ESTABLISHED -1661 

 ^HE OLDEST BEE-PAPER -AMER 



I^uhUshGd W&&lilyB at 9l,00 T>er annum. 



Sample CoT>y sent on JXpiylioation. 



36th Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., APRIL 2, 1896. 



No. 14. 





Insuring Sections of Honey Shipping Safely. 



BY B. TAYLOR. 



The following paragraph was published on page 135, 

 having been written to Dr. Miller : 



I wish we could get the collective wisdom of our sages on this 

 matter. But, then, to the confusion of the tyro, their opinions 

 differ so on this, as on most other matters. For instance, B. Tay- 

 lor, in his Toronto essay, says he Alls his sections with "moderately- 

 heavy foundation," and boastfully remarks that he has sent 3U0- 

 pound lots TIKI miles with three railway transfers without a single 

 section breaking down. Had the "moderately-heavy foundation " 

 anything to do with insuring this safety ? Also, had the viscidily 

 ofViehuiinj (as a result of BO days' storage in an iron-house with free 

 air circulation) anything to do with it ? Does he use spiral springs 

 for his crates, or corrugated paper, perhaps ? I wish he'd be less 

 tantalizing, and a trifle more explicit. These big fellows just liint 

 at things — in a rather supercilious sort of way — telling us young- 

 sters just enough to make us long to know more. I wish you 

 would " squeeze " B. T. a bit on this point. S. D. 



The loss from breakage in shipping comb honey is very 

 great, and any light on the subject is important to the general 

 bee-keeping fraternity. I will try to give my e.^perience in 

 preparing and shipping, in as plain terms as possible. 



The first step is to have the combs built firmly to all four 

 sides of the section, and to do this to a certainty, narrow sec- 

 tions—not more than seven to the foot — are best. 1 use eight 

 to the foot. I have used thousands of sections two inches 

 wide, but I never could get the bees to fasten the combs so 

 firmly to the wood as in the narrower sections. In the wide 

 sections there would be a small part of the comb that would be 

 fastened to the wood in the center of the sides and top, and 

 commonly not fastened at all to the bottom. 



When I first used the l}^-inch sections, they would hold 

 only about % pound of honey, and I invented the Handy 

 slotted and cleated separators to remedy this defect. They 

 not only did this, but much more, for ever since I began to 

 use them the sections have been filled and capped solid, right 

 plump to the edge of the sections, in a way that never has 

 been, nor can be, done with a smooth, solid separator. With 

 solid separators the bees will leave holes in the combs at the 

 corners, so they can pass from comb to comb. If the combs 

 were made solid on all sides there would be no passage from 

 comb to comb, except by going over the tops or under the bot- 

 toms, and this they wisely refuse to do. But with the slotted 

 separators there is a free passage from comb to comb right 

 through the center of the super. The bees do not need to 

 leave a passage in the combs ; and the honey is built and 

 capped solid to the sections on all sides. For making beauti- 

 ful comb honey, that will ship safely, I claim the narrow sec- 

 tions, in connection with the Handy slotted and cleated sep- 

 arators, to be a great improvement over the old ways. 



But to be sure of having every section complete, there 

 must be two pieces of foundation in each section — a strip ]4- 

 inch wide at the bottom, and the larger top piece to come J-a 

 inch from this, and both pieces must be fastened exactly in 

 the center of the sections, and so they will stick for all time 

 to a certainty. 



Let me say before leaving this subject, that the Handy 

 separators are not used between each section, but only be- 

 tween each two combs. They will last a lifetime, and are 

 cheaper than plain ones in the end, besides giving very much 

 more fancy honey. 



Now we have our honey as it will be when taken from the 

 hives, and we must cure it. And here there are two points to 

 be looked after. The first is to have the honey in the very 

 highest excellence as to quality ; and, second, to have it in the 

 highest perfection for handling and sliipping. Happily these 

 two points both require the same treatment, viz.: To keep the 

 honey in a very warm, dry, well-ventilated room for at least 

 six weeks. This I do by putting the supers on end with an 

 inch space between them, in my iron curing-house. I have 

 the house of iron only because the warm sunshine will keep it 

 at the right temperature very cheaply, and then mice, rats, 

 and other pests are certain to not get in. But any room that 

 can be kept near 100^ will cure the honey equally well. One 

 of the finest lots of honey I ever had was cured in a bed-room 

 in a farm-house, directly over a large cook-stove that was fired 

 up 20 hours each day. 



Honey, after being treated in this fashion, has an excel- 

 lence for the table that is unknown to those that eat it directly 

 from the hives, or store it in an unventilated, cold room ; and 

 is so thick and strong as to ship with safety where honey can 

 be shipped at all. 



For shipping in 200-pound lots, I make a crate much in 

 thestyle of those in use to ship one-piece sections. Those crates 

 are four inches longer than the width of five of ray 20-pound 

 section-cases, and five inches deeper than two tiers of said 

 cases. The large crate is made of light stuff, but is nailed 

 very strong, and has a solid bottom of thin stuff. On this 

 bottom I lay evenly two inches, when packed, of clean straw ; 

 then on this several thicknesses of waste paper. Five 20- 

 pound crates are placed close together in the crate ; this will 

 leave them two inches from the end of the large crate, and 

 this space is packed moderately solid with straw to make a 

 cushion to receive and soften any end-jar in the cars. 



On these first five crates is spread one inch of fine straw, 

 paper laid on it, and five more crates put in as before, paper 

 laid on top, and straw laid on as thick as is possible, so the 

 cover can be nailed over all. I use pressure in nailing the 

 cover on, as the fruit-men do in packing apples, for we must 

 prevent all jumping of the honey in the large crate. 



I must not forget to say that the large crate is just wide 

 enough so the cases will fit snugly endwise, and no packing is 

 used in this part. The glassed ends of the crates are all 

 placed on one side, and the slats that make the large orate are 

 far enough apart so the honey is plainly to be seen. The top 

 strip that is used for the sides of the crate is long enough to 

 project 8 inches at both ends, for the railroad men to lift it by. 



The crate is now plainly marked with directions to set it 

 lengthwise in the car, and is always sent by freight. This 

 crate is too large for one man to handle, and it is all ready 

 for two to carry conveniently without rolling. I have never 

 lost a nickle from breakage in them. Forestville, Minn. 



