837. The Canary Islands are celebrated for their honey, more especially that made by the bees on the peak of Teneriffe. The inhabitants of every village in the neighbourhood of the Peak carry their bee-hives, which are formed of the hollow trunks of the dragon tree (Dracï¾µ'na), in the month of May, and place them in the crevices of rocks. Millions of bees then swarm round the large and fragrant bushes of the white retama, or white broom (Spartium nubigenum), and very soon fill the hives. The honey, which is taken from them twice every summer, is always in great abundance; and neither Hymettus nor Chamouni have ever produced any thing equal to it; it is so pure and transparent, and its taste is so aromatic and delicious. (Gard. Mag., vol. ii. p. 462.)
