Mad honey is honey that contains grayanotoxins. The dark, reddish honey is produced from the nectar and pollen of genus Rhododendron and has intoxicating effects.
Mad honey is produced principally in Nepal and Turkey, where it is used as a traditional medicine and recreational drug. In the Hindu Kush Himalayan range, it is produced by Himalayan giant honey bees (Apis laboriosa). Honey hunting in Nepal has been traditionally performed by the Gurung people. The honey can also be found rarely in the eastern United States.
Historical accounts of mad honey are found in Ancient Greek texts. The Greek military leader Xenophon wrote in his Anabasis about the effects of mad honey on soldiers in 401 BCE. In 65 BCE, during the Third Mithridatic War, King Mithridates used mad honey as a biological weapon against Roman soldiers under General Pompey. During the 18th century, mad honey was imported to Europe where it was added to alcoholic beverages.
Historical accounts of mad honey stretch back over two millennia. Early accounts by Ancient Greek historians noted the properties of the honey and its floral origins. There are a few accounts of its use as a biological weapon, usually as experienced by foraging soldiers. [1]
The 6th-century BCE Homeric Hymn to Hermes , part of the Homeric Hymns , may indirectly allude to the use of mad honey. The text refers to the melissai (bee-oracles) of Delphi's Mount Parnassus who could prophesy only after ingesting meli chloron (green honey), and may have been referring to Pythia, the Oracle of Delphi. [2]
The Greek military leader and historian Xenophon wrote an account of a 401 BCE incident involving mad honey in his work Anabasis about the expedition of the Ten Thousand. In his account, he describes how Greek soldiers traveling near Trabzon (now part of Turkey) near the Black Sea, ate mad honey and then became disoriented, suffering vomiting and diarrhea, and no longer able to stand. The soldiers recovered the following day. [3]
The number of bee-hives was extraordinary, and all the soldiers that ate of the combs, lost their senses, vomited, and were affected with purging, and none of them were able to stand upright; such as had eaten only a little were like men greatly intoxicated, and such as had eaten much were like mad-men, and some like persons at the point of death. [4]
They lay upon the ground, in consequence, in great numbers, as if there had been a defeat; and there was general dejection. The next day no one of them was found dead; and they recovered their senses about the same hour that they had lost them on the preceding day; and on the third and fourth days they got up as if after having taken physic. [4]
Roman and Greek authorities believed mad honey could cure insanity. [1] Aristotle noted that "at Trapezus honey from boxwood has a heavy scent, and they say that healthy men go mad, but that epileptics are cured by it immediately". [5] Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder referred to mad honey as meli mænomenon and was among the first to recognize that the toxicity was linked to oleander, azalea, and Rhododendron species. [1]
Historians also noted that mad honey's potency or intoxicating effects varied seasonally or cyclically. Pliny noted that the honey was most hazardous after wet springs, while Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides noted that the honey was only dangerous in certain seasons. [1]
Mad honey was used as an early biological weapon in the Black Sea region. In 65 BCE, during the Third Mithridatic War, [6] [3] King Mithridates staged a strategic withdrawal from Roman soldiers under General Pompey. Possibly under the counsel of Greek botanist Kateuas, Mithridates had the withdrawing soldiers place combs of mad honey on their path. The Roman soldiers who ate the honey succumbed to mad honey intoxication and were slain. [7] The Greek geographer Strabo described the incident as having wiped out three maniples of Romans, which could mean anywhere from 480 to 1,800 soldiers. [1] [6]
Other incidents of honey poisonings may have been caused by mad honey. In 946, allies of Queen Olga of Kiev sent several tons of fermented honey to her Russian foes. 5,000 Russians were massacred as they lay in a stupor. [1] [8] Later in 1489, in the same region, Tatars consumed casks of mead made using mad honey that had been left in an abandoned camp. 10,000 of the Tatars were slaughtered by Russians. [1]
During the 18th century, around 25 tons of mad honey were exported from the Black Sea Region to Europe every year. [1] It was known then in France as miel fou (crazy honey) and was added to beer and other alcoholic drinks to give them extra potency. [9] [10] [1] American botanist Benjamin Smith Barton observed that beekeepers in Pennsylvania became intoxicated by mad honey. They added the honey to liquor and sold the concoction in New Jersey as an elixir they named 'metheglin' (mead). Barton noted that the inebriation began pleasantly, but could suddenly turn "ferocious". [1] Former Confederate surgeon J. Grammer described in 1875 in Gleanings in Bee Culture that there were several incidents with soldiers from the South involving mad honey intoxication. [1]
The chemical compound andromedotoxin (grayanotoxin I) was isolated from Trabzon honey by German scientist P. C. Plugge in 1891. [1] The 1929 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica dismissed the notion of poison honey as described in Greek and Roman texts, concluding that "in all likelihood the symptoms described by these old writers were due to overeating" or that the honey had been eaten on empty stomachs. [1]
Rhododendron species and other plants in the family Ericaceae produce grayanotoxins. Honey made from the nectar contains pollen from these plants as well as the grayanotoxins. [11] [10] Mad honey is darker and redder than other honeys, and has a slightly bitter taste. [4] Due to its reddish color, it is sometimes called rose of the forest honey. [12] Mad honey is produced in specific world regions, notably the Black Sea Region of Turkey and Nepal. [13]
Small-scale producers of mad honey typically harvest honey from a small area or single hive, producing a honey containing a significant concentration of grayanotoxins. In contrast, large-scale honey production often mixes honey gathered from different locations, diluting the concentration of any contaminated honey. [10] A Caucasus beekeeper noted in a 1929 article in Bee World that the potency of the honey could vary across a single honeycomb and that the most dangerous mad honey was produced at high elevations during dry spells. [1]
In Turkey, mad honey is known as deli bal and is used as a recreational drug and traditional medicine. It is most commonly made from the nectar of Rhododendron luteum and Rhododendron ponticum in the Caucasus region. [14] Beekeepers in the Kaçkar Mountains have produced mad honey for centuries. [9]
Mad honey is produced in the foothills of the Himalayas by Himalayan giant honey bees (Apis laboriosa). [9] In southern Asia, Apis laboriosa nests are found mostly in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. [15] The bees produce mad honey in the spring when plants from the family Ericaceae, such as rhododendrons are in bloom. [15]
Apis laboriosa nests consist of single, open combs with large bases reaching 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in). The hives are built on tree limbs or steep, southeast or southwest-facing rocky cliffsides, at elevations of 1,200–4,000 m (3,900–13,100 ft), often situated underneath overhanging ledges where they are protected from the elements. [16] [15]
In central Nepal and northern India, the Gurung people have traditionally gathered the honey for centuries, scaling cliffsides to reach the hives. Residents collect the honey twice a year, once in late spring and once in the late fall. [17] The honey hunters use rope ladders with wooden rungs to access the nests and set fires underneath to smoke out the bees. [15]
Apis laboriosa populations in Nepal have experienced dramatic declines due to overharvesting, hydroelectric dam and road construction, and the loss of water sources. [16] Population decline is also attributed to deforestation and landslides. [15] In Nepal, there has been an annual 70% decline in honeybee populations in Himalayan cliffs. [18] A specialist with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development reported in 2022 that there had been a decrease both in the number of cliffs that host bees and in the number of colonies each cliff supports. Recommendations for sustainable honey harvesting include leaving half of the newly formed combs undisturbed and only harvesting portions of the combs. [16]
Mad honey is rarely produced in the United States. According to Texas A&M professor Vaughn Bryant, an expert on honey, mad honey is produced in the Appalachian Mountains in the Eastern U.S. when a late cold snap kills most flowers but not rhododendrons. Honeys produced from mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) and sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia) also contain grayanotoxins and are potentially deadly if large quantities are eaten. [19]
In Europe, honey containing grayanotoxins is produced from Rhododendron ferrugineum , which occurs in the Alps and Pyrenees. However, no grayanane intoxication cases have been reported for honeys from the European Union. [20]
Consumption of mad honey can cause a poisonous reaction called grayanotoxin poisoning, mad honey disease, honey intoxication, or rhododendron poisoning. [11] [21] The honey is the most common cause of grayanotoxin poisoning. [10] Bees are not affected by grayanotoxins. [19]
In humans and some other animals, grayanotoxins act on the central nervous system, binding to sodium ion channels and preventing them from closing. [5] This results in low blood pressure (hypotension) and reduced heart rates (bradycardia). Corresponding effects include lightheadedness, blurred vision, dizziness, and respiratory difficulty. In some cases, blood pressure may be reduced to potentially dangerous levels, causing nausea, fainting, seizures, arrhythmia, atrioventricular blocks, muscle paralysis, and unconsciousness. [9] [5] [1]
The degree of mad honey intoxication depends on the quantity consumed as well as the concentration of grayanotoxins. It may act as a hypnotic, with milder symptoms including tingling sensations, numbness, dizziness, swooning, and giddiness. With stronger doses, the effects may include delirium, vertigo, nausea, psychedelic optical effects such as tunnel vision and whirling lights, hallucinations, and impaired speech where syllables and words are spoken out of sequence. The recovery time ranges from hours to days, but most symptoms typically subside after 12 hours. [1]
A 2015 systematic review of 1199 cases of mad honey intoxication found no reported deaths. [5] Treatments for mad honey poisoning include atropine, [5] adrenaline, and saline infusions. [9]
Mad honey is most frequently produced and consumed in regions of Turkey and Nepal as a traditional medicine or recreational drug. [13] [22] It is used as a traditional medicine to treat sore throat, arthritis, diabetes, and hypertension. [4] In the Turkish Black Sea Region it is used to treat indigestion, abdominal pain, gastritis, peptic ulcers, and the flu. [5]
For centuries, in the Caucasus, small amounts of Pontic azalea honey have been added to alcoholic drinks to amplify the intoxicating effect. [1] In Turkey, a spoonful of mad honey is traditionally added to milk as a tonic. [1] Mad honey was banned in South Korea in 2005. [23]
Mad honey is also thought to help with erectile dysfunction [4] and increase sexual performance. [5] Most cases of mad honey poisoning are experienced by middle-aged men. [24]
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants or the secretions of other insects, like the honeydew of aphids. This refinement takes place both within individual bees, through regurgitation and enzymatic activity, and during storage in the hive, through water evaporation that concentrates the honey's sugars until it is thick and viscous.
A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal prismatic cells built from beeswax by honey bees in their nests to contain their brood and stores of honey and pollen.
A honey bee is a eusocial flying insect within the genus Apis of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosmopolitan distribution of honey bees, introducing multiple subspecies into South America, North America, and Australia.
A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus Apis live and raise their young. Though the word beehive is used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature distinguishes nest from hive. Nest is used to discuss colonies that house themselves in natural or artificial cavities or are hanging and exposed. The term hive is used to describe an artificial/man-made structure to house a honey bee nest. Several species of Apis live in colonies. But for honey production, the western honey bee and the eastern honey bee are the main species kept in hives.
Grayanotoxins are a group of closely related neurotoxins named after Leucothoe grayana, a plant native to Japan and named for 19th-century American botanist Asa Gray. Grayanotoxin I is also known as andromedotoxin, acetylandromedol, rhodotoxin and asebotoxin. Grayanotoxins are produced by Rhododendron species and other plants in the family Ericaceae. Honey made from the nectar and so containing pollen of these plants also contains grayanotoxins and is commonly referred to as mad honey.
Beekeeping is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in artificial beehives. Honey bees in the genus Apis are the most commonly kept species but other honey producing bees such as Melipona stingless bees are also kept. Beekeepers keep bees to collect honey and other products of the hive: beeswax, propolis, bee pollen, and royal jelly. Other sources of beekeeping income include pollination of crops, raising queens, and production of package bees for sale. Bee hives are kept in an apiary or "bee yard".
The Caucasian honey bee is a subspecies of the western honey bee.
Stingless bees (SB), sometimes called stingless honey bees or simply meliponines, are a large group of bees (from about 462 to 552 described species), comprising the tribe Meliponini (or subtribe Meliponina according to other authors). They belong in the family Apidae (subfamily Apinae), and are closely related to common honey bees (HB, tribe Apini), orchid bees (tribe Euglossini), and bumblebees (tribe Bombini). These four bee tribes belong to the corbiculate bees monophyletic group. Meliponines have stingers, but they are highly reduced and cannot be used for defense, though these bees exhibit other defensive behaviors and mechanisms. Meliponines are not the only type of bee incapable of stinging: all male bees and many female bees of several other families, such as Andrenidae and Megachilidae (tribe Dioxyini), also cannot sting.
Apis laboriosa or Himalayan giant honey bee, is the world's largest honey bee; single adults can measure up to 3.0 cm (1.2 in) in length. Before 1980, Apis laboriosa was considered to be a subspecies of the widespread Apis dorsata, the giant honey bee, but in 1980 and for almost 20 years thereafter it was elevated to the rank of a separate species. It was classified once again as a subspecies of Apis dorsata by Michael S. Engel in 1999, but was confirmed as a full species in 2020 on the basis of co-occurrence with Apis dorsata at many sites with no sign of interbreeding. It is highly adapted to its highland habitat in behavior.
Rhododendron ponticum, called common rhododendron or pontic rhododendron, is a species of flowering plant in the Rhododendron genus of the heath family Ericaceae. It is native to the Iberian Peninsula in southwest Europe and the Caucasus region in northern West Asia.
Apis dorsata, the rock bee or giant honey bee, is a honey bee of South and Southeast Asia. They are typically around 17–20 mm (0.7–0.8 in) long and nests are mainly built in exposed places far off the ground, like on tree limbs, under cliff overhangs, and under buildings. These social bees are known for their aggressive defense strategies and vicious behavior when disturbed. Though not domesticated, indigenous peoples have traditionally used this species as a source of honey and beeswax, a practice known as honey hunting.
Bees can suffer serious effects from toxic chemicals in their environments. These include various synthetic chemicals, particularly insecticides, as well as a variety of naturally occurring chemicals from plants, such as ethanol resulting from the fermentation of organic materials. Bee intoxication can result from exposure to ethanol from fermented nectar, ripe fruits, and manmade and natural chemicals in the environment.
Honey hunting or honey harvesting is the gathering of honey from wild bee colonies. It is one of the most ancient human activities and is still practiced by aboriginal societies in parts of Africa, Asia, Australia and South America. Some of the earliest evidence of gathering honey from wild colonies is from rock painting, dating to around 8,000 BC. In the Middle Ages in Europe, the gathering of honey from wild or semi-wild bee colonies was carried out on a commercial scale.
The western honey bee or European honey bee is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bees worldwide. The genus name Apis is Latin for 'bee', and mellifera is the Latin for 'honey-bearing' or 'honey-carrying', referring to the species' production of honey.
Apis cerana, the eastern honey bee, Asiatic honey bee or Asian honey bee, is a species of honey bee native to South, Southeast and East Asia. This species is the sister species of Apis koschevnikovi and both are in the same subgenus as the western (European) honey bee, Apis mellifera. A. cerana is known to live sympatrically along with Apis koschevnikovi within the same geographic location. Apis cerana colonies are known for building nests consisting of multiple combs in cavities containing a small entrance, presumably for defense against invasion by individuals of another nest. The diet of this honey bee species consists mostly of pollen and nectar, or honey. Moreover, Apis cerana is known for its highly social behavior, reflective of its classification as a type of honey bee.
Rhododendron periclymenoides, the pink azalea or pinxter flower, is a species of shrub in the heath family Ericaceae. It is native to eastern North America, where it is widespread from Alabama to New Hampshire. It is often found in riparian areas, in wet to dry forests.
Beekeeping in India has been mentioned in ancient Vedas and Buddhist scriptures. Rock paintings of Mesolithic era found in Madhya Pradesh depict honey collection activities. Scientific methods of beekeeping, however, started only in the late 19th century, although records of taming honeybees and using in warfare are seen in the early 19th century. After Indian independence, beekeeping was promoted through various rural developmental programs. Five species of bees that are commercially important for natural honey and beeswax production are found in India.
Lyonia mariana, the Piedmont staggerbush and staggerbush, is a perennial shrub that is native to the United States. Lyonia mariana, also known as the Piedmont staggerbush, is a shrub native to the southeastern United States, from Virginia to Florida. The shrub grows in habitats including pine flatwoods and sandhills, it displays adaptability to acidic soils. Recognized by its lance-shaped, glossy green leaves and clusters of white and pink tubular flowers, the Piedmont staggerbush contributes to the biodiversity of its ecosystem by providing shelter for wildlife and supporting pollinators. The plant contains grayanotoxins, making it potentially toxic if ingested.