CHAPTER XXIX.. Honey.

HONEY.

+Honey+ is a well known, sweet, tenacious, substance, which in fine weather is continually secreting in the nectaries of flowers, chiefly from certain vesicles or glands situated near the basis of every petal, from whence it is collected by bees and other insects. The domestic honey-bees consume a portion of this honey for food, at or near the time of gathering; but the principal part is regurgitated and poured into the cells of the hive, for the use of the community in winter:--so very abundant are these collections, in favourable seasons, as to afford to the apiarian an extensive share of them, without distressing the provident hoarders. Mr. Wildman states that in the year 1789, he purchased a glass filled with exceedingly fine honey-combs, weighing 63lbs., which had been collected within a month, and that the hive which it had surmounted still contained a full supply for the winter's consumption of the bees. This however was an unusual quantity; a hive or box, of the dimensions recommended in this work, may be considered as well stocked when it yields from 30 to 40lbs. of honey.

The honey intended for early use, and for the nursing-bees and drones, is deposited in cells which are allowed to remain open, and is probably of an inferior sort; whilst the finest honey, which is laid up in store for winter, is placed in the most inaccessible parts of the hive, and closed in the cells with waxen lids.

"There cluster'd now clear wells of nectar glow, Like amber drops that sparkle in the Po, And now (so quick the change) ere one short moon Shrinks with waned crescent mid the blaze of noon. All veil'd from view, these amber drops are lost. And each clear well with waxen crown embost."

+Evans.+

In the Philosophical Transactions for 1792, Mr. Hunter has stated, that whatever time the contents of the honey-bags may be retained, they still remain pure and unaltered by the digestive process. Mr. Polhill, a gentleman to whom the public are indebted for several articles in Rees's Cyclopædia appertaining to bees, is also of this opinion. Messrs. Kirby and Spence do not admit this statement: as the nectar of flowers is not of so thick a consistence as honey, they think it must undergo some change in the stomach of the bee. This opinion is strengthened by what has been stated by Reaumur: he observed that if there was a deficiency of flowers, at the season of honey-gathering, and the bees were furnished with sugar, they filled their cells with honey, differing in no other respect from honey collected in the usual way, but in its possessing a somewhat higher flavour and in its never candying, nor even losing its fluidity by long keeping. The same may be observed when they imbibe the juices of sweet fruits, for bees do not confine themselves solely to flowers and honey-dewed leaves; they will sometimes very greedily absorb the juice of raspberries for instance, and thus spoil them for the table; they also visit in crowds the vats of the cider and wine maker.

Reaumur has likewise remarked, that in each honey-cell there is a cream-like layer or covering, of a thicker consistence than the honey itself, which apparently serves to retain the more liquid collections that may from time to time be introduced under it. Messrs. Kirby and Spence say, that if honey were the unaltered nectar of flowers, it would be difficult to conceive how this cream could be collected in proper proportions. This observation is made, in consequence of their presuming that some of this cream-like covering is conveyed into the cells with each deposition of fresh honey; and it has been supposed that this cream was the last portion disgorged. According to an article in Rees's Cyclopædia, probably written by Mr. Polhill, this cream-like matter is formed at the very first, and every addition of honey is deposited beneath it. The bee, entering into the cell as deeply as possible, puts forward its anterior pair of legs, and with them pierces a hole through the crust or cream: while this hole is kept open by the feet, the bee disgorges the honey in large drops from its mouth; these, falling into the hole, mix with the mass below: the bee, before it flies off, new-models the crust, and closes up the hole. This mode of proceeding is regularly adopted by every bee that contributes to the general store.

The power of regurgitation in the bee is very remarkable: its alimentary organs, like those of the pigeon, besides being subservient to the purpose of nutriment, afford it a temporary storeroom or reservoir. Ruminating animals may be considered as regurgitating animals, though in them the operation is performed for different purposes. In some it is exercised for the purpose of digesting the food, in others for feeding the young; but in bees its use is to enable them to disburden themselves of the honey which they gather for the winter's store of the community.

The finest flavoured and most delicate honey is that which is collected from aromatic plants, and has been stored in clean new cells: it has been usually called virgin-honey, as though it were elaborated by a fresh swarm of bees; but this is not essential to the perfection of honey, for, provided the cells in which it is deposited have never contained either brood or farina, it is not material whether it have been collected by swarms or by old stocks; the season and the flowers having been the same, the quality of the honey will in both cases be alike. F. Lamberti asserts, that the best honey in the world is produced in Pontus, and that its superiority is attributable to the great quantity of balm growing there. In this quarter of the world, the Narbonne honey is regarded as the finest, owing to the rosemary which abounds in the neighbourhood of Narbonne. "The honey, for which Narbonne is so deservedly celebrated, is every year diminishing. Bees have ceased to be an object of attention to the peasantry; they now devote their time to the vineyards, and neglect the bees. The flowers of the wild plants, in the neighbourhood of Narbonne, are highly aromatic, and give the flavour which is peculiar to its honey: this peculiarity is attributed exclusively to the wild rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis." (Duppa's Miscellaneous Observations and Opinions on the Continent. 1825.) Attempts are said to have been made to imitate Narbonne honey, by adding to other honey an infusion of rosemary flowers.

Of the power which some flowers possess of imparting deleterious qualities to their honey, I have already spoken in the chapter on Pasturage. I will here add, however, what has been said of the appearance of this pernicious kind of honey. It is usually distinguished from what is innocent, by its crimson or reddish brown colour, its bitter flavour, and thicker consistence; but in Florida and Carolina it is so similar, in all respects, to innocent honey, that the hunters depend upon experience only, and, knowing that bad honey soon shows its effects, they at first eat very sparingly. The converse of this would appear in the "blood-red honey" found by Mr. Bruce at Dixan in Abyssinia, to which he ascribes no evil properties. (Travels to the Nile, vol. v.) Linnæus informs us, that in Sweden, the honey of autumn is principally gathered from the flowers of the Erica or Heath, and that it has a reddish cast. The honey of our native heaths is also of the same colour. Dr. Barton has observed that during his residence at Edinburgh, the Highland honey was often of a dirty brownish colour, which was supposed to be given to it by the "blooming hather," as Burns calls it: the people of Edinburgh, however, though great consumers of it, never complain of any ill effects from it. It produced upon the Doctor a soporific effect. The most innocent honey will often disagree with those who take it in large quantities, or who have irritable bowels; usually, in such cases, it produces purging, and sometimes griping pain. The mischievous qualities of honey have been said to be destroyed by boiling and straining, or even by long keeping only; yet when made into metheglin, it has been found as deleterious as ever.

The quality of honey varies with the time of gathering, and that even though the whole season may have been favourable. The collection at the commencement of summer is regarded as the prime honey of the year, the flowers being then most abundant, and in the full glow of health; and that which is collected in spring is superior to the gleanings of autumn.

+Huber+ states that the secretion of honey and the formation of wax are singularly promoted by electricity: hence the works may always be observed to advance rapidly when there is a southerly wind, a moist warm air, and an impending storm; whereas the secretion is impeded, and sometimes suspended, by long protracted droughts, cold rains, and a northerly wind.

Prime honey is of a whitish colour, an agreeable smell, a pleasant taste, and a thick consistence. When taken from the combs it is in a fluid state, but gradually thickens by age, and in cold weather, if genuine, it becomes firm and solid. In England, it has seldom, if ever, been known to assume this solid state while in the hives; and even out of them, if it remain in the combs, it will preserve its clearness, purity and fine flavour, for at least a year. The honey of tropical climates is always in a fluid state. Vide chapter on Exotic Bees.

Much of the fine flavour of honey will depend upon the manner of its separation from the comb. That will be the most delicate which flows spontaneously from the purest and whitest combs; the next in excellence will be that which is expressed without heat; and the coarsest, that which is obtained by the aid of heat and pressure.

Care should be taken in the selection of the vessels used for storing honey; the most appropriate are jars of stone ware, called Bristol ware. The principal constituents of sugar and honey are the same; viz. hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen. Besides these their common elements, honey contains mucilage and extractive matter, and also an excess of oxygen: in plain English, honey possesses a greater proportion of acid than is contained in sugar, and in a state more capable of acting upon those bodies with which it comes in contact. From this the reader will perceive my reason for recommending stone jars for its preservation: the acid of the honey acting upon the lead with which every other kind of earthenware is glazed, causes the honey to receive an impregnation from it, which may prove injurious to those whose constitutions are delicate: the stone ware, being glazed with common salt, cannot communicate any injurious property to the honey which is stored in it. Honey should be kept in a cool and dry situation, as warmth promotes fermentation and generates a sensible acidity. The circumstance of honey, when separated from the combs and put into jars, being disposed to ferment in a temperature much below the usual heat of a hive, is calculated to excite our admiration of the instinctive intelligence of the bee, which leads it to distribute its treasure in small cells and to seal them closely over, whereby the honey can be preserved from fermentation for a long period, even in a high temperature. +Proust+ says that granulated honey is capable of being separated into two parts, one of which is liquid, the other dry and not deliquescent, crystallizable in its manner and less saccharine than sugar. The Jews of Moldavia and the Ukraine prepare from honey a sort of sugar which is solid and as white as snow, which they send to the distilleries at Dantzic. They expose the honey to frost for three weeks, in some place where neither sun nor snow can reach it, and in a vessel which is a bad conductor of caloric, by which process the honey, without being congealed, becomes clear and hard like sugar.

Prior to the discovery of sugar, honey must have been an article of great utility; and notwithstanding that discovery, if we may judge from the quantity imported into this country, and the price at which it sells when of fine quality, it may still be regarded as a commodity of great importance, and worthy of more attention from our rural population than it in general obtains. In the Ukraine, some of the peasants have four or five hundred hives each, and find their bees more profitable than their corn. This is a number however which I should think would overstock most districts, and which could only be supported naturally by having recourse to transportation. This seems to be evinced by the inhabitants of Egypt, France, Savoy, Piedmont and other places availing themselves of that practice, as already stated.

The most productive parts of this kingdom, in all probability, are the borders of Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, and part of Hampshire, which abounding in heaths, commons and woods, afford so much pabulum for bees, as to enable some of the farmers to have from 100 to 150 stocks of them, the largest number that I have ever heard of in this kingdom.

On the subject of overstocking, Mr. Espinasse says that few parts of England which he has visited afford flowers in sufficient profusion and of sufficient variety to support numerous colonies. "In the village," says he, "where my house is situated, many persons, induced by my example, procured bees; they were too numerous for what was to feed them; more than one half of them died in the ensuing winter, and nearly one-third of my own were with difficulty saved by feeding." The proprietor of bees may know whether or not his situation is overstocked, if he will attend to the produce of his apiary for several years together.