[Sca-cooks] Sweet chocolate, Modican chocolate (OOP -- maybe)

Terry Decker t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net
Sun Aug 26 21:46:50 PDT 2007


> Did all the bees in the New World die at the same time all the European 
> ones
> did?  Someone once DID claim that is why mead lost popularity and ceased 
> to
> be amde in Europe . . . right??  If someone said it, it must be true.
>
> niccolo difrancesco

Mead and honey are still produced in Europe, so I don't think all the 
honeybees died.  The New World bees seem to have been working just fine 
until recently when destruction of habitat, European honeybees and 
African-European honeybee crosses have be making inroads into the native 
population.

I haven't located the sources that comment on the reduced bee population, so 
I can't make any judgements on their accuracy.  I can offer a few 
speculations.

It is possible that Europe experienced a mysterious reduction of the bee 
population similar to the one that has recently occurred in the U.S.  To my 
knowledge, the cause is unknown and is being researched.

IIRC, the reduction of the bee population was noticed in 16th Century 
England.  It should be noted that when Henry VIII closed the monasteries, he 
also shutdown the major honey producing establishments in England.  It is 
possible the honey was there, but not being collected.  An additional 
consideration is the appearance of distilled spirits which replaced some of 
the older alcoholic beverages, which might mean that mead production 
declined as it was replaced by brandy and whiskey.

If you have a reference to who "said it" or where it was said, pass it a 
long.  I'd be interested in the reference.

Bear 




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