Much has been written in regard to poisonous honey. Well authenticated
cases of serious poisoning from honey are rare, so rare, indeed,
that many persons doubt whether such cases occur. There are persons
with a peculiar susceptibility to honey from any source. To such,
honey may seem to be poisonous, which can be eaten by others without
any ill effect. Prof. A. J. Cook, writing in the American Bee Journal
(October 12, 1905, page 711), mentioned having on several occasions
received samples of so-called poisonous honey, which he ate without
inconvenience.
In December, 1880, issue of American Bee Journal, page 552, a case is
mentioned where a native of New Zealand died from eating honey gathered
from the wharangi bush (=Melicope ternata=), which is said to be one
of the two poisonous plants to be found in New Zealand. The symptoms
are reported similar to strychnine poisoning. A letter from New Zealand
published in Gleanings, page 435, 1908, reads as follows:
“Some one, usually a native, gets poisoned every year about here
through eating bush honey, usually not capped, and puka-puka usually
gets the blame. Mr. Hopkins had a look at a case of Maoris honey
poisoning last year, and I think puka-puka got the blame; but the
fact is significant, nevertheless, that it is the Maoris only, or
principally they, that get poisoned, and in that case the honey eaten
is never capped.”--Stephen Anthony, Wastete, New Zealand.
The mountain laurel (=Kalmia latifolia=) is the plant most frequently
reported as yielding poisonous honey. This shrub is common to the
mountain regions of the Eastern States, and it would seem that cases
of poisoning would be reported much more frequently if there was good
reason to suspect the honey from this source. It is a well-known fact
that disagreeable odors disappear from honey that is well ripened.
In this connection a writer in American Bee Journal, page 664, 1884,
suggests that there is no evidence of poisoning from well ripened
honey. He further states that uncapped honey from the yellow jasmine is
actually poisonous and has produced death, but that after it is capped
there is no honey more wholesome. It should be noted that special
emphasis was placed on the fact that the cases of poisoning in New
Zealand were from eating uncapped honey.
Pammel states (Manual of Poisonous Plants) that honey obtained from
=Euphorbia marginata=, the well-known snow-on-the-mountain, is
poisonous and unfit for use. He also states that the Indians of Brazil
use honey gathered by wasps from flowers of =Serjonia lethalis= for
poisoning their arrows, and also as a fish poison. It contains a
narcotic poison which causes death.
The following resume of the subject is copied entire from Pammel:
“Prof. Lyman F. Kebler, who has made a somewhat extended
investigation with poisonous honey has given an excellent
bibliography with reference to the early literature on the subject.
It has been known for centuries that the honey collected from
=Ericaceae= acts as a narcotic irritant, producing giddiness,
vomiting and purging. Poisonous honey was described by Xenophon.
He gives a fairly accurate description of how the soldiers of his
army acted that ate honey that was poisoned. He states that they
lost their senses, vomited and were affected with purging, and those
who had eaten but little were intoxicated, but when they had eaten
much they were like mad men. Strabo and Pliny spoke of poisonous
honey, the latter writer, an early naturalist noted for his accurate
observations, records poisonous honey, which he called “aegolethron”
(goat’s death), which bees collected at Heraclea. He gives a
description of the honey, which is said to have had a peculiar smell
and produced sneezing. It is generally supposed that this honey came
from a species of =Rhododendron=, the =R. pontica=. This and allied
species are the chief source of poisonous honey in Asia and Asia
Minor, but it may be said in this connection that honey collected
from the heather in Scotland is not poisonous.
“Barton, an early American botanist, reported poisonous honey in
New Jersey as early as 1794. Subsequently Coleman reported a large
number of cases in 1852, and Gammer, in Gleanings in Bee Culture,
and several writers in the American Bee Journal, reported poisonous
honey. Other writers, like Chestnut and Crawford, have reported on
the occurrence of poisonous honey in the United States, and Kebler
reports no less than eight cases for New Jersey in 1896, and believes
that it is much more common than the records seem to indicate. Kebler
was fortunate enough to investigate some of the poisonous honey
following a case of poisoning in New Jersey. He examined a part
of the comb of the dark honey which had a light brown color and a
nauseating odor, pungent taste, caused a burning sensation in the
back of the mouth similar to that of aconite. Persons who partook
of a small amount of this honey began to cough immediately. He also
made a chemical analysis of the non-suspicious honey, digesting with
alcohol, then evaporated, the residue was again treated to alcohol
and evaporated and administered to two cats. One received a small
dose and the other a large one. The results from the cats were so
interesting that I quote from Professor Kebler:
“‘The small dose produced partial exhaustion, relaxation of the
voluntary muscles and general depression. The large dose in a short
time produced restlessness, vomiting, purging, prostration and almost
complete loss of the voluntary muscles, showing that the honey
contained a prompt and potent poison. The animal could scarcely be
induced to move, and when motion was attempted, first the fore-limbs
would fail, and then the back-limbs would give way. First one portion
of the body would sway in one direction, then the other portion in
another, reminding one of a highly intoxicated person. Had the entire
dose been retained, death undoubtedly would have followed. As it
was, the cat had regained her normal condition only at the end of
twenty-four hours.’”
Along with this we may append the symptoms as reported by the physician
who attended the persons who were poisoned:
“Mr. and Mrs. Chambers took but a small quantity, yet each noticed a
peculiar, pungent, burning taste in the comb as soon as it had passed
their lips. In fifteen or twenty minutes afterwards Mrs. C. was taken
with nausea, abdominal pain and vomiting, soon followed by loss of
consciousness, coldness of extremities, feebly acting heart, and
complete collapse. While ministering to her, Mr. Chambers, who had
also experienced the initiatory symptoms of pain and nausea, suddenly
exclaimed, ‘I cannot see,’ and soon sank in a state of syncope to the
floor. In each case the symptoms were similar. Retching, vomiting,
purging, acute gastric and abdominal pain, and continued cramps for
some hours, with surface coldness, and deadly pallor, and the general
symptoms of collapse.
“Kebler was, however, unable to definitely locate the andromedo-toxin
found by Plugge. This author recorded it for a large number of
plants as follows: =Andromeda japonica=, =A. polifolia=, =A.
Catesbaei=, =A. calyculata=, =Kalmia latifolia=, =Monotropa
uniflora=, =Pieris formosa=, =P. ovalifolia=, =Rhododendron grande=,
=R. barbatum=, and =R. fulgens=. It has been recorded for additional
plants by Greshoff, who mentions the following plants which produce
poisonous honey: =Nerium Oleander=, =Cytisus Laburnum=, =Pieris
ovalifolia=, =Callotropis procera=, =Daphne=, =Pontica=, =Buxus
balearica=, =Clerodendron serratum=, =C. Bhramaramari=, =Sapindus
emarginatus=. (It is said that thousands of bees are killed by this
honey.) =Centaurea scabiosa=, =Carduus natans=, =Scabiosa succisa=. A
South African species of =Euphorbia= also produces a poisonous honey
which was not noted by Greshoff.”
POISONWOOD (Metopium metopium).
The poisonwood is a tree found in southern Florida, the West Indies and
Central America. It is known by a variety of names, bum-wood, hog-gum,
coral sumac or doctor-gum. Its sap is dangerously poisonous, and some
persons are affected by a near approach to the tree. The tree reaches a
height of more than forty feet and in south Florida it is the source of
large quantities of surplus honey of good quality. The honey is usually
blended with that of other sources blooming during the same period.
The tree has a thin bark which splits into large scales as it grows
older. These are of a reddish brown color, brighter on the inside. It
is sometimes confused with manchineel and is often classified as a
=Rhus=.