484 
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 
is uncapped it is improved, so far as evenness is 
concerned, for the next operation. 
The general public appear to foster a vague notion 
that comb honey is necessarily unsophisticated, while 
extracted may, at least, be regarded as a body whose 
purity is not proven, for the beauty of the comb itself 
would hardly account for the great disparity in the 
prices of the two, although the disparity is quite 
justified by the difference in the cost of production. 
Wax is not human food, and when the errors just 
expressed have passed away, and the wretched, bottled 
imitations of honey, now well-nigh driven from the 
market, have been forgotten, extracted honey will be 
more highly valued than at present. Every effort 
should be made to secure it in the most palatable 
form, and to that end all should abandon the doubtful 
policy of extracting from combs containing brood, for 
the thought of it is, at least, not appetising, and 
proper management of the brood-nest makes the 
practice needless. The finest samples of extracted 
honey, if obtained from the right flora, come from 
fully-sealed combs in which breeding has not taken 
place, for here the debris consists of wax alone, 
specifically lighter than honey, and therefore soon at 
the top for removal. ' If scrupulous care has been 
taken in cleansing the extractor from dust and other 
matters, this first grade stuff will hardly need straining, 
standing and skimming being sufficient. An ideal 
sample would have a delicate but characteristic aroma, 
a rich flavour, leaving a distinct impression on the back 
of the palate, and would be of a straw or pale amber 
colour. It should possess perfect clearness, and, as 
