HONEY. 



wot so agreeable, for it will taste of the 

 wax. The best sort of French virgin 

 honey is that oi'Languedoc, called honey 

 ofNarbonne. It should be new, thick, 

 granulated, of a clear transparent white 

 colour, of a soft and somewhat aromatic 

 smell, and of a sweet and lively taste If 

 it is very pure, it is almos? as hard as su- 

 gar-candy; and what renders it so supe- 

 rior, are the many aromatic flowers which 

 grow in those parts, and from which the 

 bees gather their honey. It is always ob- 

 servable that the honey made in moun- 

 tainous countries is more highly flavour- 

 ed than that of low grounds. The honey 

 made in the spring is more esteemed 

 than that gathered in the summer; that of 

 the summer more than that of the autumn. 

 There is also a preference given to that of 

 young swarms. Yellow honey is obtained 

 by pressure from all sorts of honey- 

 combs, old as well as new ; and even of 

 those from whence the virgin honey has 

 been exrr^c ed They break the combs, 

 and he fa* -hem with a little water in ba- 

 sins or pots, keeping them constantly 

 st.vr-.iig ; ihey then put them into bags of 

 thin iinen cio ii, and these they put in a 

 press, to squeeze out the honey. The 

 wax slays behind in the bag-, though al- 

 wuvs so. ue partic/es of it pass through 

 wi-h the honey. Honey is the produc- 

 tion of most countries ; vet more abun- 

 da.it in the island of Candia, and in the 

 greater part of the islands of the Archi- 

 ' pt-1 ago, than any where else. The Sici- 

 lian ioney seems to be particularly high 

 flavoured, and in some parts of the island 

 even to surpass that of Minorca ; which 

 no doubt is owing to the quantity of aro- 

 matic ^plants with which that country is 

 overspread. This honey is gathered three 

 times in the year, in July, August, and 

 October. It is found by the peasants in 

 the hollow of trees and rocks. The coun- 

 try of the lesser Hyblais still, as former- 

 ly, the part of the islaud that is most cele- 

 brated for this article. Considerable quan- 

 tities of honey are produced by the wild 

 bees in the woods of North America. 



HONEY comb, a waxen structure full of 

 celjs, framed by the bees, to deposit their 

 honey and eggs in. The construction of 

 the honey-comb seems one of the most 

 surprising part of the works of insects, 

 and the materials of which it is composed, 

 which, though evidently collected from 

 the flowers of plants, yet do not, that we 

 know of, exist in them in that form, has 

 given great cause of speculation to the 

 curious. The origin and formation of the 

 wax has been lately discovered. It is se- 



creted by the peculiar organization^ the 

 insect, in the form of small and thin oval 

 scales, in the incisures or folds of the ab- 

 domen. The regular structure of the. 

 comb is also equally wonderful. When 

 the several cells in it are examined, it$i 

 should seem that the nicest rules of geo- 

 metry had been consulted for its compo- 

 sition, and all the advantages that could 

 be wished or desired in a thing of that 

 kind are evidently found in it. Each cell 

 consists of six plane sides, which are all 

 trapeziums, but equal to each other : the 

 bottom of the cell is contrived with three 

 rhombuses, so disposed as to constitute a 

 solid angle under three equal angles, and 

 each of which is double the maximum 

 angle of 54 44'. Hence it comes to pass, 

 that a less quantity of surface is sufficient' 

 to contain a given quantity of honey than* 

 if the bottom had been flat, in the pro-- 

 portion of 4,658 to 5,50 as has been 

 found by calculation ; that is, nearly a 

 fifth of *,the whole, so far as the figure in v 

 the end of the cells extends in each : 

 which fifth part of wax and labour saved 

 amounts to a vast deal in the whole comb.; 

 And if these admirable insects knew theirv 

 advantage, they could not more nicely 

 observe the rules of modern geometry. 



The method of making two sorts* of 

 cells ift each comb is also admirably con- 

 trived to save the expense of wax ; since/ 

 had they been made single, every comb 

 must have had its peculiar base, and eve- 

 ry set of cells their bottom of wax, where- 

 as one bottom serves now for two cells ; 

 and there is but one plate of wax in the 

 centre of a double comb. This structure 

 occasions a very great sparing of the wax,, 

 or matter of the comb ; but besides this, 

 there is another great advantage, result- 

 ing from this structure, which is, that the< 

 angles arising from the forementioned' 

 combination of the bases greatly strength- 

 en the whole work. 



The sides of the cells are all much thin- 

 ner than the finest paper, and yet they 

 are so strengthened by their disposition, 

 that they are able to resist all the mo- 

 tions of the bee within them, as they are> 

 frequently obliged to be. The effect of 

 their thrusting their bodies into the cells 

 would be the bursting of those cells at- 

 the top, were not'these well guarded a- 

 gainst. But to prevent this, the creatures 

 extend a cord, or roll of wax, round the, 

 verge of every cell, in such a manneiy 

 that it is scarce possible they should split, 

 in that particular part. This cord or roll 

 is at least three times as thick as the 

 sides of the cell, and is even much thick- 



