TAEING HONEY AND WAX. 



137 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



ON TAKING HONEY AND WAX. 



When we lived in Oxfordshire, we were pleased to find 

 the cottagers there could seU their honey in the hives. 

 Certain honey-factors came round 

 every autumn, and bought honey- 

 hives at sixpenceper lb. gross weight, 

 after the bees had been killed by 

 brimstone. "We then thought, and 

 think stiU, that the cottagers got 

 a fair price for their honey, and 

 doubtless the factors got a fair mar- 

 gin of profit. 



It is not difficult to know pretty 

 accurately how much honey is in a 

 hive before the bees are removed 

 from it. Here is an illustration 

 of a German steelyard, which is a 

 handyinstrument for weighing hives. 

 The dial or plate is figured on both 

 sides — one side for the large central 

 hook and ring, numbering from 1 lb. 

 up to 200 lb. The other side, indi- 

 cating from 1 lb. to 40 lb. only, is 

 used when the hive is lifted by the 

 smaU hook and ring seen on the left-hand side. This 

 steelyard is small enough to be carried in a coat-pocket. 



There are other kinds of steelyards, perhaps more ac- 

 curate than this German one, but they are more bulky. 



To ascertain how much honey is in a hive, we have a 

 rule or standard of calculation which comes near enough 



German SteelyaTd, 



