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Early forms of honey collecting entailed the destruction of the entire colony when the honey was harvested.The wild hive was crudely broken using smoke to suppress the bees, the honeycombs were torn out and smashed up, along with the eggs, larvae, and honey they contained.The liquid honey from the destroyed brood nest was crudely strained through a sieve or basket.This was destructive and unhygienic but for honey-gathering societies this did not matter since the honey was generally consumed immediately and there were always more wild colonies to exploit.