Mad honey
The dark, reddish honey is produced from the nectar and pollen of genus Rhododendron and has moderately toxic and narcotic effects.
In 65 BCE, during the Third Mithridatic War, King Mithridates used mad honey as a biological weapon against Roman soldiers under General Pompey.
[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.
[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.
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.
[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.
[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.
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.
[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.
[19] In humans and some other animals, grayanotoxins act on the central nervous system, binding to sodium ion channels and preventing them from closing.
In some cases, blood pressure may be reduced to potentially dangerous levels, causing nausea, fainting, seizures, arrhythmia, atrioventricular blocks, muscle paralysis, and loss of consciousness.
[9] Mad honey is most frequently produced and consumed in regions of Turkey and Nepal as a traditional medicine or recreational drug.
[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.
