Beekeeping and Honey Throughout History - Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper - page 65

and purging, none of them being able to stand on their legs. Those who ate but a little
were like men very drunk, and those who ate much, like madmen and some like dying
persons.Inthisconditiongreatnumberslayontheground,asiftherehadbeenadefeat,
and the sorrow was general. The next day none of them died, but recovered their senses
aboutthesamehourtheywereseized.Andthethirddaytheygotupasiftheyhadtaken
a strong potion.”
Mad honey was used as a weapon in 67 BC, when Roman general Pompey led an
invasiontoconquerKingMithridatesofPontusintheTrebizonregionoftheBlackSea.
The Roman army had forced Mithridates's men to retreat. But Mithridates's men then
left out jars of rhododendron honey as a peace offering to the Roman army. When the
Romans feasted on it, they fell into intoxicated fits, and Mithridates's army was then
able to defeat them. This incident is the first recorded use of honey as a weapon.
H ONEYBEES IN R ELIGION
• The word honey appears fifty-six times in the King James version of the Bible.
• The bee and the hive have long been symbols of industry and regeneration, wisdom
and obedience, and have places in Egyptian, Roman, and Christian symbolism. The
hive is often seen in Masonic illustrations of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
• Throughout history, abbeys and monasteries were centers of beekeeping, because
beeswax was prized for candles used in churches.
• Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan from 374 to 397, is the patron saint of beekeepers,
and statues made in his honor always include a beehive. It is said that when he was
a baby, a swarm of honeybees settled upon his face. The bees left without stinging
him, but they did leave behind a drop of honey. His father believed this incident was
a sign that his son was destined to be a sweet-tongued preacher.
• The prophet Mohammed is quoted as saying, “Honey is a remedy for every illness,
and the Qur'an is a remedy for all illnesses of the mind. Therefore I recommend to
you both remedies, the Qur'an and honey.”
• During Rosh Hashanah, it is traditional to eat apples dipped in honey to symbolize
thehopefora“sweet”newyear.Theappleisdippedinhoney,theblessingforeating
tree fruits is recited, the apple is tasted, and then the apples and honey prayer is re-
cited.