Vol. XYIII. 



MAY 1, 1^90. 



No. 9. 



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FASTENING HIVES TOGETHER FOR 

 HAULING. 



SOMETHING VALUABLE FROM .^ . A. GREEN. 



I HAVE tried the plan given by Ernest, and I must 

 say it is cheap, simple, and, for the time, effective. 

 But two objections present themselves to my mind 

 —one of them a very serious one. First, when used 

 over a wire-cloth screen it will not permit of the 

 cover being put on so as to make the top of the 

 hive tight. With my method, the hives can be fas- 

 tened together a week in advance, if necessary, 

 all ready to start as soon as the entrances are 

 closed. 



Second, if you have your hives fastened up over 

 night ready for an early start in the morning, and 

 it rains during the night, your fastenings are unre- 

 liable until they have been dried. Or suppose, 

 while you are on the way with a load of bees, a 

 smart shower comes up, followed by bright sun- 

 shine. Your twine fastenings will begin to loosen 

 as soon as the rain is over, and will continue to 

 stretch and loosen until they are perfectly dry, 

 when you will find that the cover can be lifted half 

 an inch from the hive before they will tighten. In 

 other words, they would be no fastening at all un- 

 less you tightened them every few minutes until 

 dry. You think my nail-heads will not stand the 

 strain. Well, now, prepare a hive as I direct; and 

 if the nail-heads (8ri common, wire) will not stand 

 twice the strain that your twine loops will, I will 

 take back all I have said against your method. 



SHIPPING-CASES, AND SHIPPING COMB HONEV. 



There was a time when nearly all comb honey 

 was shipped in large eases, weighing 40 lbs. or more, 

 the sections being usually two tiers high. Leaving 

 out of the question, for the present, the matter of 

 size, such cases had serious defects. In the first 



place they were so nearly square that inexperienc- 

 ed persons in handling them often placed them so 

 that the combs ran horizontally instead of vertical- 

 ly. Usually this was due to carelessness; but I 

 have known it to be done purposely, from the belief 

 that that was the proper way. 



In time, our cases were cut down to one tier high, 

 and then we were told that another reduction in 

 size was advisable, and the case holding a dozen 

 sections appeared. This captured the bee-keeper's 

 heart, so that, in some of our markets, this size of 

 case leads all others. Its real advantages combined 

 with its novelty to give it a run that I think it hard- 

 ly deserves. After shipping a great deal of honey 

 in these cases I concluded that their advantages 

 had been over-estimated. All the commission men 

 I talked with agreed with me that they were too 

 small. Few persons ever buy that much honey at 

 one time for their own eating, and those that do 

 will take a larger case just about as readily. Many 

 dealers buy only one case of honey at a time. They 

 want to "just try it to see how it goes," or, they 

 "don't want too much on hand at one time," but 

 they will take a 30 lb. case just as readily as a 10-lb., 

 especially if the latter is not In sight. When that is 

 gone, perhaps they will get another at once; but 

 more often they will wait awhile, and perhaps put 

 it off altogether. In the aggregate this means that 

 a great deal less honey is disposed of than would be 

 otherwise. 



When honey in these cases was broken (and few 

 cases of honey ever reach the consumer's hands 

 without more or less breakage and leakage), the 

 honey from the upper tier ran down over the lower 

 sections, thereby Injuring them greatly. I have 

 met merchants who declared they would never 

 handle another pound of honey, because it was al- 

 ways a dauby, sticky mess. Unless the sections fit- 



