468 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Aug. 1 



through the glass may and perhaps often 

 does attract customers, there are other ways 

 quite as sure and desirable. 



During the last fifteen or twenty years 

 Vermont bee-keepers have used very little 

 glass, and we have never noticed any lessen- 

 ed demand for honey when we changed from 

 glass to cases without glass. Indeed, there 

 is usually a greater demand for our honey 

 than we can supply, and at a price even high- 

 er than for that m cases with glass sides. 



By the way, we have recently had some 

 experience with wood-and-glass cases that 

 may be of interest in this discussion. A few 

 months ago we received a letter from a large 

 wholesale house, asking us if we could use 

 some white comb honey that had granulated; 

 and if so, to make an offer for it. We (not 

 the editorial we, but J. E. Crane & Son) re- 

 plied, offering six cents a pound for the lot. 

 It was soon shipped to us, and we found it 

 was originally a fine lot of No. 1 honey. Some 

 of it would grade "fancy." It was packed 

 in the most approved style of wood-and-glass 

 cases, with paper tray and cross-sticks to 

 support the sections above the drip. We 

 found, on cutting the combs out of the sec- 

 tions, one or more broken in a majority of 

 the cases. In one case the glass was broken 

 badly, but had remained in place. In anoth- 

 er case the glass was gone, and mice or rats 

 had helped themselves to the combs next to 

 Ihe opening. Now, this honey had evident- 

 ly remained at this wholesale house for a 

 year or more because not enough honey 

 could be obtained in cases without glass, un- 

 til it was sold at six cents a pound to get it 

 out of the way. I do not suppose every lot 

 of honey would turn out in this way by any 

 means. Much will depend on the market. 

 In this case honey in wood-and-glass cases 

 was sent to a market where honey put up in 

 cartons was preferred. It shows, however, 

 that the si^ht of honey through glass is not 

 necessary tor its sale, for we could not sup- 

 ply the same market with enough honey in 

 cases without glass. 



It is reasonable to suppose that, in markets 

 accustomed to glass, the wood-and-glass cases 

 may for a time have the preference over cases 



without glass. To meet this demand and 

 adapt the paper case to such conditions I 

 made, some time ago, an improvement that 

 will remove Dr. Miller's objection by cutting 

 two holes through one side of the case, and 

 inserting a glass between the two layers of 

 paper that form the shell of the case. Any 

 one can easily cut out these holes as shown 

 in the photo, and insert the glass. However, 

 I do not myself believe in the use of glass; 

 and the less used, the better. Still, it might 

 be better for a time to pack a few cases in 

 this way until the trade becomes accustomed 

 to honey put up without glass. 



In buying honey the buyer does not judge 

 of the quality, so far as I have observed, by 

 the few combs shown through the glass any 

 more than the fruit-buyer does by the large 

 strawberries on top of a basket or the large 

 apples at the head of a barrel; and I think 

 that, in the near future, glass will no more 

 be needed in a case to show off honey than 

 in the head of a barrel or in a box to sell ap- 

 ples or oranges. 



Middlebury, Vt. 



[Somehow the appearance of the glass 

 corrugated shipping-cases does not strike us 

 favorably. It would be much better, in our 

 judgment, to make use of a label on top of 

 the case, indicating the special character of 

 the contents of the package, requesting care- 

 ful handling on the part of railroad employ- 

 ees and truckmen. — Ed.] 



BEE CULTURE IN THE CENTER OF A 

 CITY. 



BY A. F. REXROTH. 



CORRI'C. ATKD-I'AI'ER SHIPPING-CASE, WITH 

 SHOW THE HONEY. 



iit;m 



We started in the spring of 1908 with one 

 strong colony and one very poor one. We 

 found that the mice had destroyed a greater 

 part of this second colony, only about I'^z 

 pint of bees remaining. These we placed 

 in another hive with a lot of combs in good 

 condition, with about 20 lbs. of honey. A 

 few weeks later, on examining them we 

 found they had a nice lot of brood; and by 

 the middle of July we 

 had a strong colony 

 which produced 28 lbs. 

 of honey. After tak- 

 ing this honey these 

 bees went into winter 

 quarters weighing 54 '/2 

 lbs. 



The first colony gave 

 us two good strong 

 swarms early in the sea- 

 son. The first swarm 

 filled a super with 24 

 lbs. The second swarm 

 went into winter quar- 

 ters weighing 46'- lbs. 

 This first colony, after 

 giving us two good 

 swarms, also made 45 

 lbs. honey'in supers. 

 The result of our first 



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