James Wong and Colds

[bagnally]

I wonder if anyone can help me? I have planted up a herb garden and decided to buy James Wong's 'Grow Your Own Drugs" book. My daughter and husband have come down with flu/cold like symptoms and I decided to make a concoction from his book. This one was for sore throats. It uses sage leaves and runny honey. It said to simmer these together for an hour, which I did and put into a sterilised jar. I followed all the instructions completely but the end result was a brick like substance. I couldn't even get the spoon out of the mixture!

So what did I do wrong? Did I use the wrong sort of honey? Did I leave it too long? (I set the timer on the cooker). Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.

Bagnally

[Clara]

Too vicious a simmer I reckon, plus the fact that most commercial beekeepers give their bees a sugar feed over winter and the subsequent honey is nothing more than recycled sugar......and if you boil sugar then you get something that you describe.

If it were me I'd heat the honey gently, turn off and leave the sage leaves (chopped) in it to steep.

[becks77]

Nod nod what Clara says

[bagnally]

Thank you. I did wonder about the lenght of simmering, for an hour but then I'm not James Wong and trust he knows best. Yes, perhaps I had on too high a heat for simmering. I'll try it again and leave it on 1! I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks also for the info on bees, interesting. Surely bees should be left to produce thier own sweetness when it comes to honey? But wadda I know?

[Rohen]

There arent enough flowers these days and honey production has already fallen by 30 percent

The bees are dying