History of Honey

Honey collecting is actually a primeval activity. Human beings evidently started seeking for honey approximately 8,000 years ago, as confirmed by a cave painting in Valencia, Spain. The paint is a Mesolithic stone piece of art, presenting a pair of honey hunters picking up honey and also honeycomb from a wild bee nest. The figures are shown holding baskets or gourds, and also using a ladder or collection of ropes to get to the wild nest.

King Solomon in Bible – Old Testimony said:
” My son, eat honey, for it is good, Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste;”

Honey in Ancient Egypt

In ancient Egypt, natural honey was actually used to add sweetening cakes and cookies, and also was made use of in lots of other meals. Ancient Egyptian and Middle Eastern peoples even used honey for embalming the dead. The productivity god of Egypt, Min, was offer honey. To old Egyptians, honey was a luxury food.
” I appointed for thee archers and collectors of honey, bearing incense to deliver their yearly impost into thy august treasury.” – Papyrus Harris, a donation to the Temple of Re at Heliopolis, New Kingdom.

Beekeeping in Asia

The practice of beekeeping in ancient China has survived since time long past and seems untraceable to its beginning. Within the book Golden Rules of Business Success written by Fan Li (or Tao Zhu Gong) at the time of the Spring and Autumn period, several parts point out the art of beekeeping and the relevance of the excellent of the wooden container for beekeeping that can easily have an effect on the high quality of its natural honey. The religious and healing use of natural honey in ancient India is chronicled in either the Vedas and the Ayurveda texts, that were literally both written over at least 4,000 years ago. The Vedas and other ancient literary works talk about making use of raw honey as an excellent medical and health food. In Hinduism, honey (Madhu) belongs to the five elixirs of eternal life. In Buddhism, natural honey plays a significant part in the celebration of Madhu Purnima, celebrated in India and Bangladesh. The day celebrates Buddha's creating peacefulness amongst his disciples by retreating into the wild. The legend has it that although he was there, a monkey gave him honey to eat. In Madhu Purnima, Buddhists keep in mind this specific act simply by offering honey to monks. The monkey's present is often illustrated in Buddhist art.

Ancient Greece, Rome, and beekeeping

In old Greece, natural honey was probably produced from the Archaic to the Hellenistic time periods. In 594 BC, beekeeping all around Athens was so wide-spread that Solon passed a regulation concerning this: "He who sets up hives of bees must put them 300 feet (91 meters) away from those already installed by another". Greek archaeological excavations of ceramics found the ancient hives. Greek beekeepers of the Hellenistic time did not hesitate to relocate their hives over rather far away in order to increase production, benefiting from the various herbals in other locations. Throughout old Greek religion, the food choice of Zeus and the 12 Gods of Olympus was actually honey in the form of nectar as well as ambrosia. In the absence of sugar, natural honey was an essential sweetening component in Greek and Roman meals. During Roman period of times, honey became part of numerous dishes and that is revealed in the work of several authors, which include Virgil, Pliny, Cicero, and some other.

Honey in Mesoamerica

Honey was without a doubt also cultivated in ancient Mesoamerica. The Maya put to use honey directly from the stingless bee for cooking, and remain to do this at this time. The stingless honey bees Melipona beecheii and M. yucatanica are actually the only original bees culture to any degree in Central America. The Maya also regard the bee as sacred. The Yucatec Maya language label for this bee is xunan kab, suggesting "( royal, noble) lady bee".

Beekeeping in the Middle East

In Jewish tradition, honey is a symbol for the new year, Rosh Hashanah. At the traditional dish for this holiday season, apple slices are dipped in honey and eaten to deliver a sweet new year. Several Rosh Hashanah greetings present honey and an apple, representing the festival. In some congregations, little straws of honey are offered to welcome the new year.

The Hebrew Bible has lots of references to honey. In the Book of Judges, Samson found a swarm of bees and honey in the body of a lion (14:8). In Old Testament law, offerings were made in the temple to God. The Book of Leviticus says that "Every grain offering you bring to the Lord must be made without yeast, for you are not to burn any yeast or honey in a food offering presented to the Lord" (2:11). In the Books of Samuel, Jonathan is pushed into a conflict with his father King Saul after eating honey in the offense of a rash oath Saul created (14:24-- 47). Proverbs 16:24 in the JPS Tanakh 1917 version says "Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul, and health to the bones." Book of Exodus once illustrates the Promised Land as a "land flowing with milk and honey" (33:3). Nevertheless, most Biblical analysts publish that the authentic Hebrew in the Bible (דבש devash) describes the sweet syrup made from the juice of date palm. In 2005 an apiary originating in the 10th century B.C. was discovered in Tel Rehov, Israel which contained 100 hives and also is approximated to produce half a ton of natural honey yearly. Pure honey is considered kosher (clean - healthy food), even though it is produced by a flying insect, a nonkosher creature.

When we talk about the history of honey, in the Christian New Testament, Matthew 3:4, John the Baptist is said to have stayed for a long time in the wilderness on a diet consisting of grasshoppers and wild honey.

If you want to learn more facts about bees, honey, and beekeeping, please CLICK HERE.

References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beekeeping