1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



429 



ciple that has been devised by others— see page 

 430 of Gleanings for 1891. 



I should like very much, however, to receive 

 reports from those who have tested this escape 

 in comparison with the Porter — especially 

 whether it rids the super any quicker because 

 of its e.xtra number of exits. — Ed.] 



TARE ON HONEY-PACKAGES, 



LACK OF UNIFORMITY THROUGHOUT THE 

 COUNTRY. 



By W. A. H. Gilstrap. 



Honoy tare in a given style of package 

 should be uniform throughout the country. 

 The following will show that it is not. Our 

 common package for extracted honey, you 

 know, is a case containing two five-gallon cans, 

 either with partition between cans (double 

 cj^se or without partition (single case). We 

 have suffered severely, without knowing how 

 much we were losing.. 



Below I give you the amount of tare charged 

 by a few of the leading firms. 



Nos. 1 and 3 1 have given from noting their 

 business transactions. The rest were learned 

 by letters addressed to the parties named. 

 □ No. 1, Porter Bros. A: Co., San Francisco, Cal., 

 with many agencies in this State and the East, 

 deduct 17 lbs. on single case and cans; 19 lbs. if 

 a double case is used, j 



Nos. 2 and 3, Russ, Sanders & Co., and A. 

 Pallies, both of San Francisco, deduct 18 lbs. 

 from single cases. 



*No. 4, R. K. ct J. C. Frisbee, 172 West Maple 

 St., Denver, Col., "'Deduct 9 lbs. for each ex- 

 tracted-honey case. Deal only in single cases; 

 24-lb. comb-honey cases, we deduct 4 lbs. each." 

 DNo. 5, E. E. Blake & Co., 57 Chatham St., 

 Boston, Mass., "Tare of cases and cans with or 

 without center-board." Recommends double 

 cases. 



No. 6, Wm. A. Selser, No. 10 Vine St., Phila- 

 delphia, " 16 lbs. tare for the case and two cans 

 seems to be the rule." 



DNo. 7, C. C. Clemons & Co., 423 Walnut St., 

 Kansas City, Mo., usual tare for cans and case, 

 15 lbs. If cases are made of hard wood it Is 

 more. 



No. 8, Henry Schacht, 116 Davis St., San 

 Francisco, Cal., "3 lbs. tare on each tin, and 

 besides actual tare for the case." 



No. 9, R. A. Burnett & Co., South Water St., 

 Chicago, "The amount of tare deducted is 

 what the case and cans actually weigh. In cars 

 we get from San Diego district there are often 

 four grades of tare, running from 14 to 19K lbs. 

 per case and cans." 



No. 10. Hildreth Bros. & Segelken, 28-30, West 

 Broadway, New York, '* We figure 5 lbs. for the 

 two cans, which is actual,' and whatever the 

 case weighs is added to it." 



No. 11, Hamblin & Bearss, 514 Walnut St., 



Kansas City, Mo., "Strip five cases and put 

 empty cans in them," and the weight of this is 

 considered the average for the car. 



No. 12, Batterson & Co., 167 Scott St., Buffalo, 

 N. Y., handle extracted in "casks or 5-lb. cans, 

 and buyer pays for extracted only; package 

 free." 



No. 13, S. T. Fish & Co.. 189 South Water St., 

 Chicago, '■ We always allow 2}o lbs. tare for the 

 can. . . . We ascertain what the tare of the 

 wooden cases is by weighing a few of them." 



No. 14, Chas. F. Muth & Son, Cincinnati, O., 

 " We take exact tare in every case, as near as it 

 can be done. We pay for all the honey in the 

 cans." 



No. 15, Chas. McCulloch & Co., 393 Broadway, 

 Albany, N. Y., " We know of no standard 

 weight for the cases of either comb or extract- 

 ed." 



No. 16, Williams Bros., 80 Broadway, Cleve- 

 land, 0.,"For extracted honey we allow 2}4 

 lbs. on each can;" actual weight on cases. 



The replies below No. 4 are all agreed on ac- 

 tual tare for comb- honey cases, paying for 

 honey and basswood sections containing same. 

 Nos. 13 to 16 urge bee-keepers to weigh package 

 and mark weight of same before filling with 

 honey. Honest trade will not object to this 

 plan; others should be let alone. I was robbed 

 of over 900 lbs. of honey last year by excessive 

 tare on what I sold for 15 tons. 



Caruthers, Cal., May 1. 



[There is too great a variety, as you say, in 

 allowances made for tare. The only fair and 

 correct way is to allow for actual tare whatever 

 that is. In round numbers a square can weighs 

 2)4 lbs.; and it is customary ro estimate that a 

 pair of cans weighs 5 lbs. In round numbers, 

 a box for holding two square cans, without 

 partition, weighs about 15 lbs., although some 

 of the boxes from basswood run slightly under 

 this, some going as low as 12 lbs. 



When we receive a carload of honey in square 

 cans we weigh the whole package, and then 

 weigh the box separately. As the weight of 

 the cans is nearly invariable we get at the 

 weight of the honey. It is a little more work 

 to weigh the boxes one at a time; but, as you 

 see, it is the only fairway of getting at the tare. 

 It should be staled that, when boxes are made 

 of hard wood, and have an inside partition, 

 they will weigh some more; but it seems to 

 me that every commission firm, if it wishes to 

 hold its trade, should get at ttie actual tare 

 by weighing the boxes one by one, all of them. 

 It is too much guesswork to estimate a certain 

 amount for boxes; and, moreover, the tempta- 

 tion is pretty strong to put the estimate high 

 enough so that the buyer will be on the safe 

 side. I do not see how we can have exact uni- 

 formity; but what we do need most of all is 

 actual tare. Let the bee keepers and commis- 

 sion men buy and sell honey at its actual 

 weight.— Ed. J 



If you would like to have any of your friends 

 see a specimen copy of Gleanings, make known 

 the request on a postal, with the address or ad- 

 dresses, and we will, ivith pleasure, send them,. 



