1801 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



701 



tiiivl However, my inlPrest in its suecess re- 

 mains. I want the bee-keepers of the east, and 

 especially of Veimont. to show the woi-ld that 

 they are not behind the times, I wish that 

 every person who has stood by the Vci-mont 

 Bee-Keepers' Association duiingr the past three 

 depressing seasons would find time and disi)0- 

 sition to attend this meeting. Many men of 

 national l>ee reputation will be there: the meet- 

 ing will probably hold three days, and Albany 

 is a city in which there is much to see. You 

 have had a good season this year. The farm 

 crops liav<' all been good, the rain plenteous, 

 and all nature has done her best. Now take a 

 rest and holiday by visiting Albany during the 

 time of the North American. All the great bee- 

 men of Central and ^Yestern New York are pre- 

 paring to go. Massachusetts will not be far 

 behind, and there will be some there fiom the 

 great West. E. R. Root, and perhaps others 

 from Medina, will try to be present. Next year 

 it will probably be held in the West, and the 

 good opportunity tiiay not come again: so, I 

 say. attend and talk, and make this the best 

 meeting of the North American, and make 

 President El wood and Secretary Dadant happy. 

 I should like to see twenty bee-keepers of Ad- 

 dison County express their intention to go, to 

 President V. V. Blackmer. of Orwell. Vt.. when 

 I am sure he can make arrangements for re- 

 duced rates from some point. I was sorry the 

 Vermont Bee-Keepers' Association did not af- 

 filiate last winter with our Intei'uational Asso- 

 ciation, but trust they will show the world they 

 still live. J. H. Lai:k.\bek. ' 



Agricultural Collt>ge. Mich.. Aug. 15. 



SHIPPING COMB HONEY. 



KECKNT RULINGS BY THE WESTEUN CLA.SSI- 

 FICATIOX COMMITTEE. 



After our editorial in regard to the above 

 subject appeared in our Aug. 1 No., page (il4. 

 the Miller Bros, wrote to J. T. Ripley, of the 

 Western Classification Committee. The Rook- 

 ery, Room 733. Chicago. To this J. T. Ripley 

 replies: 



Miller Bros. — Gentlemeit: — Answering your 

 favor of the Sth inst., I think if your shipments 

 of honey in comb are securely packed and box- 

 ed, and marked conspicuously. "Glass, handle 

 with care.'" on the outside of the packages, 

 that no difficulty should be experienced as re- 

 gards breakage. Large quantities of glassware 

 are constantly being handli'd by transportation 

 companies upon which the breakage is insig- 

 nificant. .1. T. RiPi.EY. Chdirttvui. 



Chicago. Aug. 10. 



Miller Bros, promptly forwarded the cori'es- 

 pondence to us, and to this our business man- 

 ager, Mr. Calvert, ivplied as follows: 



J. T. Ripley. Chairman Western Classitica- 

 tion Committee:— 



Dear Sir: — In looking over the recent rulings 

 of the W^estern Classification Committ<'e we no- 

 ticed one or two rulings in regard to items af- 

 fecting our industry. "We mail you a copy of 

 our publication. Gl?:anix(;s tx Bee Cri-- 

 TURE, in the August 1st number, p. (U4. of which 

 appeared the clippings below. 



GLASSED CASES OF COMB HO.NEY Ml'ST HAVE GLASS 

 COVERED FOR SHIPMENT. 



Among- the recent ruling-s of the Westei'ii Classitl- 

 cutloii Committee we tind tlie followinji": "June 23d. 



Honey in comb, packed in boxes lia\"iug'g-lass fronts, 

 slioidd not be received for sliipment unless fronts 

 are fully covered and protected." From our e.\i>eri- 

 ence tins ruling' will work mischief unless honey is 

 crated as outlined on p. 643. If comb honey is so 

 crated 1 think it will pji.ss undei' tlie ndiug-. audit 

 was no <loubt intended to enforce sucli cratinjr oi- 

 proti'ctioii that tlie ruling was made. If. however, 

 instead of crariiifi- your lioney you simply cover tli.e 

 grlass with a board, as you will no doubt l)e obliged 

 to do unless tiie rulini;- is t-liauffed. your honey will 

 fare worse than before. When, by means of tlie ex- 

 po.sed glass, the freight-liandlers can see tlie ci)n- 

 teiits tlie.v are more likely to handle with care than 

 if in a solid box: at least" this has been our exiieri- 

 ence. From this point of ^'iew the ruling' is unjust 

 to bee-keepers; and if they desire to have it chang- 

 ed, the person to write lo is J. T. Kipley. chairman, 

 Koom 733, The Rookery, Chicago, III. Kemember, 

 this ruling- ap|)lies on" the roads west of Chicago 

 and St. Louis, not in the territory east of these 

 points. 



In response to this you have doubtless re- 

 ceived some letters from lioney-producers. 

 Your answer to one. Miller Bros.. Bluffton. Mo., 

 under date of Aug. 10th, press copy of which 

 we attach, has been forwarded to us. Your 

 statements there would seem to indicate that 

 vou had more concern for the glass inclosing 

 the honey than for the honey itself. Now. one 

 of the cliief objects that bee-keepers have in 

 putting glass on the cases containing honey is 

 that parties handling the cases can see what 

 they contain, and will thus be induced to han- 

 dle them with greater care. Your statement, 

 that "large quantities of glassware are con- 

 stantly being handled, upon which the break- 

 age is insignificant."' it seems to me does not 

 have any bearing on the case. This glassware 

 is safely" packed in hay or straw, and will stand 

 reasonably rough handling: hut honey in th(^ 

 comb willnot stand such rough handling. If 

 the honey is roughly handled, the combs break 

 down, and it begins" to leak, and the transpor- 

 tation comjianies have a worse job on their 

 hands, oftentimes, than they realize. Every 

 thing that will contribute to the careful han- 

 dling of comb honey should be done, it seems to 

 me: and your recent ruling, that the glass must 

 be covered before such honey is received, looks 

 to me like a step in the wrong direction, for our 

 experience has been that honev so covered has 

 not received the careful attention that it does 

 when the glass exposes the honey to view. Let 

 the case be marked ever so plainly, it doesn't 

 have the effect that a view of the article itself 

 do(>s. Then. too. your advice to mark the pack- 

 ages " glass, handle with care.'" it seems to me. 

 a little questionable, for tthe contents of the 

 packages is honey, not glass. If the packages 

 are to be marked glass, what is to hind(^r bill- 

 ing the stuff glass, and shipping on a lower 

 rate? In the interests of bee-keepers, as well 

 as of the transportation companies, we think 

 the ruling ought to be changed. 



We desire, also, to call your attention to an- 

 other item in your rulings. Under date of July 

 6th. you incorporate a new item in the classifi- 

 cation called " bee-comb stuff."' and. in paren- 

 thesis, artificial honey-comb. This name is 

 misleading. I suppose you have seen in the pa- 

 pers accounts of comb honey being manufac- 

 tured without the aid of liees, all of which is 

 entirely false. We Inclose you a cai-d which 

 we have distributed widely for the last four or 

 five years, and hav(> challenged such slander- 

 ous reports for proof, but no proof has as yet 

 been forthcoming. In view of these slanders, 

 the «'ording of this item in the classification is 

 misleading: and because of this misleading, it is 

 unjust. We would suggest that you change it 

 to the name that all manufacturers of the arti- 

 cle give it: namely, comb fotuidation. or. if you 

 choose. '• bee-comb foundation."' Everv bee- 



