THE PRODUCTION OF HONEY. 513 
ing the sections wisely will save us from having any 
large number unfinished, but it must not be expected 
that those slowly worked will equal in appearance 
those obtained earlier. Sections must not be left on 
after the income has fallen as low as expenditure, fully 
finished or not, or the bees will spoil all by beginning 
to break the cappings and carry down the honey. 
The sections housed must be carefully kept secure 
from bees, and in a warm, dry room. Cases to hold 
one or two dozen, with glass sides, are a great con- 
venience, and permit of an assortment of the stock. 
Those poorly finished should be extracted. Those 
containing dark-coloured, inferior honey, may be fed 
back to the bees behind a division-board, or in an 
upper storey. The comb wall be of great service 
the succeeding season, as we have seen. Tempting 
packages for sections, now so common, have their 
value as increasing sales, but any description of them 
lies outside our present purpose. 
Sections do not keep so well as extracted honey. 
They are unsaleable if candied, and must be melted 
down. In a damp air they weep, and rapid changes 
of temperature damage them, many cells showing 
that they are defective (page 175, \"ol. I.), so that 
evenness of colour is lost. They are difficult to 
pack, and fragile at best. Extracted honey, liable 
also to candying, brought about mainly by the action 
of light, should, if in bottle, be kept in store in 
the dark ; but, unlike comb honey, when candied its 
transparency can be easily regained, without the least 
detriment to quality, as explained at page 487. 
Extracted honey from virgin combs is altogether 
VoL. II. 2 L 
