tion, because it is the produce of young bees or of fresh swarms, but because bees swarm only at the height of the honey-season, when the flowers are in their richest fragrance, and because the combs are then new, and have not as yet served as receptacles for the brood. The above remarks apply to the quality of the honey in the state in which it is secreted in the flowers; its after-treatment does not improve it. The heat and vapour of the hive are injurious to it; in very severe seasons it is sometimes candied; and in the honey-harvest, when it is being separated from the wax, its purity may easily be injured by imperfect management.
As an article of nourishment to man, honey has been highly valued from time immemorial, whether used separately, or blended with other aliments. It was held out to the children of Israel as one of the valuable products of the promised land; and to this day it is in high estimation in Eastern countries. Among the Greeks and Romans it was highly relished; they compounded it with many other nourishing substances, and even mixed it with their wines. It is nutritious in proportion to the saccharine matter it contains, and is regarded by medical men as a good stomachic.[1] Its use as an article of food has been greatly diminished by the culture of the sugar-cane; but it is still an article of very considerable traffic, and large quantities are imported into this country annually, both from the European continent and from America. It forms, we are told, a very im-
- ↑ Feburier.
