54 



AMERICAN BEE IOUj?NAL 



Jan. 24, 1901. 



pump. I poured and poured; thinks I, that holds an awful 

 sight of water. I thought I would examine it, and I went 

 around the barrel and there it was coming out in a big flat 

 stream as fast as I could pour it in ; and, mind you, that 

 was a sample, not regular stock. If that was the case with 

 samples, what would his regular goods be ? Only last year 

 I bought five-gallon cans and on taking .some of those to 

 market one of them fell down and I lost nearly one-half, 

 besides it daubed the wagon-box and all the other cans. 



Mr. Pickard — I wish to call the gentlemen to order. 

 He has his face from me, and I can't tell what he is saying. 

 Take the platform and then we can all hear. 



Mr. Hatch — I have said just about all I had to say, any 

 way : but the trouble with Mr. Pickard this year is, he got 

 a few second-hand cans. It must have been some fault in 

 his management of those cans ; I filled many more than he 

 did this year out of the same lot, and I had to solder only 

 four or five, and found one rusted on the side so it would 

 leak. Let me tell you a little experience of a friend of 

 mine in loading barrels. We had some 3S(Vpound barrels ; 

 two men were handling them and were getting one of them 

 up into the wagon, and the end of the barrel slipt and came 

 down and took the end of his finger off ; he couldn't do that 

 with a can. Another time, I myself was hauling honey to 

 the city of Winona ; I was delivering a 350-pound barrel in 

 an express-wagon. Crossing the railroad-track ahead of an 

 engine, it tipt over and caught me between the edge of the 

 seat and the barrel ; if I had not been in a square position, 

 my arm would have been broken ; as it was, I had to carry 

 my arm in a sling a day or two. Every time you handle a 

 barrel with a lot of honey, you have to cooper it. Mr. Pick- 

 ard has just said if you rolled it up in the corner you would 

 find it there in the morning. If you take it to the depot, 

 you have to cooper it over before it goes on the car ; when 

 the man gets it in Chicago, he has to cooper it over un- 

 less he puts it in a damp room ; if he takes it from a damp 

 room and puts it in a dry room, he has to cooper it over ; it 

 needs constant watching. If you have cans and put them 

 in there, they are there to stay until the market takes the 

 honey oft' your hands. 



F. Wilcox — It is hardly a question of location. Mr. 

 Pickard, Mr. Hatch and myself are practically in the same 

 field — from the same place. Mr. Hatch has said about 

 what I intended to say, so I merely agree with him. What 

 I want to say is on the question of market. If the honey 

 is to go to the wholesale buyers, like the National Biscuit 

 Co., use small barrels and half-barrels ; it gives them the 

 best satisfaction. But if it is to be consumed by the gro- 

 cers, by all means I would have five-gallon cans, or small 

 ones, and for reasons which have already been given. The 

 reason for using barrels is that they are cheaper : it costs 

 from 20 to 30 cents per 100 pounds of honey for half-bar- 

 rels, and from 60 to 65 cents for cans ; that difference alone 

 makes all the difference between a profit and a loss when 

 buying and selling honey ; and you also sometimes have a 

 loss by having the honey soak into the wood. I prefer to 

 have barrels painted ; paint them, then the honey may not 

 ooze out in warm weather thru the pores. 



N. E. France — I don't want to bother with tin cans. 

 Both Mr. Hatch and Mr. Pickard appreciate the tin can in its 

 place. I want to call attention to barrel cooperage. Unfor- 

 tunately, too much of our barrel cooperage has not been 

 properly done, and again, unfortunately, the masses of the 

 bee-keepers spoil that cooperage by soaking it up before 

 putting the honey in it. I have barreled my honey for over 

 20 years without five pounds of loss over that whole time. 

 In order to make a barrel that is tight, we must kiln-dry 

 the timber; then have iron hoops that we can "drive 

 home," and then keep it dry. This year in the same county 

 where these two gentlemen are living, I found a man with 

 27 barrels of honey, and to my surprise he said, "What is 

 the reason that I can not make my barrels hold ?" I found 

 that he poured boiling water in the barrel before filling 

 with honey, and then after filling it rolled it into the sun, 

 and I don't wonder the staves all fell down as quickly as it 

 got daylight. I buy my barrels in the winter, kiln-dried, 

 and put them in a dry room, and just before filling dry 

 them again until they are thoroly dry, and I will warrant 

 those barrels anywhere. Whether you use barrels or cans 

 depends upon the market ; each has its place. 



Mr. Pickard — Mr. Hatch seems to think he has had a 

 great many mishaps, cutting off his fingers, and toes, and 

 one thing and another, letting his barrels fall. Last year 

 I handled between six and seven carloads of honey, and 

 never lost a pound by any such accident ; I never lost any 

 honey in shipment ; everything seemed to be all right ; 

 barrels are a great deal cheaper and easier to handle. I un- | 



loaded some honey last week at our depot in 60-pound cans. 

 I had to go right down and take the honey and lift it up 

 bodily from the platform. I wisht Mr. Hatch had been 

 there to lift them. Had I had it in barrels I could have rolled 

 them right out. I would like to ask Mr. Hatch, Who buys 

 our honey ? Where does it go ? Where does the honey of 

 the world go — to the table? I don't find it so. I find our 

 honey goes to the manufacturer. My experience with what 

 manufacturers I have known, is that they want it in bar- 

 rels. I was in a factory not long ago and said to the mana- 

 ger. Which way would you rather have it, in barrels or 

 cans ? He said, "Barrels ; with them I can roll it right out." 

 I wouldn't give you a cent a can for honey ; barrels are 

 cheaper, and, as Mr. France saj's, if you keep water out of 

 barrels you won't have any leakage. 



D. H. Coggshall — In our vicinity, the last ten years, 

 we used kegs, and get good ones ; we don't want any second- 

 hand kegs. They hold 210 pounds. Now we get them 

 hoopt with flat wooden hoops, 12 on a keg. We got our 

 kegs last February for this year ; they are scattered around, 

 most of them, in our different outhouses.' We drive those 

 hoops thoroly before we put the honey in, and don't have 

 any leaking to amount to anything ; we ship these kegs 

 and are bothered hardly any, and it is a half a cent a pound 

 less expense than it is to put it in cans, and we can sell 

 it for just about the same price. Our New York market, 

 for manufacturing purposes, wouldn't give us any more 

 for it in cans than thej' would in' the kegs, which are made 

 of white poplar, as I understand it. They are thoroly put 

 up in every respect. 



Mr. Moore — My experience in this respect has not been 

 very satisfactory. I notice there isn't any certainty that 

 there would be no loss either in barrels or kegs. I know 

 Mr. York told me he got a can the other day that had only 

 about 10 pounds of honey in it when it arrived. It is well 

 known that the Dadants are among the heaviest honey- 

 producers of this country. They state practically what Mr. 

 France did. that barrels are absolutely certain with them 

 if absolutely kiln-dried and well coopered. 



Mr. Hatch — I would like to ask Pres. Root what kind 

 of packages their customers prefer ? 



Pres. Root — I can't say what kind of packages they pre- 

 fer ; a few years ago it seemed to be barrels, and now it is 

 coming more and more in cans. My o%vn personal experi- 

 ence has been more favorable with cans. The first year of 

 foul brood with us dates back to leaky cans. The cans 

 came on the train, and before we could get them off, the 

 honey leakt down on the car and about two weeks after 

 that foul brood started in our apiary. That would not be 

 an argument against cans. 



H. N. Chandler — I have had considerable experience 

 with tin cans. I would advise those going to use tin cans 

 not to use second-hand ones. [Applause.] If you use sec- 

 ond-hand cans, and lose one can of honey, you have lost 

 enough to pay for the difference between quite a number of 

 second-hand cans and new ones. We tried second-hand 

 cans and lost more in one year than would have paid for 

 the difference between second-hand cans and new cans for 

 five years ; I put up 400 or 500 cans a year. 



J. A. Green — I want to count myself among the barrel 

 men. One after another has made most of the points I 

 expected to speak on. I will say that my experience 

 has been, with Mr. France and others, that the barrel is al- 

 most absolutely certain, while I lost considerable honey in 

 filling new cans, and from honey that vras shipt to us in 

 tin cans. There is one barrel that hasn't been spoken of, 

 the hard-wood barrel that Mr. Dadant has used for years ; it 

 is a second-hand alcohol barrel. You can get them at al- 

 most any drug-store; they come in two sizes, one holding 

 about 350 pounds and the other about 550. Of course, it de- 

 pends upon j'our market ; my market demands, or at least 

 will take just as readily, those large barrels. When I get 

 an order for a barrel I send one of those 550 pound barrels 

 that cost me SI. 00 or SI. 50 apiece. If they have not been 

 kept a long time in a perfectly dry place, put them in the 

 sun and then tighten the hoops. Somebody said you could 

 not use barrels in Colorado, the climate is too dry. That is 

 what you want ; put the barrel in the sun where it will get 

 perfectly dry, then drive down the hoops and fasten them, 

 and you have something that will hold. 



Mr. Dunne — Old alcohol barrels are coated with glue, 

 and is the glue any detriment to the honey ? 



Mr. Chandler — I think it is shellac. 



Mr. Dunne — No, it is glue. 



Mr. Chandler — I used to wax the barrels inside, or use 

 paraffine, but late years I have not done it. 



Mr. Moore — Mv brother has used alcohol barrels for a 



