> One wonders how much honey it took to sicken an army, and where the Greeks
> found that much of it.
Mad Honey or 'Deli Bali' is produced each Spring in the TRABZON region of NE Turkey, close to the black sea. Beeks follow the flowering up the mountain side. In 2003, a British travel writer bought some for about $10/kg, so it's not really all that expensive.
The amount specified as a dose is no more than a Turkish teaspoon full (about 3ml). Even as much as 5ml, spread on toast, can produce a range of debilitating mental and physical symptoms after 12 hours. Mad Honey is an hallucinogenic and cardiac suppressant, among other things.
The folks of Trabzon are recorded as having left their honey out for invading Romans, who ate it, became very ill with it and were easy to finish off by the locals, so the honey didn't actually kill them as such (though it would have), rather, it rendered them stuperose, and the locals simply finished them off. The Greeks obvioulsy learnt that trick - it really is that only a small amount - a teaspoon, can induce toxicity. Who of us could stop at just half a teaspoon?
Today, honey intoxication among tourists is very high in the Trabzon region of Turkey, as few believe such small amounts can have such toxic effects. The locals temper its toxicity by eating it with their local yoghurt and their local 'strong' bread.
DH is Turkish, and I have downloaded several Turkish language articles for him to read, from which the above is a summary.
KIFCAT
South Australia
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