The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1883-07-04
BEES AND HONEY.


The earliest mention of honey as an
article of commerce is, that the Jews
were engaged in trading it at Tyre,
that old and honored mart OF trade IN
Phunicia. Sirach, who lived about
the time of the rebuilding OF the
Temple of Jerusalem, speaking of the
with flour and milk. Solon, in the
year 600, B. c., enacted a law, requir-
Ing that bee hives in cultivated fields
must be three hundred feet apart.
Homer, Herodotus, Aristotle, Cato,
varro, Virgil, Pliny, Columella, and
other ancient sages, composed poems,
extolling the activity, skin and coon
omy Of bees. The celebrated Cilician
apinrist Aristomachus, of Solus, with
fifty-esght years OF experience In bee
keeping, wrote on the subject Of bees
and honey some five hundred years, B.
C.-but that work Is lost TO rs.
They yPersians, Grecians and Romans
used honey quite extensively as an ar
ticle Of diet; they also used it largely
In preporSng their food, and by it most
Of their beverages were sWeetened.
More than three thousand years ago,
It Is said, Samson proposed this riddle
to the Philistines: "Out of the eater
came forth meat; and out Of the strong
came forth sweetness and gave them
seven days to expound it. They are
said TO have been unable to explain it,
and by threats of burning his wife and
all her kindred, they extorted the ex-
PLANTATION from her, as follows: "What
Is sweeter than :honey7 And what Is
stronger than . ionPn
Samson was not only riddle-maker,
but was himself Q riddlei Itis said that
while he was quietly walking, unarmed,
In the vineyards at Hmnath, ga young
lion roared against him, /" and sshe rent
him, as he would have rent kid"
/" After awhile, he turned aside to see
the carcass CT the lion, and, behold.
there was 3 swarm of bees and honey
In the carcass of the ion." Thereupon
we are told that he commenced to re-
gale himself on the honey, and gave Of
Il to " bis father and mother, and they
did eat" This was the key to his
riddle faf.,
he should have slain q lion in the prime
Of his vigor, and yet more strange that
o swarm of bees should have taken
possession of the carcass.
This remarkable story of ancient
times Is full of enigmas. In explana-
ton of some of these, Oedman remarks
as follows:
ssThe lion which he slew had been
dead some little time before the bees
took up their abode in the carcass.
for II IS expressly stated that, after q
time, he returned and saw the bees
and the honey in the lions carcass 50
that II any one here represents to him.
self . corrupt and putrid carcass, the
occurrence ceases to have any true
similitude, for IL Is well known that in
those countries, at certain seasons Of
the year. the heat win, in the course Of
tWenty-four hours, so completely dry
up the moisture of the dead camels,
that, without undergoing decomposi-
ton, their bodies will long remain like
mummies, unaltered. and entirely free
from offensive odor.n
In that country, it Is said, that with
wild beasts, birds and insects, coupled
with the dry heat, dead body Is soon
cleansed from all corruption, and the
bones are clean and white, and swarm
of bees may readily have used such q
carcass for hive
A writer remarks rs follows on the
consumption Of honey:
The consumption of honey and wax,
end consequently the demand fol
them, was 50 great among the Romans,
that the production thereof was an
object of the highest importance in
rural economy; and no one was
deemed qualified TO manage farm
who did not thoroughly understand
bee-culture IS then practiced- This wa,
to be made an essential source of reve-
nue. to the proprietor. for the Romans
were practical people, who, accord
ing to'Columella, looked to an increass
Of annual income in their pursuits more
than to mere qualification Of taste
But the natural supply of honey in Ita-
ly was insufficient for the home de
ported from Africa, Crete and Sicily
the superior quality Of which induoe,
the Italian bee-keepers to send the fines
and most aromatic of their own +
market under the name Of Sicilian an,
.Cretan honey, as we are informed b,
Varro. That of inferior quality, as W
learn from Pliny, they were in the habi
Of coloring and sweetening by an I'd
mixture of other substances, an
strengthening by the addition of va
rious kinds Of wine. An annual trif
ute Of honey and wax was imposed o
conquered provinces and territory, as o
Ponfus and Corsica, and the hope Of ol
tanning additional supplies, It Is sur
posed, was among the Inducements fc
their invasions Of Germany"
Thousands and tens Of thousands {
children are dying all around us WHIT
because their eyer-developing natur
demands sweetness, crave and eagerl
demolish the adulterated "candies
and esirups, Of modern times.
these could be fed on honey, instead
they would develop and grow up int
healthy men and women.
Children would rather eat bread an
honey than bread and butter; on
pound Of honey win reach as far as tv
pounds of butter, and has, besides, Il
advantage that It Is far more health
and plessant-tasted, and always remain
good, while butter soon becomes ranci
and often produces cramp in the ston
ach, eructations, sourness, vomiting an
diarrhea- Pure honey should alwa,
be freely used in every family. Hone
eaten upon wheat bread is very ben
ficial to health.
The use of honey instead of sugar 4
almost every kind of cooking is
pleasant for the palate as it is healti
Tor the stomach. In preparing blac
berry, raspberry or strawberry shol
cake, 1t is infinitely superior.
1t is common expression that hon'
g luxury, having nothing to do wi
the hfe-gizing principle. This is I
error-honey is food in one Of its me
concentrated forms. True, it does n
add so much to, the growth Of muscle
does beef-steak, but it does impa
other properties no less necessary
health and vigorous physical and int.
lectual actionl II gives warmth to Z
system, arouses nervous energy 81
gives vigor to all.rhe vital functions.
the laborer, it gives strength-to {
b.arir,a1o man rnenfal fnrra Ifz affar