Honey is sweet, healthy, nearly immortal - & endangered

SO SWEET, yet so complicated. That's honey.

It's one of the oldest food products in all of civilization: Scholars have reported finding images of honey-hunting and beekeeping in rock paintings in Spain, India and Africa from the Mesolithic era (10,000 to 8,000 B.C.) and in 4,000-year-old beeswax paintings by Australian aborigines.

Honey is great right from the jar - and it never goes bad. It's a delicious ingredient in food. It's healthy; besides fructose, glucose and water, it contains small amounts of enzymes, minerals, vitamins and amino acids. It's even enjoying a renaissance among imbibers as mead (honey wine), and as an ingredient in beer and bourbon.

"I think it's become more popular [to produce and buy local honey] in, maybe, the last 10 years or so with the growth of farmers' markets and small farms," said Sean Weinberg, chef at Restaurant Alba, in Malvern.

"It's always our top seller in the gift shop," said Melanie Snyder, director of education and public programming at Bartram's Garden, in Southwest Philadelphia. The renowned botanical garden, which gets about 30,000 visitors a year, hosts eight hives.

Along with the Wyck Historic House and Garden and the Wagner Free Institute of Science, Bartram's Garden will host a three-day Honeyfest from Sept. 10-12, sponsored by the Philadelphia Beekeepers Guild. The event will mark the 200th birthday of native son Lorenzo L. Langstroth, considered the father of modern beekeeping for his invention of the removable-frame beehive.

Before that, beekeepers and honey lovers across America will mark Aug. 21 as National Honey Bee Awareness Day, and Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences will pay tribute to bees on Saturday and Sunday at its Bug Fest.

Bartram's honey is considered a wildflower variety, with nectar drawn from the predominantly native species on the site's 45 acres, but the sweet stuff ranges in colors, flavors and textures as diverse as the nectar sources (blossoms) that bees visit.

More than 300 distinct kinds of honey are produced in the United States, from common types, such as clover or orange blossom (the latter of which is often found in jars generically labeled "Honey"), to exotics such as eucalyptus. The lightest in color are mild-tasting, while darker honeys are more robust.