From daemon Sun Aug 6 03:32:06 1995 Received: from ipe.cc.vt.edu (ipe.cc.vt.edu [128.173.4.8]) by vtaix.cc.vt.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) with ESMTP id XAA21952 for ; Sat, 5 Aug 1995 23:32:06 -0400 Received: from ipe.cc.vt.edu (ipe.cc.vt.edu [128.173.4.8]) by ipe.cc.vt.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) with SMTP id XAA103237; Sat, 5 Aug 1995 23:32:05 -0400 Received: from UACSC2.ALBANY.EDU by UACSC2.ALBANY.EDU (LISTSERV release 1.8b) with NJE id 8991 for BEE-L@UACSC2.ALBANY.EDU; Sat, 5 Aug 1995 23:30:58 -0400 Received: from ALBNYVM1 (NJE origin SMTP@ALBNYVM1) by CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 3048; Sat, 5 Aug 1995 23:30:57 -0400 Received: from vifa1.freenet.victoria.bc.ca by UACSC2.ALBANY.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with TCP; Sat, 05 Aug 95 23:30:54 EDT Received: (from uc779@localhost) by vifa1.freenet.victoria.bc.ca (8.6.9/8.6.9) id UAA17029; Sat, 5 Aug 1995 20:31:33 -0700 Message-ID: <199508060331.UAA17029@vifa1.freenet.victoria.bc.ca> Date: Sat, 5 Aug 1995 20:31:33 -0700 Reply-To: uc779@freenet.victoria.bc.ca Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Conrad A. Berube" Subject: War and bees To: Multiple recipients of list BEE-L Status: RO >Subject: Re: Honey and Bee History query >Recently on another list, there was a reference to toxic bees >used in battle during ancient times. There also seems to have >been some interest in toxic honey or honey from toxic sources... THERE'S ALREADY BEEN SOME COMMENTS ABOUT THE USE OF TOXIC HONEY IN WARFARE- - HERE'S SOME RELATED MATERIAL FROM A BOOK I'M WRITING ABOUT BEES IN CULTURE AND FOLKLORE. THE ENDNOTE NUMBERS DIDN'T COME THROUGH WHEN I CONVERTED THIS TO ASCII FORMAT BUT WHAT THE HECK. I'D LIKE TO HEAR OF ANY OTHER SIMILAR INFO OF WHICH YOU MAY BE AWARE. bee well, - Conrad Berube " ` ISLAND CROP MANAGEMENT " ` 1326 Franklin Terrace _- -_`-_|'\ /` Victoria, B.C. _/ / / -' `~()() V8S 1C7 \_\ _ /\-._/\/ (604)480-0223; fax (604)656-8922 / | | email: uc779@freenet.victoria.bc.ca '` ^ ^ WAR AND BEES-- military applications of apiculture ...The locals (where toxic honey is produced) would have been well aware that honey produced during certain times of the year was naturally poisonous. Honey yielded from the nectar of such plants as _Rhododendron ponticum_ and _Azalea pontica_ contain alkaloids that are toxic to humans but harmless to bees. After the offending blooms have stopped flowering, beekeepers in areas where these plants are common (such as the area of present-day Turkey where this incident occurred) routinely remove this toxic honey so it doesn't contaminate subsequently produced stores. The poisonous honey is then fed back to the bees during time of dearth-- if it hasn't been used first for national defense*. (South and Central American Indians used similar honey for ceremonial purges and perhaps for "vision questing". Deaths have been reported in New Zealand which were attributed to the consumption of honey originating from the "wharangi bush", _Melicope ternata_*. Another New Zealand plant, _Coriaria arborea_, produces nectar that is safe for incorporation into honey but furnishes toxic honeydew* . Other locales where toxic honey has been reported on occasion include Mexico , Hungary , Brazil and the southwest U.S. *.) Mead, an intoxicating drink made from a honey base has also been used to gain tactical military advantage. In 946, the Slavic St. Olga, on the occasion of her son's funeral, provided limitless quantities of mead. She invited her enemies only, who, presumably, had somehow been instrumental in the death of her child, and five thousand inebriated `mourners' were slain in their stupor by Olga's allies. Similarly, in 1489, 10,000 Tatars were dispatched by Russians whom the Turkish invaders had been pursuing. The Russians left mead behind in their flight and returned after sufficient time for the Tatars to drink themselves into a daze*. Of course, there are plenty of instances when bees have been used in the more obvious way, as "meat-seeking missiles"... The Romans, for instance, instead of employing the subterfuge of poisoned honey simply sent beehives catapulting into the ranks or fortifications of their enemies. The unleashed fury of the bees, enraged when their hives were smashed, is credited with being the decisive stroke of more than one battle. Turn-about being fair play the Dacians, of what is today Romania, defeated the armored legions of Rome, at least temporarily, with their own salvo of skeps*. Bees have even been used in naval battle: in the Mediterranean Sea the crew of a small corsair vessel, only about fifty men, boarded and captured a much larger galley manned by 500 soldiers- - after the pirates cast beehives from the masts of their ship down onto the crew of the galley, who had intended to apprehend _them_*. Military application of bees has continued into modern times. In a novel approach practiced by the Tiv of Nigeria, bees were kept in special horns also containing powdered poisons. Thus dusted to increase the efficacy of their own venom the bees would be released in the heat of battle to attack the Tiv's enemies (it is not, however, recorded why the bees do not succumb to the poison themselves or how the bees distinguish between the Tiv and their foes*). During the American Civil War, Union troops were almost routed when southern artillery shattered a row of hives in a yard through which they were passing. Bees pitched at the enemy or booby trapped to topple over with trip wires were used to the advantage of both sides during skirmishes in World War I*. There are even some reports that the Viet Cong used sabotaged _Apis dorsata _nests against Americans during the Vietnam war*. And, in a footnote to the war in South-East Asia, what was presumed to be a biological warfare agent turned out, in fact, to be the `yellow rain' produced by _Apis dorsata_ during massed defecation flights*. The New World, too, has its own version of a tale of bees in warfare. The ancient Quiche Maya are said to have repelled a siege by posting mannequins along the parapets of their city. The sham warriors were outfitted with cloaks, spears and shields, even war bonnets for the gourds that served them as heads-- and which were full of wasps, horseflies and bees (although these would have been the native "stingless" bees-- some species of which are equipped with acidic mandibular secretions capable of raising nasty welts when one is bitten-- rather than _A. mellifera_) that the defenders had collected. When the advancing army was close to the battlements the gourds were smashed and the assailants were overcome by the stinging insects*. __ References: Ambrose, J.T. 1973. "Bees and Warfare." _Gleanings in Bee Culture_. pp. 343-346; Georghiou, G.P. 1980. "Ancient Beekeeping." _The ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture. _ (Root, A.I., editors.) A.I. Root Company. Medina, Ohio. pp. 17-21 Root, A.I. 1980. _ibid._ Espina-Prez, D. and G.S. Ordetx-Ros. 1983. _Flora Ap!cola Tropical._ Editorial Tecnol"gico de Costa Rica, Cartago, Costa Rica. p. 35 Crane, E. 1975. _Honey: a Comprehensive Survey._ Bee Research Association. William Heinemann Ltd., London. p. 204 Crane, 1975. _ibid._; Espina-Prez and Ordetx-Ros, 1983. _ibid._ Krochmal, C. and A. Krochmal. 1982. "Beekeeping in Romania." _American Bee Journal_. Vol. 122(5), pp. 345-346 Heather, P. 1940. "Animal Beliefs." _Folklore._ Vol. 51, p. 273 Morse, R.A. 1955. "Bees Go to War." _Gleanings in Bee Culture_. pp. 585-587 Adam, L. 1985. _L'Apiculture a Travers les Ages._ Editions Gerbert. pp. 75-76 Aouade, J.A.A. 1979. "Traditional Beekeeping in Nigeria-- Editorial Summary from `Beekeeping Among the Tiv'." _Beekeeping in Rural Development: Unexploited Beekeeping Potential in the Tropics with Particular reference to the Commonwealth_. Commonwealth Secretariat and the International Bee Research Association, London. pp. 23 Ransome, H.M. 1986. _The Sacred Bee in Ancient Times and Folklore_. Bee Books New and Old. Burrowbridge, Bridgwater, England. pp. 152 Addey, M. 1984. "Honeybee Faeces-- An Explanation of `Yellow Rain'?." _Bee World_. Vol. 65(3), pp. 138-139; Mardan, M. and P.G. Kevan. 1989. "Honeybees and `Yellow Rain'." _Nature_. Vol. 341, pp. 191 Beach, F.A. 1975. "Beasts Before the Bar." _Ants, Indians, and Little Dinosaurs._ (Alan Ternes, editor.) Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. _Popul Vuh; The Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life_. 1985. (D. Tedlock, translator). Simon and Shuster Inc., New York. p. 194- 196)