It Started With An Old History Book
I was reading through digital files of source material related to the War Between the States and I came across a book called, “A History of Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas” by William Monks of West Plains, Missouri. He recalls many memories as a boy which are very interesting and I’ll probably write about those later but one thing that jumped out at me was his description of the native wildlife particularly regarding bees and their honey.
“Ozark county, in Missouri, joined Fulton county on the state line and all of the territory that now comprises Ozark, Douglas and the west half of Howell, belonged to Ozark county and Rockbridge, its county seat, being located on Bryan’s Fork of the North Fork, about 50 miles from the state line. Oregon county contained all the territory that now comprises Oregon, Shannon, and the east end of Howell; and a short time previous all of the territory that now comprises Ripley, Oregon, Carter and Shannon belonged to Ripley county; and all of the territory that now comprises Texas, Dent, Wright and Crawford counties belonged to Crawford county. The country at that time abounded in millions of deer, turkeys, bears, wolves and small animals. I remember as my father was moving west and after he had crossed White Water near what was known now as Bullinger’s old mill, that we could see the deer feeding on the hills in great herds like cattle, and wild turkeys were in abundance. Wild meat was so plentiful that the settlers chiefly subsisted upon the flesh of wild animals until they could grow some tame stock, such as hogs and cattle. This country then was almost a “land of honey.” Bees abounded in great number and men hunted them for the profit they derived from the beeswax. There was no such thing known as a bee moth.”
Bee Moths
The “bee moth” he refers to seems to be called the “wax moth” nowadays and I was able to find more information online that talks about what a pest they are to modern beekeepers. I was not able to find a resource that talks about how wax moths came to be a problem, if they are native to the United States, or from where they migrated if they are an invasive species. There are many blogs by beekeepers that talk about what wax moths are and what they do but I liked this one the best for its more comprehensive explanation:
https://carolinahoneybees.com/wax-moths-in-bee-hives/
Honey Money
Mr. Monks goes on to describe the great quantities of honey from the region and how it was exchanged like currency.
“Honeydew fell in such quantities as to completely kill the tops of the grass where it was open. I have known young turkeys, after they were large enough for use, to have their wings so gummed with honeydew that they could not fly out of the way of a dog – have known lots of them to be caught with dogs when they wanted to use them. There was no question in regard to there being honey when you cut a bee tree, if the hollow and space in the tree were sufficient and the bees had had time to fill it. I have known bee trees being cut that had 8 and 10 feet of solid comb that was candied and grained. When my father first located, beeswax, peltry and fur skins almost constituted the currency of the country. I remember that a short time after my father located, a gentleman came to my father’s house and wanted to buy a horse and offered to pay him in beeswax and peltry, and as I had been accustomed to paper currency in the state of Illinois, I asked my father what kind of money peltry was. He laughed and remarked, “Well son, it is not money at all; it is deer skins.” A man thought nothing of buying a horse or a yoke of oxen, or to make any other common debt on the promise of discharging the same in beeswax and peltry in one month’s time.”
Honeydew
After reading this, I realized that all I knew about “honeydew” was that there is a melon named after the same so I wasn’t able to imagine how turkeys could end up in such a predicament. It turns out that aphids (among some other insects) secrete honeydew as they feed on the sap of plants which covers plant leaves in this sticky substance. This substance can fall on parked cars and is particularly difficult to remove. I suspect I now know what sap-like material is all over my vehicle. In any event, honeydew is sugary and bees are known for collecting it to make honey. I’m not sure if the name “honeydew” comes from the sweet taste of the liquid itself or if it is because bees are known to make honey with it or if it tastes like a honeydew melon. More research is needed there on my part but for now I’ll probably focus on finding solution that helps me clean it off my car.
Honey Questions
The size and quality of the honey stores in the honey tree hives he described filled my mind with additional questions. How long does it take for a land to become filled with honey? How much honey can be naturally created and stored in a given area? Do honey trees ever fill up to capacity and how long do they last? How does honeydew honey differ in taste and quality from floral honey? I found answers to some of these questions at the following websites:
https://www.naturalbeekeepingtrust.org/learning-from-wild-bees-trees
https://www.honeybeesuite.com/what-is-honeydew-honey
https://carolinahoneybees.com/honeydew-honey
https://insights.osu.edu/sustainability/bee-population
Conclusion
For most of my adult life, I have heard of bee populations declining and of the imperative need to rescue them. Man-made beehives are popping up everywhere as more and more folks get involved with bee preservation while research into the crisis continues. However, in the midst of this environmental emergency, it is pleasant to imagine what it would have been like in 1844 to visit a land tended by countless wild bee colonies maintaining huge hives overflowing with natural honey.