FLAVOUR IMPARTED TO HONEY. 377 



manual pressure will be found competent for all the pur- 

 poses of an English apiary. It is recommended by some 

 bee masters or bee mistresses, particularly the latter, to 

 squeeze the combs through a coarse cloth, in preference to 

 squeezing them with the hands, on the supposition, that a 

 certain quantity is lost by adhering to the hands, which on 

 the cloth is given to the bees to be conveyed into the cells. 

 In fact, all the utensils employed in the manipulation of the 

 honey should be put in the vicinity of the apiary; the bees 

 will soon scent it, and in less than half an hour every glo- 

 bule of the honey adhering to any part of them, will be 

 carried into the hive. This plan, however, is adopted on 

 the supposition, that no mead is made ; as in that case, the 

 utensils are all washed with water, which is mixed with that 

 of which the mead is made. 



This second or inferior honey will require a little attention 

 being paid to it after being poured into the vessels in which 

 it is to be kept, which is not requisite with the prime sort. 

 A scum will frequently rise to the top of the second honey, 

 which, if not taken off, is apt to ferment, and in a short 

 time deteriorate the whole of the honey. In some instances 

 the honey will be so foul, from the quantity of bee bread 

 and other noxious substances intermixed with it, as to 

 render it wholly unfit for the market. In this case it 

 should be passed through a sieve, resembling a jelly bag, 

 and this operation should be repeated until the honey has 

 obtained a comparative degree of transparency. 



The French impart a peculiar flavour to their honey by 

 placing orange flowers and other aromatic herbs in the 

 sieve through which the honey passes. This artificial flavour 

 is supposed by many to proceed from the peculiar kind of 

 flowers from which the bees extract their honey, and in the 

 great honey districts of Narbonne and Languedoc, the 

 honey has always an artificial flavour imparted to it, which 

 enhances its value in the market. 

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