This is a history of the New Zealand poisonous honey problem. New Zealand was not the first country to report problems with poisonous honey. Poisonings have been known worldwide for more than 2,000 years and still occurs in some countries today. As well as descriptions of the poisoning incidents, the history includes a description of the efforts of beekeepers, beekeeping advisors, doctors, and scientists who took 80 years to identify the source of the poison, and regulators who attempted to eliminate the problem. Although this is a historical account, the threat of poisoning from toxic honey is still present today. The last reported poisonings occurred as recently as 2008 when 22 people were poisoned after consuming toxic honey from the Coromandel Peninsula. It is important for beekeepers to be aware of this history in order to prevent new poisoning incidents.

A major compendium on the subject, in two parts. Part I (150 pages) has chapters on the various kinds of symptoms of poisoning, classification of poisons, symptoms and antidotes, and a catalog of the more important poisonous plants of the United States and Canada arranged in taxonomic order. Part II (over 700 pages) lists poisonous plants in taxonomic order with descriptions, illustrations, and account of poisonous properties. Also includes a catalog of the poisonous plants of the world in tabular form, with plants arrangd alphabetically by family; gives name authority, properties, and locality. A bibliography of 1,097 items is followed by a general index.