192 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Having now established by the highest 

 physiological authority, the necessity of 

 the use of sugar as an article of food, let me 

 speak more particularly of that form of 

 sugar termed honey. The use of honey as 

 food is coeval with the creation of man. 

 Frequent allusions to it are made in the 

 most ancient writings, sacred and profane. 

 "Milk and honey" were considered by the 

 ancients as synonomnus with the highest 

 prosperity. lii the song of Moses there oc- 

 curs this striking sentense: " He made him 

 ride in the high places of the earth that he 

 might eat the increase of his fields, and he 

 made him suck /loneyoutof the rock and 

 oil out of the flinty rock." Also the riddle 

 of Samson: "Out of the eater came forth 

 meat and out of the strong came forth 

 sweetness." Aristotle wrote about bees 330 

 years before Christ, and Virgil, some 30 

 years before tlie Christian era, devoted a 

 wliole book to the same subject. I quote a 

 few of his polished lines: 



" The gifts of Heaven my following song pur- 

 sues 



Aerial honey and ambrosial dews 



Their arms, their arts, their manners I dis- 

 close 



And how they war, and whence the people 

 rose." 

 No modern writer with all the aids of 



modern discoveries has described the nature 



of bees more truly than has Virgil in these 



interesting lines: 



"The bees have common cities of their own 

 And common sons ; Beneath the one law they 



live. 

 All is the state's: the state prondes for all. 

 Some o'er the public magazines preside 

 And some are sent new forage to provide. 

 Some nurse the fuiure matron of the state. 

 All with united force combine to drive 

 The lazy drones from the laborious hives. 

 Some employed at home, abide within the 



gate 

 To fortify the combs, to build the walls 

 To prop the ruins, lest the fabric falls. 

 But late at night, with weary pinions come, 

 The lab'riug youth, and heavy laden, home." 



We have some interesting and curious in- 

 formation in regard to bee-culture among 

 the ancients. One writer says bee-culture 

 among the Romans was regarded as an im- 

 portant source of income. Domestic econo- 

 my then required a lar.e quantity of honey 

 not only for the making of confectionery, 

 cakes, artificial wines, but also for the cele- 

 bration of sacrifices offered to the several 

 divinities that watched over the gardens, 

 the orchards, and the harvest. For such a 

 consumption the Italian production of 

 honey was not sufficient, and it is not too 

 rash to advance, that among the reasons 

 which induced tiie Romans to invade Gaul, 

 the quality of the honey that the forests of 

 that country furnished, can be taken into 

 account. 



The French have liad for bees and tlieir 

 products, the same relish as the Romans. 

 The Salic law contains a whole cliapter of 

 regulations on hives and their inhabitants. 

 "At the death of a member of the family 

 they placed on each hive a black cloth as a 

 sign of mourning. AVhen passing before 

 hives, it was expressly forbidden to use any 

 rough words or to swear for fear of seeing 

 the bees leave their hives forever." I ap- 

 prehend that in these modern times, should 

 success in bee-keeping depend upon the 

 observance of this rule, this science would 

 be numbered among the lost arts. But 1 



cannot linger in this inviting field suffice it 

 to say that honey was everywhere regarded 

 by the ancients as a precious article of feed 

 and no pains were spai'ed to increase its 

 production. 



Honey has always been considered a 

 healthful article of food and until the cul- 

 ture of sugar began, was extensively used, 

 but as the production of sugar increased its 

 use has greatly fallen off. The chemical 

 composition of honey varies greatly, ac- 

 cording to the locality in which it is gather- 

 ed and the kind of flowers which produce 

 it. I have found that the different writers 

 in giving the analysis of honey, vary greatly 

 in regard to its chemical constituents. Gen. 

 Adair, who has been regarded as high 

 authority in bee-culture, claims that honey 

 is only sugar, nothing more, nothing less, 

 but other authorities call this hyper-philo- 

 sophical, and claim that honey is a distinct 

 article from sugar. We have the following 

 analysis of honey; " Glucose, or sugar of 

 starch, 4.5.00; uncrystalizable sugar, or glu- 

 ten, 45.10; water, 7.70; waxy matter, 1.15; 

 nitrogen and acid matter, 2.10." It will be 

 seen by this that honey consists of over 90 

 parts in 100 of sugar, crystalizable and un- 

 crystalizable. It now seems probable that 

 the nectar as it exists in the flowers under- 

 goes some change in the honey sac of the 

 bee, but how much is yet imdetermined. 

 There seems to be no doubt that formic acid 

 is thus added to the honey. But it is un- 

 necessary to pursue this analysis further. 

 We all know by actual use what honey is 

 for all practical purposes. Some localities 

 are celebrated for their honey. Hybla, a 

 mountain in Sicily, and Hymetus, a moun- 

 tain in Attica, were in ancient times cele- 

 brated for their honey. Certain localities 

 in these modern times are noted for the fine 

 qualities of their honey. In this country, 

 California produces excellent honey, but I 

 doubt if there can any better honey be 

 found than is raised in Michigan from white 

 clover and the American linden or bass- 

 wood. One thing is certain, no honey 

 brings more in the Chicago market or is 

 easier to sell than Michigan honey from the 

 linden. It is as staple an article as wheat. 

 Honey is sometimes poisonous. The honey 

 of Trebizond produces the effect of drunk- 

 enness, and is due to a certain honey plant 

 or tree native to that vicinity. But I have 

 known bees in this country to visit poison- 

 ous flowers. 



The wax of honey is said by some to be 

 unwholesome. Bee-keepers who extract 

 most of their honey enlarge on this point 

 particularly. But the small amount or wax 

 in fine linden or clover honey I do not think 

 unhealthy. There is certainly a most delic- 

 ious flavor in fine comb honey, which is 

 lost by extracting. Solomon seemed to 

 understand this when lie used the expres- 

 sion, "Sweeter than honey aiid the honey- 

 comb." 



As to the healthfulness of honey as a 

 daily food, I think there can be no doubt, so 

 I forbear from remarking further on this 

 point. Honey is often adulterated. Flour, 

 starch, chalk, plaster of Paris, and pipe- 

 clay have been used, but I do not think 

 these substances are now used to any great 

 extent. Dishonest dealers have found a 

 much better material in glucose, and this is 

 the substance now most generally used. 

 Glucose is made in France by the following 

 process: 3,2 barrels of water are placed in a 



