Wild Honey

Pictured here are a hive built by wild honey bees (1) and a honey-filled comb (2). The honey that John ate may have been produced by a wild species of bee known as Apis mellifera syriaca, which is native to the area. This aggressive species is well-adapted to living in the hot, dry climate of the Judean wilderness but is not suited to being farmed by man. However, as early as the ninth century B.C.E., people living in Israel kept honey bees in clay cylinders. A large number of the remains of these hives were discovered in the middle of what was an urban area (now known as Tel Rehov), located in the Jordan Valley. Honey from these hives was produced by a species of bee that seems to have been imported from what is now known as Turkey.