by Wayne Pauly from Dane County Parks ACTION Adult Conservation
Team Newsletter (All folklore stories) Once, on a tour an older
woman remembered that during the Great Depression her parents
stretched the food budget using dried bergamot flowers as a
pepper substitute. We all tried it right there and found it to
be a potent pepper with a three second delay. People chewed a
few flowers, uttered a few words about not tasting anything,
interrupted by vigorous spitting as the potent pepper took
effect. It was lots of fun! Long ago I heard that native bees
are divided into two groups, long tongue and short tongue.
Because of the long tube leading to the nectary, only long
tongue bees can pollinate bergamot. But look close at the base
of those long lavender tubes, thereís a hole chewed through
apparently by short tongue bees who take the nectar but donít
help with the pollinating. So next time your in the prairie
watch for the thieving short tongue bees at the underside of the
flower while the law abiding long tongu