782 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1. 



all right. The low export price mentioned is 

 for the ordinary strained honey. I imagine 

 that best grades of logwood, orange, or lignum- 

 vitae honey, put up in neat packages, say five- 

 gallon cans, would sell at a good price in Lon- 

 don. It is honey that is hard to beat anywhere. 

 There is a wide field for bee-keeping here, as 

 well as for the growing of certain tropical 

 fruits, and cofl'ee, nutmegs, allspice, kola nuts, 

 etc., and certain vegetables for American mar- 

 kets, such as Irish potatoes, egg-plants, toma- 

 toes, etc. The soil is rich, the climate health- 

 ful and pleasant, and, in the mountains, quite 

 cool and bracing. The scenery is lovely, and, 

 among the mountains, magnificent. The gov- 

 ernment is English; but the larger part of the 

 population is black or colored; yet they are 

 more peaceable, and easier to get on with, than 

 a like population in the United States. 

 Ewarton, Jamaica. Oct. 8. 



and, if they are made well, they will last for 

 years. 



I inclose you a drawing of a crate I have been 

 making of late. The drawing explains itself; 



COMB-HONEY CRATES. 



MAKING THEM THE EIGHT LENGTH FOR A 

 WAGON-BOX. 



By F. Oreiner. 



Mr. Editor:— For shipping comb honey by 

 regular freight you have for several years 

 advised to crate together nine of the 24-lb. 

 cases into one large crate, three cases side and 

 side, and three high; and no doubt you have 

 sent out a good many such racks or crates. 

 Now, lean not believe that crates of such di- 

 mensions, as they would necessarily have to be, 

 are the most convenient. I made up a few this 

 season, and when done I found they would not 

 load crosswise into an ordinary wagon- box; 

 and to set them lengthwise, much space had to 

 be wasted, and but few could be taken at one 

 load. Being at our depot this fall one day I 

 happened to witness the arrival of a few such 

 crates coming from my friend C. F. Dodd, of 

 Italy. They had been carried some eight miles 

 on a wagon, and on account of their loading so 

 unhandily one of them had been carried turned 

 up on one side, so as to go into the wagon-box. 

 As might be expected, the honey was leaking 

 from this crate. 



As we can not very well change the size of 

 our wagons I would suggest, instead of con- 

 structing a crate for three cases side by side, to 

 arrange it for but two, and then tier up four 

 high, making eight to the crate — a package 

 nearer cubic; also heavy enough for convenient 

 handling, weighing about 250 pounds. Crates 

 of this shape and size may be loaded with the 

 projecting handles crosswise the wagon-box, 

 and a fair load may thus be gotten on con- 

 veniently. 



Of course, these crates are an additional ex- 

 pense to our business; but they may be return- 

 ed to us by freight after the honey is taken out. 



but I will give a few hints that may be of bene- 

 fit to some one or other in case you should de- 

 cide to publish this: 



Although a crate may be made principally of 

 edgings as they often come from the sawmill, I 

 prefer to make them of regular one-inch lum- 

 ber, preferably basswood. The strips the crate 

 is made of need not be any wider than 2}4 

 inches, except the boards around the bottom A 

 and C, which should be about 6 and 4K inches 

 respectively, and the regular bottom B, which 

 may be of thin lumber, and should be tolerably 

 tight. It is to rest on IX or 3 inch strips nailed 

 to the boards A A, at the bottom. In construct- 

 ing the crate I allow 2 inches space for hay or 

 straw. The handles E E should project about 

 six inches— no more— and should be rounded 

 the whole length, as should be the strips at the 

 top, D D. The sharp corners inside the crate 

 would be found disagreeable to the hands and 

 knuckles when setting the honey-cases into the 

 crate, and when taking them out. The posts, 

 P, P, etc., should be a full inch thick to give 

 sulScient room for the fingers when filling the 

 crate. The lower edge of the 43^-inch-wide 

 boards C C may be rounded also, so as to be 

 easy on the shins of the freight hands or other 

 carriers. 



There, now, if your artist will reproduce my 

 drawing exactly as it is, it will be easy enough 

 for any one with the above description to make 

 ' the crate. 



Naples, N. Y. 



[Your point is a good one; and if we can 

 change our crates and yet not run into some 

 other difficulty worse than the one under consid- 

 eration, we will make the change. The only 

 objection to your crate is that it would be 

 a little top-heavy— liable to be toppled over in 

 freight cars when they are bunted by other 

 cars. Our present crate takes in an even 50 

 shipping-cases in the flat. The new one should 

 be made to do as much. We will test the mat- 

 ter.— Ed.] 



