Shipping Honey. 



Much has been said and printed con- 

 cerning the putting up and shipping of 

 honey, and yet some do not seem to 

 comprehend the necessities of the case. 

 A bee-keeper has shipped us some honey 

 in the comb during the past month that 

 illustrates how much we need to repeat, 

 time and again, the simplest instruc- 

 tions. The lot in question was put up in 

 prize boxes, and one dozen of these were 

 placed in each prize crate. Then, in- 

 stead of shipping them just as they 

 were, he placed 8 crates in a single box, 

 constructed of quite heavy lumber, with 

 a strip nailed on each side, projecting 

 \y % inches at the ends to serve as han- 

 dles, and the whole weighing nearly 300 

 lbs. In the bottom of the box was 

 about 2 inches of sawdust, and to cap 

 the climax, a thick covering was nailed 

 on with ten-penny nails, never thinking 

 that the hammering-in of so many of 

 these large nails would break down the 

 ' honey, and that the box being so heavy 

 the railway employees would roll it over 

 upon a truck, and wheel it over rough 

 places, seriously damaging it ; or, in 

 unloading, the box being heavy, they 

 would slide it down a plank or drop it, 

 &c. — and ■ all this because of the size 

 and unhandy condition of the package. 

 Now, if the prize crates had been shipped 

 just as they were, the railway men could 

 have seen what they contained, and be- 

 ing small and convenient to handle, 

 they would, in nine cases out of ten, 

 move them by hand, and thus save an- 

 noyance and loss to the shipper. These 

 facts led to the general adoption of prize 

 crates for comb honey, in connection 

 with the fact that they were in more 

 marketable shape, satisfying both dealer 

 and retailer with their convenient form 

 and ready sale. 



The shipper of this lot has cause to 

 profit by this lesson, so dearly learned ; 

 but we wish to impress the fact upon all 

 who are shipping comb honey, that it 

 should be put up in small packages ; that 

 it should be assorted, never allowing 

 partly-filled combs to be put in witli 



prime honey, nor admitting any off- 

 color or dark combs to be put in ; also, 

 never to veneer the crates (that is put- 

 ting all good combs outside, and then 

 filling in the center with refuse or dark 

 combs, or those only partly filled). 

 Such will damage the seller more than 

 anyone else, for the honey will be likely 

 to be all graded as second or third qual- 

 ity, when perhaps but few combs were 

 other than of first grade. 



Another thing should be kept in mind, 

 always to turn the top-bar of the sections 

 downward when packing them in the 

 crates — that being the strongest way of 

 the combs, and also, if all the combs 

 should not be quite built down to the 

 bottom, they will not be in such danger 

 of breaking down as they would if 

 packed standing the same way as they 

 do on the hive. 



These points are so essential that they 

 should never be lost sight of by shippers 

 of comb honey. 



Extracted honey should be shipped in 

 small barrels, the large ones being un- 

 handy and less salable ; large square 

 and round cans are not as desirable for 

 packages as small barrels, kegs and tin 

 pails. The convenient shape and size 

 of packages are very important points. 



igg" We would call particular attention 

 to the meeting of the North-Eastern 

 Bee-Keepers's Association, which will 

 be held at the City Hall in Utica, N. Y., 

 on Feb. 11th, 12th and 13th. The notice 

 in full was published in the last Bee 

 Journal, on page 54. 



ig"By an advertisement in this issue, 

 we notice that Mr. L. C. Root has taken 

 his brother into partnership. We wish 

 the new firm success. 



igi° There will be a Bee-Keepers' 

 Convention at Davis Junction, Ogle 

 Co. 111., February 10, 1880. 



iSg° The Cortland Union Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will meet at Firemen's Hall, 

 Cortland, New York, on Tuesday, Feb- 

 ruary 3, 1880. All bee-keepers are cor- 

 dially invited to attend. 



J. G. Bingham, President. 



