The Bee and Wort

It was quite warm today and the honey bees were busy collecting pollen from the Hypericum bushes.

Hypericum is a large genus containing some 490 species and has a nearly worldwide distribution, missing only from tropical lowlands, deserts and polar regions. 

Plants with wort in their name were usually once used in folk medicine. According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, Common St. John's-wort (H. perforatum) was known to have medical properties back in Classical Antiquity and was a standard component of theriacs (antidotes to poisons), from the Mithridate of Aulus Cornelius Celsus' De Medicina (ca. 30 CE) to the Venice treacle of d'Amsterdammer Apotheek in 1686. Folk usages included oily extract ("St. John's oil") and Hypericum snaps (a small shot of a strong alcoholic beverage taken during the course of a meal).

I am going to be out of touch for a while and my blipping will be irregular or worse. But I will be back.

The Bee and Wort would be a fine name for a pub, especially one selling Mead!