HONEY. 
pistil, and it seems designed to receive and 
retain the fecundating pollen. Honey 
differs much in colour and in consistence ; 
it contains much saccharine matter, and 
probably some mucilage, from which it de- 
rives its softness and viscosity. Honey very 
readily enters into the vinous fermentation, 
and yields a strong liquor called mead. 
There are two species of honey, the one is 
yellow, transparent, and of the consistence 
of turpentine ; the other white, and capable 
of assuming a solid form, and of concreting 
into regular spheres. These two species 
are often united, they may be separated by 
means of alcohol, which dissolves the liquid 
honey much more readily than the solid. 
Honey has never been accurately analyzed, 
but some late experiments go to prove it 
is composed of sugar, mucilage, and an 
acid. 
In France, a good swarm of bees, in 
two years, will yield near thirty pounds of 
honey; and they are still more profitable in 
countries that are covered with flowers the 
greatest part of the year. There are two 
sorts of honey, the white and the yellow. 
The white or virgin honey, trickles out 
spontaneously from the combs. These they 
break, soon after they are made* and lay 
them upon hurdles or mats of osier, or on 
linen cloth, fastened at the four corners to 
as many posts, and then an excellent white 
honey will fall from the combs, and grow 
hard in a short time. Afterwards they put 
it into glazed earthen pots. Some press 
this honey out, but then it is not so agreea- 
ble, for it will taste of the wax. The best 
sort of French virgin honey, is that of Lan- 
guedoc, called honey of Narbonne. 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 al- 
most as hard as sugar-candy; and what 
renders it so superior, are the many aroma- 
tic flowers which grow in those parts, and 
from which the bees gather their honey. It 
is always observable, that the honey made 
in mountainous countries, is more highly 
flavoured 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 extract- 
ed. They break the combs, and heat them 
with a little water in basons or pots, keeping 
them continually stirring ; then they put 
them into bags of thin linen cloth, and 
these they put in a press, to squeeze out the 
honey. The wax stays behind in the bag, 
though always some small particles of it 
pass through with the honey. Honey is 
the production of most countries ; yet more 
abundant in the island of Candia, and in the 
greater part of the islands of the Archipe- 
lago, than any where else. The Sicilian 
honey seems to be particularly high fla- 
voured, and in some parts of the island, even 
to surpass that of Minorca : which no doubt 
is owing to the quantity of aromatic 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 country of the lesser 
Hybla is still, as formerly, the part of the 
island that is most celebrated for this arti- 
cle. Considerable quantities of honey are 
produced by the wild bees in the woods of 
North America. 
Honey comb , a waxen structure, full 
of cells, framed by the bees, to deposit their 
honey and eggs in. The construction of 
the honey-comb seems one of the most sur- 
prising parts 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 regular structure of the comb is also 
equally wonderful. , When the several cells 
in it are examined, it should seem that the 
nicest rules of geometry had been consult- 
ed for its composition, and all the advan- 
tages 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 con- 
tain a given quantity of honey, than if the 
bottom had been flat, in the proportion of 
4,658 to 5,550, as has been found by calcula- 
tion ; that is, nearly a fifth of the whole, so 
far as the figure in the end of the cells ex- 
tends, in each ; which fifth part of wax and 
labour saved, amounts to a vast deal in the 
whole comb. And if these admirable in- 
sects knew their advantage, they could not 
