ArcrsT, 19 IS 



GLEANINGS IN P. K K (M' L T U 



yrooN'c 4 are (illcd witli cainly. Hole 1 ainl 

 ij'roove 4 tlio bees eat thru at uiice. Siiu-e 

 tlie entrance to liolc 1 is slior'-er it is ^one 

 tliru first, but the queen is confined, on ac- 

 count of a perforated strip at tlic openiug 

 of hole 1. The (pieen, therefore, lias to wait 

 until the cajidy in groove 4 and hole 2 is 

 e:',ten thru, which takes a long^er time. Holes 

 1, '2, .">, and gioove 4 are covered with ])aper, 

 and wire cloth covers the whole cage. At 

 (irst 1 tried a cylindrical passageway, but 

 it would not woi'k, so I made a groove •yHX% 

 instead. This final form of the cage has 

 beiMi ti'ied out and has jiro\(Ml a success. 

 Nursery and Introducing Cage. 

 The nursery and introducing cage (Fig. 

 l.b) is also on the same princi2)le, but the 

 two blocks are % x % to admit queen-cells. 

 The shorter block (l,c) has a %-inch cylin- 

 di'ical passage and the longer one a %x%-inch 

 groove covered with tin on one side and end. 

 But the longer one may be bored and burnt 

 out so as to give it a smooth surface, other- 

 wise the queen refuses to leave. The nurs- 

 ery cage, when used as an introducing cage. 



sliould always be placed liori/.ontally in the 

 frame above the brood and fastened to the 

 comb with a 5d nail, or else sprung between 

 the bottom bar and the comb. The cage 

 should never be perpendicular, as the queen 

 lefuses to leave when the cage is adjusted 

 that way. I have observed that wlien the 

 cages are ))ut near the top bar, a few fail 

 to hatch, and those that do hatch are some- 

 times dark, being chilled. Therefore, 1 i)lace 

 the cages in the lower i)art of the frame 

 as shown in Fig. 2, there being 20 cages to 

 a frame. The cages are inserted upright 

 betwt'en the l^ottom bar and a middle bar 

 which is placed lengthwise at the center 

 of the frame. The cages are held in jilace 

 by bars a and b. Fig. 2 (both sides of the 

 frame), which bars fit into mortises cut in 

 the end bars and are tliere so stapled as to 

 be easily removed. The upper half of the 

 frame may be filled with a board or drawn 

 comb to prevent the building of burr combs 

 there. The cells are thus brought down to 

 the middle of the comb where there is the 

 most heat. 



A NEEDLESS LOSS OF HONEY 



The Impracticable '^und Contain- 

 er and the Old Store Box, Used as 

 a Shipping Case, Cause Great Loss 



By H. H. Root 



AN enormous 

 amount of 

 honey, in 

 the aggregate, 

 is lost in this 

 country e y e r y 

 season by the 

 honey - shipper 's 

 carelessness in 

 failing to pro- 

 vide proper shipping equii>ment when put- 

 ting his honey crop aboard cars. This care- 

 lessness, in these times of sugar shortage 

 anil food scarcity, is especially reprehensi- 

 ble — almost criminal. It is entirely without 

 excuse, save the excuse of ignorance, and 

 ignorance is never a justifiable excuse. 

 Slackness, laziness, and false economy are 

 unfortunate personal elements among the 

 causes of this honey loss in shipment, for 

 suitalile shipjiing containers and cases can 

 be obtained by any honey-seller anywhere, 

 ]>roviding he exercises a little intelligence 

 and diligence. 



That the readers of Gleanings might visu- 

 alize some of this loss in honey shipment, 

 due to poor containers or unfit shipping 

 cases, our photographer got busy the other 

 day in the receiving rooni of the Airline 

 Honey department of the A. I. Root Co. The 

 accomj^anying ])ictures are the rcsu't. They 

 were taken from honey shi])ments in two 

 cars, standing on the same track, at the 

 same tinu\ altho coming from wide'.y differ- 

 ent shi2>ping points. The floors of both cars 

 were covere<l with a mess of honey and dirt, 

 while lioney drij)ped exeryvvheic from 

 cracks in the cai' floors. What a me.ssy, 

 wasteful, nasty sight it was — ami not at all 

 uncommon to any large honev-buver. 



Let u s c a 1 1 

 our readers ' at- 

 tention to the 

 first two p i c - 

 tures here 

 shown, those of 

 jacketed cans, a 

 kind of honey- 

 container strong- 

 ly recommended 

 in certain (juarters not so long ago. One of the 

 two accompanying illustrations shows the bat- 

 tered and leaky condition of the cans upon 

 their arrival in Medina after long travel; 

 while the other shows a pile of the wooden 

 "jackets" that had been jammed and torn 

 ofT in the car, illustrating just how little 

 this wooden jacket (really a wood veneer) 

 protects the enclosed round tin can. This 

 shipment originated in Florida, consisting 

 of 40 of these round jacketed cans. When 

 they reached Medina, nearly every can was 

 leaking and several were completely empty, 

 more than 10 per cent of the total honey 

 shipment being lost. In addition to this 

 loss by leakage, there was an additional 

 freight charge of $7.44 over and above what 

 it would have been if the honey had been 

 contained in square cans and packed in 

 regular ship])ing eases (which are only 

 strong, tight-fitting wooden boxes). A round 

 can as a container for honey oi- other licpiid 

 has long been condemned as a failure by the 

 railroad companies. This is because of the 

 fact that there is no way of keei)ing a 

 round i-ontaiiMM- uj)right and in its ])l;i;'e on 

 a car llooi, and once tii)ped over it rolls 

 about with every jolt of the car and gets 

 l)attered or even knocked to j)ieces. As for 

 the wooden jacket, about one-eighth of an 



