Vol. XIV. 



APRIL 15, ISSO. 



No. .8 



TERMS: SI.OOPerAnvum, IN Advance;! 77'^,/^ 7, 7,' r. 7. xi ^ -!-,n 1 Q 'y '3 f Clubs to different postofBces, not i,kps 

 2Copiesfor8l.90;3for82.75;5for84.00; I JliC> LUjO ILb rOCLV LlV J. O / O. I than 90 cts. each. Sent postpaid, In the 

 5 or more. 75 ots. each. Single Number, ! I U. S. and Canadas. To all other coun- 



10 eta. Additions to clubs may be made \ ruBLisiiED skmi-moxtiilt by i ,r\en of the Universal Postal Union, 18c 



atclubrates. Above are all to be sent » t Tjr\r\'Ti TV/fTT'T^TXr a /~kTTT/^ | peryenr extra. To all countries not of 

 TO OXKPOSTOPFICK. J -A., i. ltUU± , iVl JliUllN iV, UiliU. I the U. p. U. ,42c per year extra. 



SHALL WE SHIP OUR HONEY IN" SEC- 

 OND-HAND WHISKY-BARRELS? 



DOES IT DAMAGE THE TRADE BY SO DOING? 



T HAVE looked for a long- time in several of the 

 (M[ bee-journals for information regarding shlp- 

 ]lr ping- extracted honey by the barrel. I have 

 •*■ seen but one article In a bee-journal, and that 

 was in the American Bee Journal during Aug., 

 188-i, and the pamphlet of the Messrs. Dadant on 

 " E.xtracted Honey." Both of the before-mentioned 

 articles, from Messrs. Muth and Dadant respective- 

 ly, are not exi^llcit enough for the beginner, and 

 are misleading besides. 



Not being able to profit by the experience of oth- 

 ers, I Avas forced to enter the dear school of person- 

 al experience the past year, and learn for myself. 

 I haven't Mr. Mutb's article at hand, and can not 

 state its points correctly; but Mr. Dadant's pam- 

 phlet, on page 13, says: "The barrels that we use 

 for extracted honey are oak barrels which have 

 contained alcohol or whisky. We allow them to 

 dry up thoroughl3' before using, and wet them only 

 slightly when putting up the honey." This was my 

 main guide during the past season, except I did not 

 " wet them slightly." I allowed the whole and half 

 whisky-barrels to stand in the shade, and dry till 

 the hoops would fall off when 1 moved them. As I 

 needed them I drove the hoops as tightly as I could 

 drive them. Occasionally I would bur.st a hoop ofl' 

 in driving it. Then I put in my honey, bunged the 

 barrels up, and rolled them under the house. In 

 two weeks the hoops would be so loose that the hon- 

 ey would be oozing' out all around the barrel^, and 

 the cracks would be covered with bees. 



■\Vhcn 1 rc-ccopercrt them I was able to drive the 



hoops (except the end hoops) from li to '/2 an inch 

 each time. 



Last April I sent 4!2 barrels of white-clover honey 

 to Mr. C. F. Muth, Cincinnati. O., first having to re- 

 drive the hoops after hauling to the landing. I 

 wrote to Mr. Muth, asking his opinion as to quality. 

 He answered, " It is of good quality, but does not 

 come up to our Northern clover-honey." Why? 

 The probable reason will appear later on. He gave 

 me 5 cts. a pound for it. 



In June I sent seven barrels of white-clover hon- 

 ey to McCaul & Hildreth Bros., New York, in what 

 I thought perfect order. The barrels were dry as 

 bones; coopered as tightly as hammer and steel 

 edge could drive them before loading to take to the 

 landing; re-driven after unloading at the landing, 

 and I had jierfect confidence that they were in per- 

 fect condition, both as to quality of honey inside 

 the barrels, and cooperage on the outside the barrel. 

 In a couple of weeks I received a letter from McC. 

 & H. Bros., in which they said that the honey arrived 

 in bad order, and was leaking badly; that they had 

 to have the barrels re-coopered on the wharf, and 

 again when they were unloaded at the store. They 

 charged me f 1.7.5 for cooperage, and rendered me 

 an account sales at .55 cents per gallon. The rest of 

 my honey Avas dark. 



Now, Mr. Root, Avhat was the cause of such low 

 prices for white-clover honey? I wrote to a Chica- 

 go commission merchant concerning the future 

 honey market, and he replied as follows:—" If your 

 honey is free from the odor of that which comes in 

 Southern honey generally, I don't know of any 

 reason Avhy it Avill not grade with our Northern 

 white clover." 



Where does this "otjof" copicffojii, that depreciates 



