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Tongue, stomach: A taste of honey

May 15th, 2004 · No Comments

Honey tongue sounds familiar. It reminds me of bands – a song my brother’s band wrote and performs, and the Seattle band of that name..oh, and of course, I think of Song of Solomon….

But honey stomach is different anatomy. Bee anatomy. New anatomy for me. I learned yesterday morning that bees have a honey stomach, a special extra stomach where nectar mixes with enzymes and makes honey. I also didn’t know that it takes 1000 flower visits to fill this organ, the size of a rice grain.

I learned these facts from the book A Taste of Honey by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace that we read. That morning Ted had a phone call and instead of providing soundtrack to authenticate his workplace, I took the girls outside with their shoes and a couple books. Immediately Abigail wanted to imitate library story time but with an outdoor twist. Perhaps she has a future career as a librarian?!

beelibrary.jpg

Afterwards, Abigail and Michaela rode their bikes to the neighborhood park. I think it was the first time I’ve had two girls on bikes! They both did well. I tried to take a picture of a bee to go with our lesson on honey, but after a while I decided to enjoy the sunshine instead. The girls played in the sandbox, making castles. Robins hopped across the grass. Bees snuggled inside purple flowers. The sun was warm. It was wonderful.

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Except for a few moments of manic when I lost the garage door opener and then found it again on top of the sand…

It was a luxurious morning, so thick, sweet and golden, you can taste it. The kind of moment when you feel rich inside, satisfied and full with the goodness of life. It was honey.

Post script – I did a little research myself to learn more…: How bees make honey fascinates me…When full, the honey stomach can make up more than a third of a forager bee’s unladen weight, making its abdomen visibly longer….honey is approximately 83 per cent sugar….Unspoilt honey has been found in the burial chambers of the pharaohs in the pyramids of Egypt.

this post updated to include a link I forgot and change in date

Tags: books