Honigmilch is a kind of cure-all in parts of Switzerland. Plenty of benefits are listed in old domestic household books and in online recipes (hello swissmom) including sleeping better, lowering blood pressure, curing a cold, or reducing anxiety.

The health insurance company CSS even has a recipe online—preventative medicine perhaps?

Marianne Kaltenbach’s Aus Schweizer Küchen lists it as a January recipe, and indeed it is the perfect warming, comforting drink for cold winter nights.

Ok, I know, this is so simple to make that it hardly warrants a recipe—just stir some honey into milk. Just make sure your milk isn’t boiling, warm it to barely simmering, and start with a teaspoon of honey, adding more to taste.

Honey varies greatly in colour and flavour, depending on what the bees are eating. In general Blütenhonig is lighter in colour and comes from flower-eating bees in the spring. Waldhonig is collected later in the summer and comes from bees who eat forest leaves and flowers that have been chewed by aphids—more here.

• Add a sprinkle of cinnamon on top, or to really put you to sleep, add a shot of whiskey.

• Of course use wild Swiss honey from your neighbourhood if you can get your hands on it (here’s a map).

• Unfortunately, it isn't easy for bees at the moment. A worthwhile watch is More than Honey, Swiss filmmaker Marcus Imhof's 2012 movie on the decline of worldwide bee populations.