CHAPTER XIV. 
THE PREPARATION OF HONEY 
WHEN the honey has been removed from the 
hives, much still remains to be done before it is 
fit for the table or the market. In the first place, 
if it be extracted honey that has to be dealt with, 
it requires grading, extracting, ripening, and finally 
putting up in jars or other receptacles. 
This werk must be carried out in a room which 
is impervious to the attacks of bees or wasps, 
as it usually comes at a time when these insects 
are highly aggressive. Should they be able to 
effect an entrance the work will soon be brought 
abruptly to a standstill. 
The honey should first be graded, as it is a 
mistake of the first order to extract the whole 
of the combs in one lot. The honey which is 
collected by the bees is of various colours and 
qualities, and it must not be mixed if the best 
is to be made of the product. If the combs be 
held up to the light it will readily be seen that 
they contain honey of both light and dark shades, 
and these shades should be separated and ex- 
tracted apart. Light honey will fetch threepence 
or fourpence per pound more than dark honey, 
89 
