Madhu—( honey) :—

Madhu (honey) is good for the eyes (Vision), breaks up hard masses, relieves thirst, lema (increases kapha), poison, hiccup, bleeding diseas s, diabetes, leprosy (and other skin diseases), worms, vomitting, dyspnoea, cough, diarrhoea; cleanses, unites and heals wounds, aggravates väta, is nonunctous and slightly astringent and sweet in taste; madhu arkarã (solidified houcy) is similar to it (honey) in properties and actions. 51—52.
Honey, kills, if used after heating it, and by those suffering from great heat, used during hot season, hot country or with hot foods. 53.

But honey does not cause any harm when used warm (mixed with warm water) for producing vomitting or for administration of nirüha (decoction enema) because it comes out of the body before it undergoes digestion. 54.
Notes :-—.Honey is the sweet liquid prepared by bees for their own use but robbed by man. There are many varieties of bees, different in Size, colour and habitat. Some dwell in forests and build their home (hive) attached to the b anches of tall trees, some build them inside the crevices of the trees, roofs of tall buildings, inside the cracks of the walls etc., genei ally large and medium sized, brown coloured bees build big hives while small sized, slightly blackish bees build their home inside the crevices, hollows of trees and buildings. The bees hop from flower, suck the 3wcet nectar, store them for some time in a special sac inside their mouth. Mter they come back to th’ ir hive in the evening, they bring out the sweet necta and deposit it inside the small chambers of the hive, thus they build up a store of ie.dy food for their own use in rainy season. Man lured by the sweetness of honey, drives away the bees forcebly and collects the honey, daring even the strong poisonous sting of the enrage

bees. Now.adays bee keeping has come into practice, wooden hives are provided to them in side the garden and honey collcctcd periodically without harming the bees or being harmed by them.
Honey is a very sweet, thick liquid, varying in colour from dark brown to light yellow The sweetnes and thickness show variations depending upon the region, type of flowers bees feed on, the season and the variety of the bees. Honey is a mixture of nectar and pollen of flowers. It contains 20.06% of water, 71 4 % of cai bohydrate (in the form of two sugars—dextrose and lavulose ), 0.38% of piotein, small quantities of formic acid, and vitamin B. it is used as a sweetening agent along with foods and drinks, it is also Uf ed as a vehicle for administration of medicines, as a supplementary diet and as a medicine in many diseases. It can be used daily by all, irrespective of age, or sex, but in httle quantities either as such without adding anything, or along with other articles of food. It is necessary to use genuine honey always and reject the spurious and adultrated honey which are sold cheap in the market. Genuine honey is slightly tanspaient, clear liquid without any precipitate at the botom of the bottle, and forms a uniform solution when poured into clean water.