History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c26.s3.t6.1

v1.c26.s3.t6.1

*Types and Usages* : The Bhimbetka prehistoric cave paintings show men dispoiling the hives of bees on rocks perhaps 6,000 years ago (Dave, 1954, 1955). The Ṛgveda considered that honey from small bees (śaragava) was superior to those from large ones (āraṅgara) (Prakash, Om, 1961, pp. 7-33). In later literature, three kinds of bees and honey are frequently referred to (Gopal, 1969, p. 255). The first is makṣika, used for both the common honey bee and its honey, which is by far the most important kind. Next is the bhramara, a large black bee giving a honey of the same name that was believed to be difficult to digest. The third was the small, black kṣudra bee giving ksaudra honey, the only one mentioned in the Arthaśāstra. The fourth one mentioned by Caraka is pauttika honey from the puṭṭika bee, which the Amarakośa defines as being a very small black bee resembling an ant. Suśruta has four more types of honey, termed catra, arghya, auddālika, and dala, which have all been identified in modern terms (Gopal, 1969, p. 255). A Kashmiri work of the 9th century AD has several words for bee clusters,like indindhira, dvivepa and bhṛṅga (Shastri,1975,p.204)