Honey

With the rise in cases of diabetes, more and more people will suffer from foot ulcers that do not heal and may end up needing amputation because treatment of chronic wounds is so difficult. Today, an alternative treatment based on a remedy used since antiquity is getting increased attention -- smearing wounds with honey. Manuka Honey, a medicinal honey harvested by beekeepers in New Zealand, is now being marketed for application on wounds. In June, Health Canada approved it under the brand name Medihoney for use as a wound dressing and antimicrobial.

When colds and flu lay loved ones low, venerated family matriarchs the world over step in with their trusty home remedies, but we're never sure whether they work.Scientific journals aren't exactly stuffed with studies testing the efficacy of chewing garlic or gargling with horseradish-laced water, but medical professionals have explanations for why some of these therapies might help us feel less ghastly:* Chicken soup. The broth has a medical history dating to the 12th century, when the Jewish philosopher-physician Maimonides prescribed it for asthmatics to help clear their bronchial tubes.

Healthy buzz over honeyHealthy eating just got a little sweeter. Honey -- the thick, sweet liquid made by bees from flower nectar -- joins a growing list of foods with disease-fighting compounds. By combining honey with other "power foods" such as oranges, straw-berries, broccoli and carrots, you get an extra nutritional wallop, according to the National Honey Board. Try Honey Tea Cooler: In a food processor, combine 1 pint fresh strawberries, stemmed, and 1/4 cup honey; process until smooth.

25 years ago: Several weeks ago, unidentified youngster broke up four of the brick fireplaces at the community playground in Hampstead. "Many hours of time are put in by the Lions members to make the playground enjoyable," according to Dick Murray, a member of the playground committee. The Lions Club, which created and maintains the park, is greatly disturbed over the destruction. The 26-acre area, opened in 1954 by the Lions, will be operating without the fireplaces until spring when fresh mortar will be mixed.

Police chief's confessionsWHAT WAS it at the Venice on the Bay Community Association meeting this week? First, Police Chief Larry W. Tolliver told residents at the group's monthly get-together that he didn't wear shoes until he was 16. And he revealed that before he was a police chief he was a professional body embalmer at a funeral home.The association secretary twirled her pen over her head strip-tease style at one point and told the mostly seniors audience that if they could entice a local church group to rent the building every week for $100, "well, boy, we could party."

"I think the book 'Arthur's Honey Bear' by Lillian Hoban is spectacular. One reason is the illustrations are marvelous. I also liked it because Arthur had a honey bear. Arthur became an uncle because he sold his honey bear to his sister. One day Arthur wanted his honey bear back."-- Damani Carter,Hammond Elementary"My favorite book is 'Mummies' by Joyce Milton. It's about all sorts of mummies. The mummies live in pyramids. I think everybody should read this book because it has action in it."

AFTER SITTING around most of the summer doing next to nothing, my backyard fig trees suddenly began producing a glut of fruit. This rush to ripeness resulted in a race between me and the critters -- birds, bees and ants -- to see who could eat the figs first.Fresh figs are a prize worth pursuing. They have a unique texture, and a flavor that is sweet but not cloying. So I put on a pair of gloves -- protection against surprised critters -- and went out and pinched the figs. The pinching helps determine how ripe the figs are.I had read that Italians, who seem to know a lot about figs, don't harvest them until they see juice dripping out of the blossom end of the fruit.

SHE WAS HOME alone.Her husband was working. The kids were at grandpa's. She had 24 hours to herself and she had planned every minute of it."The clock was ticking and I wanted to make the most of it," she said.She left the house for the farmers' market. She returned home and exercised "with the stereo on really, really loud." She showered and left again, this time to shop for clothes. She returned and fixed the kind of lunch she could never fix for her boys -- arugula salad with olive oil and salt.

A roundup of new products and servicesLoud and ClearThe sun is shining. The flowers are in bloom. The birds are singing. The only problem is that you can't hear the birds from your lounge chair on the porch or from the kitchen table where you're having your morning coffee. For lovers of birds and their songs, County Line Limited has created the WingSong Colonial-style bird feeder, which features a patented wireless microphone-transmitter that allows one to hear the songs of every bird that comes to feed.

Police logScaggsville: 8300 block of Honey Hill Road: Someone entered a house through an unlocked garage Wednesday morning and stole television sets, videocassette recorders, a microwave oven and credit cards.Pub Date: 7/01/96

The police won't get to watch patrons down beers at Shirley's Honey Hole after all. Baltimore's police commissioner is planning to veto a condition worked out by the bar's owner and a city attorney that would have allowed law enforcement to monitor live video feeds from surveillance cameras inside the tavern, according to the department's chief spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi. It was one of several concessions the owner, Shirley Barner, had agreed to this week to keep authorities from padlocking her business after a spate of shootings outside and accusations that drug dealers were using the vestibule to sell and store narcotics led police to label the bar a public nuisance.

In a remote corner of Anne Arundel Community College's campus, behind a parking lot and a stormwater pond, two hives of honeybees are tucked into a forest. Unknowing passers-by could easily overlook the tens of thousands of bees that make their home in the two wooden boxes, but not two instructors from the college's culinary institute, who on Wednesday donned full-body suits and ventured into the woods to extract 55 pounds of honey. "I don't know how many jars of honey that means because we're beginners at this," said Virginia Olson, one of the Hospitality, Culinary and Tourism Institute's two teachers who are spearheading the new beekeeping project.

Like a lot of root vegetables, turnips get little respect. Thanks to years of verbal jabs from comedians, we believe a rube is someone who just "fell off a turnip truck." Even deer diss turnips, preferring to munch on beets. "The deer will use their hooves to dig up the beets," said Joe Bartenfelder, who grows turnips and other vegetables on his family's 20-acre farm in Baltimore County and on 100 acres in Caroline County. "With the turnips, the deer just eat the greens." Yet those who know turnips love them, realizing that while they may not look slick and sophisticated, they have a natural, home-grown sweetness.

I appreciate you writing about home remedies for children when they come down with colds, but I am alarmed that you suggested lemon and honey for coughs. I feel this needs an urgent disclaimer! Honey can be dangerous for a child under age 2. A friend's 6-month-old baby nearly died from infant botulism. Honey can cause this in infants. Even honey jars have a warning that it is not for small children. Thanks for the reminder. Young children 1-year-old and younger should never be given honey.

Little Honey Lost Highway Records *** cds The roots-rock queen of heartbreak has finally found her sweet spot. On Little Honey, the ninth studio album from Lucinda Williams, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter counterbalances tales of bitter love with songs of newfound bliss. The former approach is her forte, but the latter isn't very convincing. That doesn't mean that the happy tunes, partly inspired by her romance with her manager-fiance Tom Overby, are a bust. They're just not as affecting or as nuanced as her melancholic cuts, making Little Honey uneven.

I work with animals. We had a dog rip out her stitches to a point where closure was not an option. Our veterinarian placed honey on a dressing and bandaged up our little beagle. A day later, the wound looked much better! Honey has been used for thousands of years to help heal wounds. A recent article demonstrated that medical-grade honey kills antibiotic-resistant bacteria (Clinical Infectious Diseases, June 1, 2008). When applied to the forearm, this Dutch honey (Revamil) kept germs from growing on the skin.

Food *** (3 stars) Service *** (3 stars) Atmosphere *** (3 stars) Naming your restaurant after one ingredient can be a dangerous thing. As appealing as it might seem, it does limit the chef unless the ingredient is something commonly used in both sweet and savory dishes, such as, say, butter. Vasilios Keramidas and the Kali's Restaurant Group decided to take the chance. But when they opened their patisserie and bistro to complement their fine dining and midprice options (Kali's Court and Mezze)

Each year, Don Kolpack can't wait for spring. Pollen-rich flowers begin to burst open and the hundreds of thousands of African honeybees that the Howard County beekeeper cares for busily collect nectar to help make their honey supply for the season. But when the retired carpenter went to check on the hives he kept in a wooded area in Savage last month, they were gone. "I thought to myself, `Who in the world would do this?'" said Kolpack, 74, who has kept bees as a hobby for 55 years.

Meli (1636 Thames St., 410-534-6354), which rhymes with "belly" and means "honey" in Greek, has just opened in Fells Point; and it couldn't be sweeter. Honey is a theme that runs throughout, not just in the patisserie attached to the restaurant and lounge. Gourmet honey is used in various dishes, from the lavender-infused honey that glazes the salmon ($18) to the Italian strawberry honey on the pork tenderloin with quail eggs and crispy potatoes ($19). Everything on the menu, says managing partner Kenneth Petty, is priced under $20. This is the third in the Kali's Restaurant Group, along with Kali's Court and Mezze.

McCormick & Co. Inc. is continuing its shopping spree. The Sparks-based spice maker announced late yesterday that it bought Canada's largest honey company for $75 million in cash, about two times Billy Bee Honey Products Ltd.'s annual sales of $37 million. The deal adds to a list of companies McCormick has snapped up during the past five years, solidifying a strategy of buying well-known brands that aim to make customers' lives easier by simplifying the cooking process and adding flavor.