Honey

It's not often I select 'honey' to accompany my 5 am toast, in fact I cannot remember when last I did.

As present we have three different honeys in the cupboard. One cheap squeezy bottle for cooking, one that has recently been brought back from Egypt by Kimbo (as yet unopened), and another one of organic Honey from M & S.

I would liked to have been a Bee-keeper. As a child I was fascinated by the idea. In my native Surrey village our neighbour (a Mr Prideaux) kept bees. I once asked him if he would show me his bees, and he declined; he didn't have any protective kit I could wear and he feared I would be stung all over.

I'd heard that Prideaux injected himself every day on account of all the daily stings he received, so maybe refusing my request had been wise. My Bee-keeping ambitions became instantly shelved.

So, for my breakfast I chose the M & S jar. Not because it was organic, but because it was already open. It really is a little too sweet for my taste, but delicious; so for my second slice of toast I reverted to Peanut Butter.

I did notice this rather silly label on the lid. It 'educated me' about the habits of the Bees. It seems that from their hives 'nestled in meadows', they fly around collecting nectar from 'a wealth of flowers and plants'. In particular from Sunflowers and Rapeseed.... I was amazed!

I have never been involved with agriculture in the UK, but back in France these two crops are probably more intensely sprayed with chemicals than any others. So to claim that the honey is 'organic' seems a bit far-fetched. Unless, of course, the Bees have been told not to visit flowers that smell of chemicals. Am I perhaps being a tad cynical?