THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



3^^ 



SHIPIMXC COMB HOXEV. 



S;ifc H.inillifiy Secured 1(\ I'liilini; Castors 

 L lulcr ilic Slii|)|iiiitr Crates. 



J. !•:. CRANK. 



"Let every eye negotiate for itsidf 

 And trust no !if;pnX. '"—SHAKESPEARE. 



T RKORKTlhat 

 l I could not 

 Jk "W have been at the 



M __ W Buffalo conven- 



tion, but ten 

 cent honey does 

 not Ki^'6 ver\- 

 .ureat oppoitu- 

 nities to travel 

 around w hen 

 one has to feed 

 and clothe his 

 family from the jiroducts of his bees. 



I was much interested in the discussion 

 by the convention on shipping hone v. 

 Having had some experience, perhaps I 

 may throw some hght upon it. I beheve 

 it may be safelj- stated that where large 

 quantities are to be shipped, \\ithout 

 change of cars, it will go safely if packed 

 in one end of a car, the combs parallel 

 with the track, and firmly fastened with 

 boards and l^raced so as to have little mo- 

 tion. I have shipped in this way for man}- 

 years without any serious loss, only that 

 when shipping to New England cities I 

 pack in a butter car, using the butter to 

 keep the honey in place. 



When shipping single cases I usuallv 

 put a strong handle on the case so it can 

 be handled like a basket. 



But the greatest difficulty .seems to 

 come when we want to ship from ten to 

 fifty cases an<l it must be changed from car 

 to car on different roads, perhaps several 

 times. 

 "Aye, there's the rub 



I believe it may be stated as an axiom 

 that train men will as a rule handle 

 freight the way they can do it the ea.siest 

 and quickest. Now then, how shall we 



pack our honey so it may be handled 

 easily, quickly, and at the same time 

 safely? I^vidently, one package can be 

 luindk'd more rapidly than a dozen, and, 

 at the same time, easier if o/i n'/icr/s. 

 Then let us have our honey in one pack- 

 age, and lest the train hands get after it 

 with their two-wheel trucks, let us have 

 wheels of our own by screwing wheel 

 castors on each under corner of our box. 

 Now^watch the freight man as he 

 tackles the box holding fifteen or twenty 

 cases of honey, weighing from three to 

 five hundred pounds. He drops his 

 truck, for he sees at a glance that it is 

 already on wheels, and without difficultv 

 he pushes it u])on the platform, and into 

 the car and into its place. It costs about 

 half cent a pound to put up honey in this 

 way when you put four or five hundred 

 pounds in one box, but it pays when 

 shipping to distant points over different 

 roads. 



My shipments to England in this way 

 have been entirely successful, the honey 

 reaching its destination in perfect con- 

 dition. Let us see how it worked: I 

 ])ack a box, holding about 500 lbs., well- 

 cleated, with strong castors under it. 

 After nailing on the cover and pasting 

 three or four large labels with the words 

 "COMB Honey. Handle With Care," 

 printed in large type, I leave it. When 

 the train passes it is pushed upon the 

 car. Xo one is going to tip it over, or 

 lift it up, or handly it roughly. Reach- 

 es Boston it is pushed off the car and in- 

 to the station, and again upon a truck 

 wagon which takes it to the pier, where, 

 with ropes around it is hoisted over and 

 down into the hold of the steamer to re- 

 main until it reaches the other side, 

 when, with a little more hoisting and 

 pushing it is in the wholesale house and 

 in perfect order. 



If a label in large plain type were pa.st- 

 ed on the box, a.sking that the box might 

 stand in tile car so that the combs would 

 be parallel with the rails it would be bet- 

 ter. Honey can be shipped in this way 

 at about an extra Yz cent per pound, and 



