October, 1910. 



American Hee Journal 



319 



)>=^^i^^n 



edge of the entire length of the comb, 

 a one-incli wide strip; then cnt across 

 the comb, strip and all, as it lays on 

 the cutting board, "> times, so there will 

 be CI sqnare pieces of comb for the wide 

 part left after the strip has been cut off. 

 The strip itself will be cut into (i nar- 

 row pieces about half as wide as the 

 squares. These are now placed 2 side 

 by side at the bottom of the ^-ponnd 

 cans. The (i pieces of the strip will 

 thus make a bottom layer in 3 cans. 

 On this are placed the square pieces 2 

 in each can, and thus filling .'i cans with 

 comb honey with one comb. Filled up 

 with e.Ktracted honey these make nice 

 packages, and by having Ihe difTerent 

 sizes we can furnish it in any quantity 

 desired. The price of these smaller 

 packages is correspondingly higher, of 

 course. The 12-pound pails list at }-2 

 cent more per pound by the case 

 than the two (ji'-pound cans, or l()}'i to 

 W^i cents per pound. So the others, 

 the 3-pound cans selling from 12 to 

 12>2 cents per pound f. o. b. the pro- 

 ducer's shipping point, in case lots. 



In figuring the price obtained for the 

 artiici/ lomb /kiiiiv ^t the above figures, 

 it must be remembered that at least 

 one-third of the contents in the pack- 

 ages is extracted honey selling at the 

 same price. It must be remembered 

 that we get a better price for our ex- 

 tracted honey in this way; or, if we 

 figure the regular price of extracted 

 honey, and deduct it from the whole 

 we get a fretty fair price for our comb 

 honey. To tliis must be added the fact 

 that it is much less expensive to pro- 

 duce bulk-comb honey in frames than 

 section honey, and that we can obtain 

 a much larger marketable crop of it 

 under any conditions, and we can mar- 

 ket it cheaper and easier. These are 

 items that favor the production of 

 bulk-comb honey to such an extent 

 that its production will become more 

 popular as soon as it is better under- 

 stood. 



Be it remembered also that this arti- 

 cle does not cover the variety of pack- 

 ages for bulk-comb honey that have 

 been used by ourselves, and neither 

 those that are to be used later. How- 

 ever, the tin receptacles shown here- 

 with are the ones in most common use. 



Tin Cans for Marketing Bulk-Comb Honey. 



and in which the greater bulk of the 

 Te.xas honey crop goes to market. In 

 fact, these sizes cf cans and pails are 

 Texas' own standard, being adopted as 

 its standard sizes of honey-packages, 

 years ago, by the Texas Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, when the writer was its 



secretary; and I remember well when 

 the matter was taken up with represen- 

 tatives of the largest can manufactur- 

 ing concern of the country, who came 

 all the way to Te.xas to give us what 

 we wanted to pack our bulk-comb 

 honey in. 



Contributed Articles 



Cutting Bulk-Comb Honey Out of Shal- 

 low Frames. 



Fight Against Bee-Diseases 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



In these times of progressive and 

 strenuous bee-keeping, the greatest 

 drawback is caused by the spread of 

 bee-diseases, especially diseases of the 

 brood, for there are luckily no very 

 dangerous diseases of the bees them- 

 selves outside of the May disease, 

 which is comparatively rare, and read- 

 ily disappears. 



The buying, selling and shipping of 

 bees, the mailing of queens, are all 

 possible causes of the transmission of 

 brood-diseases, but by far the greatest 

 cause is the shipping of honey. There 

 is but little doubt in my mind that the 

 reason why bee-diseases are so readily 

 spread in the vicinity of large cities is 

 that honey from all directions is 

 brought to these cities, and often kept 

 exposed in groceries where the bees 

 may reach it. Their disposition to loot 

 — when no crop is to be had from the 

 fields — is certainly responsible for a 

 great many mishaps. If we could con- 

 vince our friends in the cities of the 

 great losses to us by the thieving dis- 

 position of our bees, we would have 

 better consideration, and would per- 

 haps also get them to place the honey 

 in more secure quarters. How often 

 have we seen a case of comb honey 

 with a broken glass in front and a 

 dozen or more bees flying in and out ! 

 Very few of our grocers are aware of 

 the fact that bees attract each other to 

 the spot where plunder is found, and 

 they do not realize the danger of letting 

 any bees get a taste, until too many 

 have found the prize. 



It is now evident (Cheshire to the 

 contrary notwithstanding) that honey 



is the best tran.^mitter of the stinking 

 American foul brood ; and the worst 

 feature of it is that the honey does not 

 in any way show it, for it contains only 

 invisible germs, that have no odor, that 

 do not mar the honey in any way for 

 human consumption, and fhat are, per- 

 haps, often in such small numbers that 

 a casual microscopic examination 

 would fail to discover them. Yet these 

 germs, when placed in the larval food, 

 reproduce rapidly by millions. So we 

 are unable, when we see strange honey, 

 to recognize by any method whether 

 that honey is free from taint. 



Xever, then, should we feed our bees 

 upon honey of which we do not know 

 the source, no matter how fine and 

 white it may be. Such honeys should 

 be kept strictly away from the hives. 

 We should urge our grocers to keep all 

 honey in well-closed vessels or cases 

 during the months when the bees can 

 fly. Luckily, most of the honey hand- 

 ling, selling and consuming is done in 

 cold weather, when the bees are con- 

 fined to the hive. There should not 

 be much difficulty in keeping it from 

 the bees. 



Each apiarist should keep his eyes 

 open, so that in case of contagion he 

 may stop it at its first appearance. A 

 few cells of diseased or dead brood 

 would soon spread to the entire colony. 

 Neighbors should be warned also. 



In connection with this, we should 

 remember that slovenly apiculture will 

 always cause trouble. The apiarist 

 who allows his bees to build the combs 

 crooked in movable frames, so that 

 they are in fact immovable, is courting 

 trouble. He relies on luck, which is 

 not always with the reckless. Our 

 deceased friend, J. M. Hambaugh, one 



