In the old days the people did not know where honey came from. Pliny, the great Roman writer, says that it came from the air, and that the stars helped to make it. He tells us, too, that it was much better at the time of the rising of the bright star Sirius, and goes on to say what a pity it is that it is mixed with “the juices of the flowers,” for, little suspecting that they are really the nectar itself, he actually thought they spoilt its essence! Others supposed that honey gathered whilst Jupiter and Venus were in the sky with Sirius was able to effect miracles, such as curing diseases and actually restoring the dead to life! How curious and interesting are these old beliefs, and yet how silly they seem to us. We know that honey is really “juices of the flowers,” which have undergone a wonderful change in the bees’ stomachs; and that, although it is very pleasant to the taste, it is not able to restore the dead to life, or to work any other miracles of a like nature! There are many different qualities of honey, each depending on the flowers from which the nectar is gathered. There is, for instance, the beautiful almond-flavoured honey from the apple blossom or the dark and strong heather honey. But the honey which is perhaps the most common and beautiful is that from clover. The white clover blooms for about three weeks and then indeed are the bees busy. Red clover is of little use, the florets being too long for the bees to reach the nectar. It is true that this might be obtained by the bee biting through the base of each one, but when red clover is in bloom the white is also to be had, and so of the two the bees naturally prefer the white, where their tongues can easily gather up the tiny drops of fluid. Later on, perhaps, when the white clover is done, there will be a second crop of red, and the bees are then glad to visit it, for the florets of the second crop are shorter than those of the first. Clover honey is light amber colour, and as clear as crystal. A bee-keeper can tell by the taste of any honey from what flowers it has come, and perhaps, too, from which part of the country. After the bees have filled up their combs with honey, the bee-keeper puts some smaller frames in the second chamber of the hive. These are called sections, and as a rule they measure 4-1/4 in. × 4-1/4 in. If honey is still plentiful the bees will then build combs in these sections, and fill them with it, and so when this has been done the bee-keeper may take away the sections, and it is in this manner that honey is taken from the bees.