288 
THE HIVE AMD HONEY-BEE. 
To drain honey from virgin combs, bring it to the boil¬ 
ing point in any clean vessel, and, when cool, the wax 
will float on the top, and the honey may be strained and 
poured into bottles or jars, which should be tightly 
covered, to exclude the air. Should it candy, these may 
be put into cold water, and brought to the boiling-point, 
when the honey will be as nice as ever. Combs which 
contain bee-bread should be kept separate from the 
others, as the honey from them is of an inferior quality.* 
Empty comb which cannot be used in the hive or spare 
honey-boxes (p. 71), may.be put into water and boiled, 
when the pure wax will float upon the top, and harden if 
poured into cold water. If melted again, and run into 
vessels slightly greased, the impurities will settle at the 
bottom. Combs which have been so long used by bees 
for breeding that they will not readily part with their 
wax, maybe put into a coarse woolen bag, with a flat-iron 
on the top to make it sink, and boiled until the wax has 
risen to the top of the kettle. Very old brood-combs are 
seldom worth rendering into wax. 
New swarms, unless very large, ought not to be 
admitted to the surplus honey receptacles until they have 
been hived three or four days. Old stocks should have 
access to them quite early in the season. If the hives 
stand in the sun, and the weather is warm, ample venti- 
lationf should be given, while bees are storing honey. 
It purgeth those things which hurt the clearness of the oyos, breodeth good blood, 
«ti -rethup natural heat, and prolongeth life; it koepeth all things uncorrnpt which 
are put into it, and is a sovereign medicament, both for outward and inward mala¬ 
dies; ithelpeth the greif of the jaws, the kernels growing within the mouth, and 
the squinancy ; it is drank against the biting of a serpent or a mad dog; it is good for 
such as have eaten mushrooms, for the falling sickness, and against the surfeit 
Being boiled, it is lighter of digestion, and more nourishing.” 
* In Russia and Germany, very little honey is sold in the comb. Purchasers In 
this country should beware of the inferior Wext India honoy, which is often sold 
in cans ns a superior article, for two or threo times its cost. 
+ My hives admit of such complete ventilation, that they may be safely put 
anywhere except where there is ay?e«nieat. 
