Another Large Export of Honey. 



The New York Times of February 3d, 

 contained a lengthy article, copied from the 

 London (England) Times, of January 14, 

 1879, from which we copy the following : 



"The difficulty of exporting these delicate 

 nieces of comb without the loss of a great 

 part of the shipment by breakage has hith- 

 erto prevented the growth of what might 

 doubtless be a lucrative business. During 

 four years Messrs. H. K. & F. B. Thurber & 

 Co., of New York, have tried to get this 

 comb honey to England in good condition, 

 but without success. The want of proper 

 machinery for unloading the ships, seems to 

 have been the principal cause of the damage. 

 Let down " with a run " by a sling from the 

 yard-arm, the glass boxes and their fragile 

 waxen contents were again and again 

 broken and spoiled. In November last, 

 however, Mr. W. M. Hoge, the manager of 

 the firm, succeeding in landing a consign- 

 ment of 80 tons in Liverpool, and encouraged 

 by the result of the venture, he, on Thurs- 

 day, landed at the London Wharf, in Wap- 

 ping, a lot of about 100 tons, brought over in 

 the California, one of the Anchor Line of 

 steam-ships. There are 2,500 cases in this 

 shipment, containing over 200.000 pounds of 

 honey, and few boxes have sustained any 

 injury in transit. Taught by past experi- 

 ence, Mr. Hoge had his cases seciuvly 

 boarded up between bulkheads on the 

 steamer, and in unloading employed g'ngs 

 of men to pass the cases hand over hand 

 down the ship's side into the lighter, and 

 from the lighter on to the wharf. 



"The importance which bee-keeping has 

 assumed as a regular branch of industry in 

 the United States may be conceived when it 

 is stated that over 35,000,000 pounds of honey 

 are there produced and sold annually. The 

 tendency in this, as in other occupations, 

 has been for the trade to be carried on by 

 persons having large capital. The bee- 

 keepers have frequently from 2.300 to 5,000 

 colonies of bees, and some far larger num- 

 bers. Messrs. Thurber & Co., for instance, 

 have about 12,000 colonies of bees. Of 

 course, it is only by a thorough organization 

 that such large numbers of these little 

 workers, who toil without pay, can be looked 

 after and cared for. The system in the 

 United States is to farm out the colonies. 

 Arrangements are made with farmers and 

 those who own orchards in suitable localities 

 to allow an apiary of perhaps a 100 colonies 

 to be piaced on their grounds. At a distance 

 of three or four miles another apiary will 

 be placed with some other farmer. For this 

 accommodation either a fixed rent or a share 

 of the honey produced is paid, and the bee- 

 owner sends expert workmen to clean the 

 hives, to take out the boxes of surplus honey 

 as they are filled, and to destroy the moths, 

 grubs, and other creatures that take advan- 

 tage of the bees' frugality. As showing the 

 lucrative character of this business, it is 

 said that a firm of shippers paid to one bee- 

 keeper for his season's crop of honey a sum 

 larger than the salary of the President of 

 the United States. It is estimated that on 



an average one acre will support 25 colonies 

 of bees, and, as the yield ot a colony is gen- 

 erally about 50 pounds of honey, it is evident 

 that this trade may yet be greatly developed. 

 Already the firm above mentioned, in addi- 

 tion to a corps of experienced bee men to 

 tend the hives, find occupation for nine men 

 and two steam saws during the five weeks 

 of the year in cutting up the timber for 72,- 

 000 boxes used to hold the comb honey. The 

 glass makers also find some cutsom from 

 the honey dealers, 144,000 panes of glass 

 being required to make the slides and ends 

 of these boxes." 



The London Times is evidently mistaken. 

 Messrs. Thurber & Co., are large dealers in 

 honey, but we have never heard it even 

 whispered in this country that they are large 

 producers. However, we are exceedingly 

 glad to hear that they have succeeded in 

 transporting to London one hundred tons of 

 comb honey, in good condition. Exporting 

 will be the salvation of honey producers in 

 America, and hence we record this ship- 

 ment with much pleasure and hope it may 

 prove a lucrative thing for Messrs. 

 Thurber & Co. 



. To Fasten Wired Foundation in 

 Frames. — Shear about i inch wax from 

 the wire, leaving it thus — >; put foun- 

 dation in frame as usual and glue the 

 naked wire to the wood; this fastens 

 the wire and prevents sagging. 



To leave the wire imbedded in the 

 wax whether, rubbed down or glued, 

 allows the wire to pull through the wax 

 and is not reliable. The object of using 

 wire is to have a substance that can be 

 solidly fastened to the f rames,to support 

 the foundation. If not properly fastened 

 it is liable to the same objection as 

 other foundation. 



To shear off the wax from the wire, 

 screw a strip of pine or other soft wood 

 to the edge of the board or brush, lay 



a— Edge of table ; b— Shear. 



the foundation on the same, letting it 

 project i inch ; then hold the light strip 

 on the foundation, wet the shear to 

 keep the wax from sticking and press 

 dow r n. 



