242 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



We have no words but praise in speaking of it. I'he honey 

 reached us in perfect condition. Examination failed to reveal a 

 single comb that was broken. As you know, we ship this honey 

 over all New England, and wherever it has gone we find the 

 same words of praise for the package, and that it accomplishes all 

 it claims. To show you how strongly some people feel about it, 

 one of our customers would not make a purchase of honey after 

 we exhausted the supply unless we would give it in that particu- 

 lar form of package, which we were unable to do. This refusal 

 was entirely due to the package, as he did not hesitate to pur- 

 chase before, and he dwelt entirely on the fact that, whereas 

 previous shipments had invariably reached him in bad condition, 

 this particular crate had reached him in perfect order. We can 

 not say any thing stronger than this. 



From the enclosed photos the great strength of 

 these cases can be seen. The partitions meeting 

 the sides, ends, top, and bottom, and the double 

 thicic ends, sides, and bottom, with a space be- 

 tween the sections and top, makes breakage al- 

 most impossible, by twisting, stepping on them, 

 or even dropping them. 



To assist in introducing them we have applied 

 for a patent, which we have reason to believe will 

 soon be allowed. 



Middlebury, Vt., March 15. 



[We are frank to state that, in our opinion, we 

 have something here that may supplant the wood- 

 en shipping-case entirely. Natural conservatism 

 on the part of bee-keepers will prevent many 

 from trying the strawboard case until they hear 

 how it works with others. 



We have samples of this new case in our ortice, 

 and it is very evident to us that honey can be 

 shipped in them much more safely than in the 

 ordinary wooden cases, although these latter, 

 with corrugated bottoms in the single tier, and 

 corrugated bottoms in the double tier, and a sheet 

 between the upper and lower sections, will re- 

 duce the breakage to a considerable extent. We 

 shall see, because we have a whole season before 

 us. — Ed.] 



IN MEMORIAM OF E. L. PRATT. 



His Life, and Contribution to Bee-keep- 

 ing. 



BY W. K. MORRISON. 



The subject of this sketch was born at Middle- 

 boto, Mass., March 14, 1864, so that he was just 

 forty-five years of age when he died. His father 

 was a versatile editor and journalist in the old 

 Bay State, and his son inheiited some of his tal- 

 ent; for up to the day of his death he published a 

 weekly local paper at Swarthmore, Pa., where he 

 resided for the past sixteen years. 



Mr. Pratt's father took some interest in natural 

 history, and gave his boys considerable instruc- 



J. H. HOOKER AND E. L. PRAl T TALKING BEES. 



[They were sitting in a shady nook in the Pratt queen-rearing yard, where the camera caught them. Mr. Hooker, who has since 

 died, was a prominent English writer, an intimate friend of such men as Thomas William Cowan and Frank Cheshire, and himself 

 an authority on bees. It was he who told me, after many interviews with Mr. Pratt, that he (Pratt) knew bee nature as few men 

 did, and that he regarded him as possibly the most expert queen-breeder in the world. 



Mr. Hooker, at the time, was residing in Philadelphia with a relative. He used to take the trolley every now and then for 

 Swarthmore, and call on Mr. Pratt. The scene here shown was a very familiar one. It is a pity that we can not reproduce some of 

 those " conversations," for they related to some interesting things about bees and queens. — E. R. Root. 



