1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



241 



from a letter received from him a little later in 

 the season: 



I am glad to know you intend to use the corrugateil strawboarii 

 cases (or comb honey next season, for, as I wrote you some time 

 ago, the honey that you sent me in these cases came through all 

 O. K., wiile that in wooden cases was more or less damaged. 

 These corrugated-strawboard cases (or comb honey are (ar dit?er- 

 ent from any thing I ever saw, heard, or read of in all my twenty 

 years' experience with bees and honey. They are surely quite 

 unique, and I venture to predict they will work a revolution in 

 shipping-packages for this most fr.igile and delicate of sweets — 

 comb honey. 



The following is from a jobber, Mr. G. M. 

 Perkins, of Lowell, Mass., where we have found 

 it almost impossible to ship single wooden cases 

 without breakage, and have been compelled to 

 use heavy carriers. He says: 



I think the strawboard honey-case far ahead of the old wooden 

 case. I should say it did away with 10 per cent of the breakage. 



The latter part of the summer we shipped to 

 the Holbrook-Marshall Co., of Nashua, N. H., 

 if I remember rightly, 100 cases of corrugated- 

 paper honey. Later they ordered 100 cases more, 

 and we filled the order with honey packed in 

 •ifo'jJf/i cases. Both lots were shipped over a 

 road where it had to be transferred from one car 

 to another t/i route. Later we received the follow- 

 ing letter: 



J. E. Crjnr Sr Son: — When you ship us the next lot of honey 

 we hope you will be able to put the comb in pasteboard carriers 

 instead of wood. We introduced this style of package to our cus- 

 tomers, and they were pleased with it. What we have shipped 

 from the last lot received from you has arrived at destination in 

 bad order, and we have had numerous complaints and claims for 

 breakage from parties who received it. 



Tub Holbrook-Marshall Co. 



Nashua, N. H., Oct. .10, 1906. 



We wrote them at once, saying that we would 

 be unable to ship them any more honey packed 

 in paper cases, but could supply them with hon- 

 ey in the ordinary wooden shipping-cases. Later 

 we received the following: 



J. E. Crane Sf Son: — In explenation of our letter of Nov. 2 to 

 you we would say that the meaning we wished to convey was as 

 follows: That we note in your letter of Oct. 31 to us that you 

 will be unable to ship comb honey in corrugated-paper carriers. 

 We are all the time receiving complaints from our customers 

 when we ship them comb honey packed in wooden carriers. As 

 we shall be unable to ship comb honey out of town we are 

 obliged to ask you to change our order for comb honey to twenty- 

 five packages. The Holbrook-Marshall Co. 



Nashua. N. H., Nov. 5, 1906. 



Again we wrote this company expressing our 

 surprise that they should cut down their order to 

 25 cases just because our honey was in wooden 

 cases, such as we had used for a score of years, 

 and received a long letter from them from which 

 we quote the following: 



Undoubtedly you fail to realize the fact that the honey we 

 ship out from our warehouse is damaged in transit, and claims are 

 made by receivers. Doubtless you noted what .Mr. F. E. Poore, 

 of Manchester, wrote us. You could not expect us to buy your 

 comb honey and ship it out and stand the claims; for if we paid 

 all these claims the comb-honey business would net us a loss. 

 As we wrote you before, the strawboard cases were very satisfac- 

 tory, and no claims for breakage were made; and the only rea- 

 son why we asked you to change our order to twenty- five cases is 

 that we shall be unable to ship out of the city comb honey 

 packed in the cases you are now shipping out, and could not han- 

 dle 100 cases of comb honey here in the city. 



They were too "foxy." They would not buy 

 a large lot of honey in wooden cases after having 

 once used the corrugated- paper cases 



Here is what Mr. F. H. Poore says: 



Geniltmtn: — We are sorry to report twelve packages of comb 

 honey broken out in the lot of five cases. Do 1 have to stand 

 that, or do you charge it back to Messrs. J. E. Crane & Son >. I 

 should claim a discount of only 10 cents each, as I can get some- 

 thing for them. F. H. Poore. 



Manchester, N. H., Oct. 29, 1906. 



Mr. Poore's honey was in wooden cases. 



Here is a letter from another grocery firm who 

 received their honey in paper cases that is all 

 sunshine and sweetness: 



./. E. Crane if Son: — We have used your honey for several 

 years, and have never in our thirteen years' experience seen any 

 to surpass it in excellence of flavor. We have always, however, 

 had more or less trouble from the combs getting broken in trans- 

 it. Last year some thirty in our five-case lot were broken. This 

 year, however, out of a ten-case lot we have not found a broken 

 section. The only way the writer can account for the excellent 

 shape in which it was received is the cellular package in which 

 it was shipped. The package was a new idea to me, and yet so 

 simple I wonder some one had not thought of it before. It sure- 

 ly is the common-sense package for honey. 



Bellows Falls, Vt., Dec. 4, 1906. E. C. Fairbanks. 



No wonder Mr. Fairbanks thought our honey 

 of surpassing flavor after receiving it without a 

 single broken comb. 



About this time we came to the conclusion 

 that our experiment was a success, and that paper 

 cases were not only as good as wooden ones, but 

 on many accounts very much to be preferred. 

 Not only does it carry honey very much more 

 safely but cheaper. They weigh only half as 

 much as wooden cases, thus saving freight. If 

 we use special carriers and wooden cases the ex- 

 tra cost with extra freight and labor of packing 

 nearly doubles the cost of shipping the honey; 

 and, even when shipped in special carriers, when 

 sent out by the wholesale dealers it is likely to 

 be sent out in small lots, and the carrier is of no 

 value for this purpose. Honey in paper cases is 

 likely to sell for better prices than in wooden 

 cases. We shall not hesitate to ask five or ten 

 cents a case more another year for honey put up 

 in paper cases, and have no fear but that we can 

 get it as soon as dealers become acquainted with 

 it. If put up in paper cases it is in greater de- 

 mand, and higher prices may be expected after a 

 while. 



The above was written two years ago, think- 

 ing we might want to place the cases on the mar- 

 ket at once. We have delayed doing so, and 

 during this time have made the most exhaustive 

 tests with a view to making any possible im- 

 provements. The longer we use them the firmer 

 becomes our belief that they are as near perfect 

 as it is possible to get them. The only change 

 we have in view is the substitution of paper tape 

 of stickers for sealing the cases instead of t^ing 

 them with twine. 



We have now shipped some 1300 cases, con- 

 taining approximately 30,000 pounds of honey. 

 During the last two years we have made a charge 

 of 5 cts. extra where packed in this style of case. 

 Not only are the jobbers willing to pay this ex- 

 tra charge, but they have demanded far more 

 honey than we were able to supply. Honey we 

 have bought in wooden cases has, as a rule, been 

 shipped in them, although in some instances we 

 have been obliged to transfer the honey to the 

 paper cases. Where we did not transfer it we 

 found it necessary to use extra boxes with excel- 

 sior packing. As soon as the merits of these 

 cases become known, there is reason to believe 

 that honey shipped in them will bring from a 

 half to one cent per pound more than in wooden 

 cases. One jobber has, during the past season, 

 positively refused to handle comb honey in any 

 but the paper cases. Recently we received a let- 

 ter from a Boston wholesaler in which he speaks 

 of the cases as follows: 



