246 



distance by trolley or steam roads. Our ex- 

 perience so far has shown that comb honey 

 sent by parcel post has broken down in 

 almost every case, even when well packed. 

 The entire package or packages on arrival 

 are one dauby mess, and the probabilities 

 are that every thing in the mail-sack in 

 which these packages came must have been 

 daubed more or less. Similarly, nearly 

 every parcel-post package that has been 

 sent us containing liquids of any large 

 quantity has been broken or leaking; and 

 it seems to us it will be only a vei-y short 

 time before Uncle Sam will stop the ship- 

 ment of liquids, syrup, and honey, especial- 

 ly oomb honey, unless more precaution is 

 used. 



We presume we have had as much ex- 

 perience in shipping small samples of comb 

 honey by express as any people in the 

 United States. Our plan has been to wrap 

 up two or thi-ee sections in paper, then in 

 excelsior in a market basket, being careful 

 that tliere was plenty of cushion or packing 

 material between the fragile articles them- 

 selves and the baskets. As a general rule, 

 commodities can go in a basket by express 

 when they can not be shipped any other 

 way; but parcel-post rulings do not allow 

 a handle to a basket; but a basket may be 

 used if the handle is folded down or cut off. 

 One difficulty about the parcel-post busi- 

 ness is the fact that' all packages go inside 

 of a mail-sack. A big heavy package up to 

 the 11-lb. limit bumping against a light one 

 is almost sure to be disastrous to the latter, 

 especially if it contains any fragile article 

 such as comb honey or eggs. 



In view of our experience, both with ex- 

 press shipments and parcel post, we would 

 strongly advise against shipping comb hon- 

 ey by i^arcel post. It is conceivable that a 

 single section might be sent as a sample; 

 but it should be wrapped very thorouglily 

 in paper, then in excelsior, and last of all 

 inclosed in a strong wooden box that is ca- 

 pable of resisting a severe bump from an 

 eleven-pound package in the same sack. 

 But even then the section of honey should 

 be wrapped in heavy manila or paraffine 

 paper to catch the leakage if any. 



We would at the present time discourage 

 sending even extracted honey by parcel post, 

 especially for long distances. It would be 

 very unwise to put up a single package of, 

 we will say, eight pounds of extracted hon- 

 ey in a box weighing only three pounds. 

 About the largest amount that can be ship- 

 ped would be in a five-pound tin. This 

 should be wrapped thoroughly in excelsior 

 in such a way that the excelsior will not 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



become displaced and leave a vulnerable 

 spot for a severe bump. After wrapping it 

 in excelsior it should be crowded into a 

 basket with the handles folded down or cut 

 oft, and the top covered with a thin board 

 and thoroughly tied with strong cord. But 

 we do not believe there is one person in a 

 thousand who knows how or can wrap up 

 comb honey so it will go through to its des- 

 tination by parcel post. Even Dr. Miller 

 can't do it. See his Straw in this issue. 



It is to be hoped that Uncle Sam will see 

 the importance of keeping out of the mail- 

 sacks bulky and heavy packages that just 

 come inside of the eleven-pound limit, for 

 it is certain that heavy packages should 

 be left outside of the sack. Even though 

 a higher rate were charged to cover the extra 

 handling, it would not then be possible to 

 shij) bees in pound packages by parcel post. 

 While there is no difficulty in sending a 

 queen and a dozen or more of her attend- 

 ants by mail, it is an entirely different 

 proposition to send one pound of bees, or 

 approximatelj' 4500 individuals, in a closed 

 mail-sack. " It can't be done." If that 

 same Uncle will permit bees and other live 

 stock like chickens to travel in wire cages 

 or crates outside of the mail-sacks the same 

 as express our problem would be solved. 



THE NEW EDITION OP OUR ABC AND X Y Z OF 

 BEE CULTURE. 



The last form of this work for 1913 is 

 just coming from the press. We have been 

 at work on it for the last year and a half, 

 and now we have it ready for the public. 

 The new edition contains 750 pages, or 150 

 more than the former one. On account of 

 rewriting so many of the old articles, and 

 the incorporation of many new ones, mak- 

 ing the book so much larger than formerly, 

 we are now obliged to charge $2.00 instead 

 of $1.50 ; but we believe that the reader will 

 acknowledge tliat it is cheap, even at that 

 price. Approximately it contains nearly 

 600,000 words. Any volume of this size on 

 a technical subject like beekeeping would 

 ordinarily command a price of $5.00; but 

 now, as in the past, we much prefer to 

 make a small profit per volume on a large 

 sale rather than a large profit on a small 

 sale. 



The new edition has been most thorough- 

 ly revised by E. R. Root, ably assisted by 

 Dr. C. C. Miller, of Marengo, 111., the vet- 

 eran comb-lioney producer; by Arthur C. 

 Miller, of Providence, R. I., banker and 

 beeman ; by John H. Lovell, of Waldoboro, 

 Me., naturalist, botanist, and entomologist; 

 and by Prof. Eugene G. Baldwin, the one 



