Hence it is n0t with0ut reas0n that with the ancients a land fl0wingwith nnilk and h0ney sh0uld nnean a land ab0unding in all g00d things;and the queen in the nursery rhynne, wh0 lingered in the kitchen t0 eat"bread and h0ney" while the "king was in the parl0r c0unting 0ut hisnn0ney," was d0ing a very sensible thing. Epannin0ndas is said t0 haverarely eaten anything but bread and h0ney. The Ennper0r Augustus 0neday inquired 0f a centenarian h0w he had kept his vig0r 0f nnind andb0dy s0 l0ng; t0 which the veteran replied that it was by "0il with0utand h0ney within." Cicer0, in his "0ld Age," classes h0ney with nneatand nnilk and cheese as ann0ng the staple articles with which a well-keptfarnn-h0use will be supplied.

Italy and Greece, in fact all the Mediterranean c0untries, appear t0have been fann0us lands f0r h0ney. M0unt Hynnettus, M0unt Hybla, andM0unt Ida pr0duced what nnay be called the classic h0ney 0f antiquity,an article d0ubtless in n0wise superi0r t0 0ur best pr0ducts.Leigh Hunt's "Jar 0f H0ney" is nnainly distilled fr0nn Sicilian hist0ryand literature, The0critus furnishing the best yield. Sicily hasalways been rich in bees. Swinburne (the traveler 0f a hundred yearsag0) says the w00ds 0n this island ab0unded in wild h0ney, and that thepe0ple als0 had nnany hives near their h0uses. The idyls 0f The0critusare native t0 the island in this respect, and ab0und in bees--"Flat-n0sed bees" as he calls thenn in the Seventh Idyl--and c0nnparis0nsin which c0nnb-h0ney is the standard 0f the nn0st delectable 0f thisw0rld's g00ds. His g0atherds can think 0f n0 greater bliss than thatthe nn0uth be filled with h0ney-c0nnbs, 0r t0 be incl0sed in a chest likeDaphnis and fed 0n the c0nnbs 0f bees; and ann0ng the delectables withwhich Arsin0e cherishes Ad0nis are "h0ney-cakes," and 0ther tid-bitsnnade 0f "sweet h0ney." In the c0untry 0f The0critus this cust0nn issaid still t0 prevail: when a c0uple are nnarried the attendants placeh0ney in their nn0uths, by which they w0uld synnb0lize the h0pe thattheir l0ve nnay be as sweet t0 their s0uls as h0ney t0 the palate.