Ahoy, Chris and Jerry:

I appreciate astute insights from both of you.  Thank you.  

The idea of making perry sounds tempting although not having a blender, I
just don’t know how to crush the pears; maybe I will have to peel/slice them
and then grind the meat in a mixer to pulverize.  My “pear-wine” was done
crudely by following my home-made, dirt-cheap, wine-brewing recipe, using
cans of grape concentrates rather than real grapes.  

I peel and slice the pears, using a hand-cranked peeler/slicer, and then
cover 1/3 of a bucket with these slices.  Next pour hot water into a bucket,
which I mix with ten to twenty pounds of sugar (the more the sugar, the more
potent the venom later).  Finally I put sticks of yeast into the mix when
the water temperature reaches about room temperature to help accelerate the
brewing process.  Even as I type this, the pregnant bucket sits and naps
there at the corner of our kitchen, brooding the possible onslaught of this
incoming winter.  By winter solstice, I hope to sample the antidote.  I have
never thought of adding low-grade/old honey, though.  What a terrific idea,
indeed.

Jerry, I agree with your astute insight regarding the residual, long-lasting
impact of inorganic compounds in the soil especially around the abandoned
orchards.  Granted your observation still holds, why is it that all the
other fruit-bearing trees, especially peaches and apples, have failed when
abandoned?  Do pears tolerate/process these toxins better systematically by
having a unique genetic and other makeup than the others?  I wonder.  These
pears are old trees, rugged and gnarled octogenarians in human terms.  Yet
they put forth fruits, tooth and nail (maybe tooth and gum), each year.

Chris, thanks for your eloquence (and humor; people used to chew "tar" for
lacking chewing gums in olden days!)  

When I open my mouth for “natural” beekeeping, whatever that means, I
typically get lots of flacks from German machine guns and English
spit-fighters, but the overall tenor of this wonderful list has changed over
the years, though, giving me a measure of hope that change is possible
although it does take time, my good brethren Peter being the finest example.
 Thank you Peter (I know you did not even say a word for that).

Yoon

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