in establishments where large quantities of wax are bleached--where bleaching wax is of itself a regular business--it may probably be sufficient to answer all the purposes for which _white-wax_ is wanted in private families. I have by me wax of my own bleaching that is equal in whiteness and delicacy to any I have ever met with. Good wax is a heavy, solid substance, of a deep yellow colour, has an agreeable, balsamic odour, and possesses several medicinal and other valuable qualities. Combs that have never been filled, and those that have been filled with honey only, afford the best wax. Of the former kind but very little need ever be taken from Bees in collateral-boxes; and when any such combs are taken, they may be far more advantageously disposed of than by being melted down for the wax they contain. Instead of crushing and melting all the combs of three or four hives together, as is mostly done by cottage Bee-keepers, the fine, clean parts should be separated from those that are discoloured, less pure, and inferior, by reason of their age,--of having been brood combs,--or of containing pollen, and should be melted first. By this very easy mode of manipulation, the quantity of wax would not be lessened, and the superior quality of the fine would command a price that would be an ample remuneration for the additional trouble attending the management of it in this way. Should the preceding directions be thought to be tediously or unnecessarily minute, my apology for making them so is--an anxious wish on my part to render every thing relating to Bees clearly understood--understood so as to be set about and properly managed by persons who never before bestowed one thought upon the subject. CHAPTER XVI I. WINTER SITUATION FOR BEES. There is no part of Bee-management more utterly disregarded by cottage-hive Bee-keepers than that which relates to a proper situation for store-hives during winter. From whatever cause this inattention may proceed,--whether from custom, ignorance, or prejudice, it is much to be regretted; because nothing is so essentially conducive to the future prosperity, and often to the very preservation, of a colony, as due attention to its winter situation. Left, as stock-hives commonly are, in their summer aspect, and to stand upon the very spot they have occupied ever since the day of their existence as stocks,--with their entrances wide open, just as they were in summer,--exposed alike to every change of weather and to every attack of prowling enemies; or, if covered at all, it is mostly with a rude coat of straw, or reed, or such material as affords to mice, vermine, and various sorts of Bee-enemies, shelter and concealment, and, in fact, encouragement to attack and destroy the hives. Thus, neglected and unheeded, it is no wonder that so many stocks of Bees perish in the winter and spring of every year; the wonder rather is that any should escape.