310 AUSTRALASIAN 
and preventing its corrupting in a far superior manner to sugar ; thus 
many species of fruit may be preserved by being laid in honey, and by 
this means will obtain a pleasant taste, and give to the stomach a 
healthy tone. One who has once tried it will not use sugar for pre- 
serving fruit.” 
MODERATION IN USE. 
There is no doubt honey, like everything else, may be abused 
as well as used. Dr. Phelps remarks :— 
‘‘ Honey in its purity is a God-given sweet, and in its proper use is 
conducive to health and strength. Indulged in immoderately, and 
only then at rare intervals, it may, like many other excellent articles 
of food, provoke an attack of colic or indigestion. Used however fre- 
quently, and in connection with other food, it has a tendency to 
produce pure blood and give tone to the human system.” 
This is no more than might be expected, and something of the 
same sort has been said a lcng time ago. Solomon, though 
describing honey as something which is “sweet to the soul, 
and health to the bones,” does not omit to warn against its 
excessive use, as in Proverbs xxv. 16, ‘‘ Hast thou found honey, 
eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled there- 
with and vomit it.” And again in verse 27, “It is not good 
to eat much honey, etc.” There are besides some people of 
exceptional constitutions who cannot with impunity eat even 
in moderation any of the purest honey, but such cases are very 
rare. Referring to them, Dr. Phelps says: “To the rare 
individual for whom the temperate use of honey may produce 
functional disorders, I would say try heating honey before 
using it, and see if all such trouble is not remedied.” Perhaps 
however it would be wiser for such persons to abstain 
altogether from the use of honey. 
DELETERIOUS HONEY. 
As to some particular kinds of honey which are found to be 
deleterious, if not absolutely poisonous, and which have been 
referred to in Chapter IV., it is of course the duty of every 
beekeeper to see that no such article finds its way into the 
market from his apiary, His brand should be a guarantee for 
purity in this respect as well as in all others. The cases are 
indeed exceedingly rare in which it can be truly asserted that 
the pure honey itself is in any degree deleterious. When dis- 
