HONEY. 875 



a temperature as to candy in the cells. The little red ant, 

 and the large black ant are extravagantly fond of it, and they 

 will soon carry off large quantities, unless it is placed beyond 

 their reach. Paper should be pasted over all boxes,, glasses, 

 and other honey receptacles, to make them air tight, and 

 they should then be carefully stored aw^ay for future use. 



To drain pure honey from virgin combs, put them into a 

 preserving kettle, and bring it to the boiling point ; set it off 

 to cool, and then remove the wax which vfill float upon the 

 top. The honey may now be strained, and poured into 

 bottles or jars, and tightly covered, to exclude the air ; and 

 should it candy, these may be set into cold water, and 

 when brought to the boiling point, the honey will be as 

 nice, as when first strained from the comb. If any of the 

 combs contain bee-bread, they should be kept separate from 

 the others, as the honey from them will be of an inferior 

 quality. In Russia, and Germany, but little honey is sold in 

 the comb, but in our country, its beautiful appearance in- 

 duces many to keep it in this form, especially when intended 

 for sale. 



The prudent bee-keeper will preserve all empty comb i 

 which will be serviceable in the hive, or spare honey-boxes ; 

 all such as is useless for these purposes, may be put into 

 water, and boiled, when the pure wax will float upon the top, 

 and will harden if poured into cold water. It may now be 

 melted again in a pan, and run into vessels slightly greased • 

 the impurities which will settle to the bottom may be scraped 

 off, when the cake grows hard. Old combs which have 

 been long used by the bees for breeding, will not readily 

 part with their wax, on account of the cocoons with which 

 they are lined ; these after being first boiled, should be put 

 into a coarse woolen bag with a flat iron on top, to make it 

 sink, and this bag boiled until the wax has strained through. 



