288 THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 



To drain honey from virgin combs, bring it to the boil- 

 ing point in any clean vessel, and, when cool, the wax 

 will float on the top, and the honey may be strained and 

 poured into bottles or jars, which should be tightly 

 covered, to exclude the air. Should it candy, these may 

 be put into cold water, and brought to the boiling-point, 

 when the honey will be as nice as ever. Combs which 

 contain bee-bread should be kept separate from the 

 others, as the honey from them is of an inferior quality.* 



Empty oomb which cannot be used in the hive or spare 

 honey-boxes (p. 71), may be put into water and boiled, 

 when the pure wax will float upon the top, and harden if 

 poured into cold water. If melted again, and run into 

 vessels slightly greased, the impurities will settle at the 

 bottom. Combs which have been so long used by bees 

 for breeding that they will not readily part with their 

 wax, maybe put into a coarse woolen bag, with a flat-iron 

 on the top to make it sink, and boiled until the wax has 

 risen to the top of the kettle. Very old brood-combs are 

 seldom worth rendering into wax. 



New swarms, unless very large, ought not to be 

 admitted to the surplus honey receptacles until they have 

 been hived three or four days. Old stocks should have 

 access to them quite early in the season. If the hives 

 stand in the sun, and Jhe weather is warm, ample venti- 

 lationf should be given, while bees are storing honey. 



it purgeth those things which hurt the clearness of the eyes, breedeth good blood, 

 stirrethup natural heat, and prolongeth life; it keepeth all things uncorrnpt which 

 are put into it, and IB a sovereign medicament, both for outward and inward mala- 

 dies ; it helpeth the greif of the jaws, the kernels growing within the mouth, and 

 the sqninancy ; it is drank against the biting of a serpent or a mad dog ; it is good for 

 such as have eaten mushrooms, for the falling sickness, and against the surfeit. 

 Being boiled, it is lighter of digestion, and more nourishing." 



* In Kussia and Germany, very little honey is sold in the comb. Purchasers in 

 this country should beware of the inferior West India honey, which is often sold 

 in cans as a superior article, for two or three times its cost 



+ My hives admit of such complete ventilation, that they may be safely put 

 anywhere except whore there is a pent heat 



