" Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly. " - Mae West
There are many things to me that are worth doing. The ones I enjoy I do to slowly like needle crafting, reading and my G.O.D. given profession--practicing medicine. I do this blog slowly trying to educate, express and exemplify what I feel about life. The constant practice of learning has been worth doing for me as long as I can remember. I continually learn on a daily basis.
Do everything slowly so you have the tiome to enjoy what you are doing .
Do you remember 7th grade biology class? I do. I was mesmerized with the idea of science. I knew I would be from an early age., I was always fascinated with plants, insects and the human body. I put together models of the human body as a child. I was also fascinated with photosynthesis and the growing of a lima bean in a cut milk carton container. I never thought I would be writing about the lima bean. Phaseolus lunatus is a legume. It is grown for its seed, which is eaten as a vegetable. It is commonly known as the lima bean or butter bean.
REMEMBER: It is not a common vegetable that is consumed. There would be fewer fruits and vegetables without the efforts of the honeybee.
There are two types of lima beans: 1. the pole type and 2. the bush type. The pole lima is thr growing vine type and grow to 10 ft in length, while the bush type grows to only about 2 ft in length.
Most of the commercial grown lima beans are of the bush type. I cannto recall if my 7th grade teacher, MNr Sette ever told us the difference. The flowers are usually white to cream colored. Inb the US we grow the green limas for the fresh market and the dry ones. For the green limas for the fresh market , there are 6 states that we rely on. These are California, Delaware, Illinois, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. The top state for the dry limas is California.
There is nutritonal value in lima beans as in other legumes. They are a good soiurcve for fiber, and virtually a fat free source of high quality protein. Lima beans contain soluble fiber, which helps regulate the blood sugar levels, and even lowers cholesterol. Lima beans also prevents constipation and suppotrs thos eindividuals with iriitable bowel disease. Lima beans are of great valuie due to their conytent of trace minerals. These minerals are molybdenum, manganese, iron, copper,m phosphorous, magnesium, and potassium. There is also thiamine and folate in lima beans. One cooked cup of lima beans is 216.00 calories with 14.6 grams of protein.
Unlike most other beans lima beans secrete an abundance of nectar. Therefore, honeybees love the lima bean flowers. The nectar is colorless and has a sugar concentration of 42 % - 59%. This is secreted freely the day the petals unfold and very enticing for the Honeybee. In 1949, Pellet wrote in The Hive and the Honey Bee called the honey white gold with a good flavor but granulates quickly. There is also another book, American Honey Plants described the honey as almost water white with fine flavour.
I have never tested lima bean honey, but after this research I will start my search. I am also going to search for both of the books above as I feel they add to my collection ( another hobby) . Many other authorities have concluded like Pellet that the honey is fine tasting but does granulate quickly. It has been compared to white clover honey which I have tasted.
George Ayers in the American Bee Journal wrote a fine article about The Lima Bean which inspired me to write about lima beans. It also brought back memories of my childhood. His conclusion which is striking and relevant is that if hiney bees are important in the pollination of lima beans, why is there very few articles on lima beans.
In this regard, why isn't the United States government spending research dollars to find out why the honeybee popualtion is declining. Remember without honey bees there will be less than a third of fruits, legumes and vegetables.
Save the bees.
Until tomorrow...
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