Herbarium of the Bizarre

Mad Honey

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I forgot to mention this in the episode, so bonus fact: mad honey poisoning can theoretically be fatal, but no one has actually died from it since the 1800s. These days, we have treatments for severe poisonings, one of which is actually atropine!


Music by James Milor from Pixabay


Information provided by:

  1. https://theapiarist.org/mad-honey/
  2. https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/mad-honey-red-hallucinogen
  3. Risks for human health related to the presence of grayanotoxins in certain honey by the European Food Safety Authority (2023) https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2023.7866
  4. Grayanotoxin poisoning: ‘Mad honey disease’ and beyond by Suze A. Jansen et al. (2012) https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs12012-012-9162-2
  5. https://bigthink.com/health/mad-honey/
  6. https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/hidden-poison-rhododendron-nectar
  7. Mad honey: uses, intoxicating/poisoning effects, diagnosis, and treatment by Sana Ullah et al. (2018) https://doi.org/10.1039%2Fc8ra01924j
  8. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_honey
  9. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhododendron
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    Herbarium of the BizarreBy Meredith Hemphill