28 
all the combs were removed, and the imprison- 
ment of the bees repeated. But the result was 
the same; they formed other five combs of the 
finest and whitest wax. 
Honey is the richest extracts from the finest 
flowers. It is a vegetable secretion which appears 
at different seasons of the year, especially when 
flowers in general are in blossom. The bees 
lick it from the flowers with their tongue and 
probossis; it is swallowed, and on their return 
to the hive is disgorged, not from the trunk, but 
from the mouth, into the cells. The best sort of 
honey is made from the white clover and mign- 
onette, from which it is produced in great abun- 
dance; it is of a whitish color, inclining to yellow, 
of a thick consistence, possessing an agreeable 
smell, and a pleasant taste. The comb first made 
by a swarm, is of the purest and most delicate 
white, and the honey which it contains is light 
colored, and of delicious flavor, and is called vir- 
gin honey. 
Honey is the source of wax, and the food of 
bees. Being a vegetable production, the quantity 
of honey depends entirely on the nature of the 
plants from which it is produced. Honey pro- 
duced from buckwheat is of a reddish color, thin, 
transparent, and of an unpleasant flavor. It is 
produced in great abundance. It is not uncom- 
mon for a single swarm to increase the weight of 
their hive, during the season of buckwheat, which 
continues from the first of August to the middle 
of September, from thirty to forty pounds. 
Bee bread, during the spring, summer, and 
till late in the fall, is brought home by the bees in 
the hollow of their legs. This is the farina, or 
pollen, obtained from various sorts of flowers or 
plants. This was formerly supposed to be wax ; 
