Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 05.djvu/62

LEFT HONDUBAS, BAY OF HONDURAS, BAY OF, a wide inlet of the Caribbean Sea, having on the S. Guatemala and Honduras, and on the W. British Honduras and Yucatan, Along its shores are the islands of Bonaca, Ruatan, Utila, Turneff, and numerous islets and reefs called cays. HONDTJIIAS, BRITISH. See BELIZE. HONE, WILLIAM, an English anti- quary; born in 1780. He began life in a law office and became imbued with free- thinking opinions. In 1817 he was prosecuted by the English Government for the publication of alleged irreverent parodies and lampoons, when he de- fended himself and was acquitted. He gradually abandoned freethought for religious and antiquarian studies. His chief publications are the "Every-day Book" (1826); "Table-talk" (1827- 1828); and "Year Book" (1829). He died in 1842. HONEY, a product primarily of a vegetable character, in many plants ex- isting at the base of the corolla, some- times in a more or less elongated tube, closed at the lower end, called by Lin- naeus, on account of its contents, a nectary. Neuter bees collect it to store against winter, and swallowing it by means of their proboscis, transfer it to a distended portion of the oesophagus, called the honey-bag. There certain chemical changes take place upon it, so that when placed, as it ultimately is, in the honeycomb, it is not, as at first, exclusively a vegetable product. HONEY ANT, an ant {Mijrmecocys- fus inexic(inus) inhabiting Mexico, and living in communities in subterranean galleries. In summer a certain number of these insects secrete a kind of honey in their abdomens which become so dis- tended as to appear like small pellucid gi'apes. Later in the season when food is scarce these ants are devoured by the others, and they are also dug up and eaten by the inhabitants of the country. HONEY BUZZARD, or BEE-KITE (Pernis ajrivariis), one of the Falconidse allied to both kites and buzzards, but vith many peculiarities, such as the thick feathering of the sides of the head down to the base of the bill. It winters in Africa, and breeds in the wooded dis- tricts of north Europe, ranging, however, as far E. as China and Japan. The honey buzzard owes its name to its habit of plundering the nests of bees and wasps for the sake of the larvae, and apparently also the honey. HONEYCOMB, the hexagonal cell formed by the hive bee for the reception 46 HONEY SPRINGS of honey and for the eggs of the queen bee, and a habitation for the larva of the insect till reaching maturity. HONEYCOMB MOTH, in entomology, Galleria cerella, a small moth which does much damage in beehives, piercing the combs and building as it proceeds a single tube, covered with the excrement of the insect, and formed of the wax on which it feeds. Why the bees tolerate such a foe is a mystery. HONEY DEW, a viscid saccharine ex- udation which is often found in warm dry weather on the leaves and stems of plants, occurring on both trees and her- baceous plants. It is often, but not always, associated with the presence of aphides, cocci, and other insects which feed on the juices of plants, and its flow is ascribed to their punctures; but the rupture of the tissues may be due to warm weather, when for the production of sap the superabundance of sugar is thus thrown off. Orange and lemon and coffee plantations sometimes suffer great injury from the abundance of honey dew. HONEY EATER, or HONEY SUCKER, the name of a large family of birds {Meliphagidse), tribe Tenuir- ostres, order Insessores, characterized by their long, sharp, slender, curved bills, and their long cleft extensile tongue ter- minating in a pencil of bristle-like fila- ments. They are entirely confined to Australia and the islands included in the Australian region, where they are very abundant, living on honey and insects. HONEY GUIDE, a species of cuckoo, Cuculus indicator, which inhabits various parts of Africa, and is celebrated for its curious habit of guiding the natives to the nests of wild bees, by its peculiar cry. HONEY LOCUST, SWEET LOCUST, or BLACK LOCUST {Gleditschia tria- canthos), a forest tree belonging to the United States, natural order Leguminosx. The foliage has a light and elegant ap- pearance; the flowers are greenish, and are succeeded by long, often twisted pods, containing large brown seeds. The tree is especially remarkable for its formid- able thorns, on which account it has been recommended for hedges. The G. monosperma, a tree resembling the last, grows in swamps in Illinois anc the Southwest. HONEY SPRINGS, a locality in Kan- sas near Elk Creek, 25 miles S. of Fort Blunt. A sharp action of two hours' duration was fought here, July 17, 1863, between 6,000 Confederate troops under