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The Swarm: Heath

It is interesting to note that all of the above-mentioned poisonous plants belong to the Heath Family that gives us our blueberries, huckleberries, cranberries, wintergreens, and snowberries; and to which belongs the heather, whose honey is so abundant, and so highly prized that the bees of Scotland are carried to the Highlands for the purpose of gathering it.

The Heath Family offers us esteemed fruits with one hand, the juices of which are never poisonous; and with the other gives us the most wonderful blooms of the American forests, - blooms that convert the mountain-sides into amazing flower-gardens, but whose beauty is for the eye alone.

The beautiful and fragrant yellow jessamine that turns the southern swamps and waysides to gold in the springtime has also the reputation of yielding poisonous honey. With such wealth of poisonous bloom it is remarkable that the honey of this country is ever fit to eat; yet, as a matter of fact there are very few instances of harm having resulted from eating it. The bees prefer the harvest found in wholesome plants, that also bloom in abundance.

Pliny gives us signs by which poisonous honey can be detected; but as a matter of fact it is very seldom that color or flavor betray the danger.