TAKING HONEY AND WAX. 141 



inch straw one with combs, and store up food enough for 

 themselves from September till March. What advantage, 

 then, can be found in the use of old combs t Most cer- 

 tainly there can be no gain or profit in their retention. 



We are most anxious to find an instrument that will 

 enable bee-keepers to take their honey from the combs 

 speedily ; for honey- taking, in any form, is very unpleas- 

 ant work. In the old process of draining or running 

 honey through a bag into a vessel beneath it, we have 

 to say, that after it has stood for a day in the vessel, it 

 is skimmed, jarred up, and made ready for use or sale. 

 A short time after honey is jarred up, it begins to set or 

 crystallise ; and crystallised honey is gritty to eat. Those 

 who wish to use their honey in a liquid state have simply 

 to put the jars into an oven for a time. It soon liquefies 

 there, and becomes, as good to eat as when first taken 

 from the combs. 



Honey in the combs does not candy so soon as run 

 honey, but even in the comb and supers of comb it 

 sometimes does candy. By placing such comb in a warm 

 place, the honey liquefies, and the comb appears as in its 

 virgin state. Both honey and honeycomb wiU keep good 

 for two years, if not for a longer period of time. 



Wax is obtained by putting the refuse combs into a 

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

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

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

 all 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 in 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 



