MOSCOWThehomemadeposterhangingnexttoYanaShikhlyarova'shoneystanddoesn't

justlistthehalfdozenvarietiesofhoneyshehasonsale.Italsoliststhevariousailmentsthey
cure.Cloverhoney,itsays,isgoodfortheheart.Foresthoney,richinvitaminsfromthe
blackberriesandwildstrawberriesofthewoods,isgoodfortheeyes.
Andcorianderhoney,theposterannouncesinextralargeprint,increasesmalepotency.
"Well,that'swhatitsaysintheliterature,"Shikhlyarovasaidwithasmile."Whetherit'sreally
true,Idon'tknow."
Forcenturies,Russianshavepracticedtheartofhoneyhealingalocaltakeonhomeopathy,
wherethenutrientsofwildherbsandflowersruboffonbees,andeventuallyfindtheirwayinto
thehoneythatRussiansputintheirtea.It'saformoffolkmedicinethathasspawnednumerous
booksandlastedthroughwarsandrevolutions.
Thisautumn,thereisnobetterplacetolearnaboutthephenomenonthanthe16thAllRussian
HoneyFair,wheremorethan1,000beekeepersfromthroughouttheformerSovietUnionare
sellingtheirsweet,stickywarestohealthconsciousMuscovites.
Onarecentweekendafternoon,theoutdoorfairinKolomenskoyeParkinsouthernMoscowwas
packedwithshopperstastingfreesamplesofhoney.Atthegates,teenagegirlsinbee
costumeshandedoutleafletstoutingbeevenompills(whicharegoodforbackpain,theysay)
whileafewcustomerscheckedhandwrittenliststomakesuretheyhadgotteneverykindof
honeytheyhadintendedtobuy.
Nearly100typesofhoneycanbefoundatthefair,whichrunstoOct.8.Someofthemore
exoticflavorsincludechestnut,acaciaandpumpkin.Thefair'sgeographicaldiversityisalso
impressive:SomevendorscomefromasfarawayastheKhabarovskregion,locatedonthe
SeaofJapan,seventimezonesaway.
Shikhlyarova,24,isfromVladikavkaz,thecapitalofthemountainousregionofNorthOssetia.
ShecomestoMoscowtwiceayeartohelpsellthehoneythatherfathermakesinthefoothillsof
theCaucasusMountains.
"Mountainhoneyisconsideredecologicallyclean,andthere'splentyofdemandforit,"shesaid
confidently.
Purity,infact,isthefair'sraisond'tre.HoneyboughtinMoscowstorescan'tbetrusted,says
ArnoldButov,headoftheRussianNationalBeekeepers'Union,whichorganizesthefairwiththe
citygovernment.Inaphoneinterview,Butovrattledoffalistofwrongsthatunscrupulous
merchantshadinflictedonhoney:adulteratingitwithsugar,slappingcounterfeitlabelsonit,or
freezingitandthenthawingitoutlater,whichcausesittogobadeventually.
Atthefair,however,theunionteststhepurityofeverybatch,andbadapplebeekeepersget
kickedoutiftheytrytopawnoffsubstandardhoneyonunsuspectingcustomers.
AnenergeticbackeroftheRussianbeekeeper,ButovcanquotestatisticsaboutRussianhoney
exportsgoingbacktothereignofIvantheTerrible.Butwhileheisadrivingforcebehindthefair,
headmitsitneverwouldhavehappenedwithoutthesupportofakeyindividual:Moscow's
mayor,YuriLuzhkov,anamateurbeekeeperhimself.

Luzhkovisperhapstheworld'sonlybigcitymayorwhoholdsapatentonatypeofbeehive.(It
containsaventilationsystemdesignedtohelpbeessurviveinnorthernclimes.)Lastyear,a
Moscowparkwashosttoanexhibitioncalled"MayorBeekeeper"thatdisplayedkitschyimages
ofLuzhkovbeingchummywithacartoonbee.
Thankstothemayor,thecitygovernmentprovidesthehoneyfairwithhealthylogisticalsupport.
BillboardspromotingtheeventcanbeseenthroughoutMoscow,andafreebusshuttles
customersbetweenthefairgroundsandthenearestmetrostation.Thebusisoftenfullofelderly
people,whoalsogetasmalldiscountonhoneyatthefair.
Truefanaticsdon'tjustbuythevariousflavorsofhoneytoimbibewiththeirtea.Theyalsobuy
beeswax,chunksofhoneycombandeventhecrushedbodiesofdeadbeesallofwhichare
purportedtohavesomesortofhealthbenefit.
Anditisn'tonlywrinkledbabushkaswhoswearbythebenefitsofhoneyhealing.Younger
Russiansalsosaytheybelieveinthemedicalusesofhoney.LyubaVolkova,a35yearold
lawyer,saidshehadalwaysviewedhoneyasamedicinefirstandasweetenersecond.
"Iguesssomepeopleeathoneyasadessert,buthereit'sgenerallyconsideredaformof
medicaltreatment,"shesaid.Whateverthetruehealthvalueofhoneymaybe,there'sonegroup
thatundeniablybenefitsfromtheAllRussianHoneyFair:thebeekeepers.Manyofthemcome
fromeconomicallydepressedruralareas,wheretheindustriousnessofthebeesstandsin
sharpcontrasttotheunemploymentofthehumansaroundthem.
AlexanderPiskovoycomesfromavillageoutsideKrasnodar,neartheBlackSea,whereheruns
arelativelysmall40hiveoperationwiththehelpofhiswifeandchildren.Heissellinghishoney
attheMoscowfairforthefirsttimethisautumn.Askedwhetherheexpectedtomakeaprofit,
Piskovoyshruggedandsaid,"We'llsee."
Butthe40yearoldbeekeeperhadnodoubtsaboutthehealthvalueofhoney.Hestartedkeeping
beesin1995,heexplained,afterhoneyhelpedhimrecoverfromanillnessthathadparalyzed
theleftsideofhisbody.
"Thedoctorshelped,too,"interjectedhiswife,Elena,whowassittingbesidehim.
"Yes,"heagreed,"buttheyalsotoldmetoeathoney."

Medovukha
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

KonstantinMakovsky'spaintingfeaturingMedovukha.

AbottleofMedovukha.
Medovukha(Russian:orLithuanian:Midus)isaSlavichoneybasedalcoholic
beverageverysimilartomeadbutcheaperandfastertomake.[1]Thesetwowordsarerelated
andgobacktotheProtoIndoEuropeanmeddhe(honey).KnowninEasternEuropesince
pagantimes,itremainedpopularwellintothe19thcentury(unlikeinWesternEurope,where
meadistraditionallyassociatedwiththeMiddleAges).

Historyandmanufacture
WildhoneyfarmingwasoneofthefirstSlavictrades.Theydiscoveredthathoneycouldbe
fermented,andthefirstfermentedhoneysappearedasaluxuryproductinEurope,whereitwas
importedinhugequantities.
Fermentationoccursnaturallyover15to50years,originallyrenderingtheproductvery
expensiveandonlyaccessibletothenobility.However,Slavsfoundthatfermentationoccurred
muchfasterwhenthehoneymixturewasheated,enablingMedovukhatobecomeafolkdrinkin
theterritoryofRus'.
Inthe14thcentury,theinventionofadistillingtankandaprocessofdistillationmadeitpossible
tocreateaprototypeofthemodernMedovukha.Inthe17thcentury,theincreasingpopularityof
vodkaeclipsedtheformerfameofMedovukha.DuringtheruleofPeterIofRussia,ancient
recipeswerelost.Leadingproductionengineersareactivelysearchingfortheancientrecipesof
Medovukha.
Medovukhaproducersareveryproudofthefactthatitismadesolelyfromnaturalingredients.
HoneyfromseveralUkrainianfarmsisused,includingfarmsfromPoltavaandCherkasy
regions,andfromCrimeaandCarpathians.Thehoneyfirstundergoespreparationforblending
(ahightechprocessaffordableonlybymanufacturerswithspecialequipment),thenthehoney
isblendedwithdistilledwatertoobtainthefinalproduct.[1]Othermanufacturersaddconcentrate
toapreparedwateralcoholmixture.
ModerncommerciallyproducedMedovukhaissoldatthehoneyproductshops(thatalsosell
honeyitselfandavarietyofhealthproductsproducedathoneyfarms).Therevivalofthe
widespreadhoneyproductsconsumptioninRussiacentersitselfaroundthehealthaware
consumers,andthusMedovukhaitselfhasn'tyetaspriredtoanysignificantshareofthe
alcoholicbeveragesmarket.Nonetheless,modernexamplesincludebottledMedovukhasoldat
the"RussianBistro"fastfoodoutletsacrossMoscow,andtapMedovukhaofdifferentbrands
offeredbyanetworkofhoneyshopsinSt.Petersburg.

45
PostedonMarch29,2009byrussia

ForhundredsofyearstherewasatraditioninRussiatomakespecialdrinkfromhoneyandhop
plant.
Itisalowalcoholdrink,thatwassometimesmentionedbyfamousRussianclassicauthorstoo.
Theysaythatbeforetheweddingallthemembersofthefamilyhelpedtoprepareagoodstock
ofthishoneydrinkforthemarryingpare.Thenduringtheweddingand30daysafterthemarried
couplehadtodrinkonlythisbeveragenoanyotherwasallowed.Sothehoneymoonwas
calledinRussiaafteranactualhoneydrink.
Therecipeitselfiseasy.Firsttheyboiledawaterinthepan,thenaddthereenoughhoney,then
aftersometimesomeverysmallquantityofhopplantisbeingaddedandthen,itsbeingtake
fromthefire,putasidetocalmdownandthentheyeastisadded.Thatsall,afterfivedaysthey
haveatrueRussiandrinkthatisevenstrongerjustaregularbeer.