However, honey was always in demand as a luxury item by peoples all over the Kingdom of Egypt and beyond. Demand always outran production as goods were imported from Djahi, Retenu and possibly even further. Canaan, which is referred to as "The Land of Milk and Honey " in the Old Testament and the fictitious land of Yaa was described as such by the Sinhue waxed lyric: .
It was a good land called Yaa. Figs were in it and grapes. It had more wine than water. Abundant was its honey, plentiful its oil. All kinds of fruit were on its trees. Barley was there and emmer, and no end of cattle of all kinds.(The Tale of Sinuhe, Middle Kingdom)4.
In this period of antiquity, sugar was still an unknown, so honey's otherworldly sweetness was held in glory anywhere it was tasted. A little further down the line of history, the Ancient Greeks perfected the Egyptians' system of beekeeping by baking the pots out of sturdier terra-cotta. It was the Greeks who coined the term "nectar of the gods " in reference to honey. In Africa, an ancient form of beekeeping that dates back thousands of years is still used. By hanging hollow logs, woven baskets and sometimes clay pots in trees, tribes create their own personal hives. It wasn't until 1851 that the Reverend Langstroth in Philadelphia developed the greatest advancement in beekeeping and bee biology; the movable bee frame. .
Uses of Ancient Honey.
Bees and the honey they produce pre-dates human history. How human kind managed to begin interaction with the bee is a story that comes in many forms across cultures throughout history. Some of the most ancient tales of the creation of man contain passages with bees and honey as crucial elements. For the Masai people in Kenya, The one high God Enkai created the heavens and the earth along with the first three tribes of people. The first group, the Torrobo, were given wild animals and honey as a food source, while the second group and the Massai were given grains and cattle, respectively.