TAKING HONEY AND WAX. 187 



flavour of farina or 'bee-'bread, and is slightly discoloured 

 by it. We very much disapprove of the hand-squeezing 

 mode, for though it secures the greatest weight of honey, 

 it does so at the expense of quality. In taking clover or 

 flower honey, no squeezing is absolutely necessary; but in 

 the case of heather-honey some pressure is required, for 

 it will not run without it. 



"We have seen instruments for pressing honey from combs. 

 Though small and imperfect, they did their work well, but 

 the process was slow and tedious. "We earnestly hope that 

 the ingenuity of some bee-keeper will soon furnish us with 

 an instrument which wUl enable us to take hundred- 

 weights of honey from combs easily and speedily. 



"We are sorry that we cannot give the reader one use- 

 ful hint in the matter of extracting honey from combs, 

 for every old woman in the country is as well posted and 

 accomplished as the author; indeed it is a question if the 

 people of the times of Methuselah were not quite as well 

 up in this work as we are. We are earnestly seeking for 

 a way that will save both time and toU in this busiuess. 



After all the honey has dripped into the vessel and 

 been skimmed, it is ready for sale. 



Wax is obtained by putting the refuse combs into a 

 bag ef cheese-cloth, and boUing them in a large pot of 

 clean water over a slow fire. If the bag be pushed to the 

 bottom of the pot and held there by some contrivance, aU 

 the better. The wax speedily comes to the surface of the 

 water, and appears there as a beautiful yellow oil or fat. 

 This oil is ladled into a bag of fine cloth or strainer, 

 through which it passes into vessels. The wax may be 

 boiled again iu clean water, and put through the bag once 

 more, and thus become purified. Combs that yield £10 

 worth of honey, yield rather more than £1 worth of wax. 



