Wherever the Mountain Laurel grows the bees are very fond of it. * * It is dangerous for anyone unable to detect the taste to eat the honey. It has a highly poisonous effect, being an extremely distressing narcotic, varying in its effects in proportion to the quantity eaten. During the war I had many opportunities of witnessing its effects and on one occasion, personal experience gave me the right to say that I know something about it. * * Some time after eating a queerish sensation of tingling all over, indistinct vision, caused by dilation of the pupils, with an empty dizzy feeling about the head and a horrible nausea which would not relieve itself by vomiting. The first case or two that I saw were entirely overpowered by it, and their appearance was exactly as if they were dead drunk.-- * * the enervation of all voluntary muscles was completely destroyed. The usual remedies for narcotics partially restored them in a few hours, but the effects did not completely wear off for two or three days, and I was assured that fatal consequences have been known to follow a too free indulgence.'

. . . . Pammel states (Manual of Poisonous Plants) that honey obtained from Euphorbia marginata, the well-known snow-on-the- mountain, is poisonous and unfit for use. He also states that the Indians of Brazil use honey gathered by wasps from flowers of Serjonia lethalis for poisoning their arrows, and also as a fish poison. It contains a narcotic poison which causes death. The following resume of the subject is copied from Pammel: 'Prof. Lyman F. Kebler, who has made a somewhat extended investigation with poisonous honey has given an excellent bibliography with reference to the early literature on the subject. It has been known for centuries that the honey collected from Ericaceae acts as a narcotic iritant, producing giddiness, vomiting, and purging. Poisonous honey was described by Xenophon. He gives a fairly accurate description of how the soldiers of his army acted when they ate honey that was poisoned. He states that they lost their senses, vomited and were affected with purging, and those who had eaten but little were intoxicated, but when they had eaten much they were like mad men. Strabo and Pliny spoke of poisonous honey, the latter writer, and early naturalist noted for his accurate observations, records poisonous honey, which he calls "aegolethron" (goat's death), which bees collected at Heraclea. He gives a description of the honey, which is said to have had a peculiar smell and produced sneezing. It is generally supposed that this honey came from a species of Rhododendron, the R. pontica. This and allied species are the chief source of poisonous honey in Asia and Asia Minor, but it may be said in this connection that honey collected from the heather in Scotland is not poisonous. Barton, and early American botanist, reported poisonous honey in New Jersy as early as 1794.'

I remember seeing an article about poisonous honey in one of my husbands bee magazines a few years ago, also, but don't have time today to hunt through to try to find it. Hope this has been of some help.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), May 13, 2000.

The private firm search the customers of honey bee poison. Sertificate.

-- Ulianov (lincomed@mdl.net), April 26, 2001.