Brief History and Traditional Uses of Honey

Abstract

Honey, a thick, viscous, sugary food substance, produced by honeybees has a history of use since thousands of years. Due to its concentrated sweetness and energy condensed properties, it is used as food ingredient since millennia. Evidences of its consumption has been found dating back to Neolithic age. Various cultures including Vedic, Egyptian, Roman, Greek, Mayans, Babylonians, and Chinese have been consuming honey and beeswax since ancient time. Evidences suggest the advent of apiculture or beekeeping around 2500 BCE in Egypt and then in different civilizations worldwide. Various religious texts around the group mention honey for its beneficial effects on health. During the long historical course of its association with human feeding habits, it has also been endorsed for religious rituals. It has been used in traditional medicine as well for several medicinal purposes. Traditionally, it has been mainly used for healing injuries in the form of wounds and burns. Other therapeutic applications of honey includes against oral ailments, digestive troubles mainly diarrhea and constipation, skin disorders, eye ailments, lung diseases, etc. Beneficial effects of honey are known since the beginning of its consumption; now these claims have scientific support with evidences coming from multiple research studies conducted in past decades. This chapter focuses on the historical aspects of honey consumption, along with its uses in traditional folk medicine.