916 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1. 



the wagon weighed 1490 lbs., or a net of 2190. 

 The tliird load weighed ST.'iO, but I did not get 

 the weight of the wagon. VVe got home about 

 11 p. M., and got our loads oflf by 12:30. All of 

 them, except one or two hives that had been 

 disturbed by some unknown pai'ties, got home 

 in good order with more than enough honey to 

 winter on, and carry those through the winter 

 that had not been to the lake. A. N. Draper. 

 Upper Alton, 111., Nov. 18. 



[Well, now, friend Draper, your loads are not 

 so very much lighter than our last load of 

 Shane bees, that you criticised as being too 

 heavy for two horses; nay, rather, they are 

 heavier. After all, I do not suppose that you 

 overloaded your horses. . It is evident that you 

 are in the habit of looking ahead, as well as we 

 folks at Medina. 



Your experiments go to show pretty well that 

 bees need very little ventilation when hauling, 

 provided it is cool enough. This explains why 

 it was not necessary for us to put on the screen 

 tops, and why our 57 hives of bees, with only 

 entrance-screens, were hauled home at night, 

 without a bee smothering. In hauling bees 

 home for the wintei', rather than take off the 

 covers and put on the wire-cloth screen tops, it 

 is cheaper to select a cool day (or else a moon- 

 light night), when all that is necessary at most 

 is to put on only entrance-screens.] 



COVEKIKG PACKAGES OF COMB HONEY. 



J. T. RIPLEY, OF THE WESTERN CLASSIFICATION 

 COMMITTEE, INTERVIEWED BY A BEE- 

 KEEPER — ANOTHER CONCESSION. 



Having had quite a good deal of experience 

 in shipping comb honey, 1 have been much in- 

 terested in the discusssion in Gleanings in 

 regard to crating or boxing it for shipment. I 

 went up to No. 7.3.3 Rookery Building to inter- 

 view Mr. J. T. Ripley, Chairman of the West- 

 ern Classification Committee, on the subject. I 

 represented that bee-keepers in general con- 

 sidered this a vital matter, this having a small 

 amount of glass in a comb-honey crate so 

 freight- handlers can see that comb honey is in 

 the package. I explained that, as comb honey 

 is always shipped at owner's risk of breakage 

 and leakage (O. R. B. or L.). we as bee-keepers 

 preferred to run the risk of the glass being 

 broken rather than risk the contents of the 

 package when said contents are unseen by the 

 freight-men. Mr. Ripley explained that the 

 reason they ruled that glass must be covered, 

 was, that the companies are nearly always held 

 responsible when any outside glass in a pack- 

 age is broken, but not foi- the breakage of the 

 contents of the box or crate. However, Mr. 

 Ripley said he wished to treat the honey-pro- 

 ducers in as liberal a manner as possibfe, and 

 he would make a ruling that a small piece of 

 glass might be visible in packakes of comb 

 honey; but he would have to insist on the (O. 

 R. B. or L.) clause in the transportation con- 

 tract. 



I think some of the readers of Gleanings 

 have thought Mr. Ripley's jurisdiction extend- 

 ed east of Chicago as well as west. The fact is. 

 the Official Class Committee— C. E. Gill, chair- 

 man— 143 Liberty St., New York, has control of 

 rulings and classitications east of Chicago, and 

 Mr. Ripley's committee only west; so, as I 

 understand the decision, " comb honey in boxes 

 crated with a small portion of glass exposed" 

 will be received. 



The writer thanked Mr. Ripley in behalf of 

 the bee-keepers for his kindness, and for the 



courtesy shown them in these negotiations, 

 and extended a hearty invitation to him to 

 attend the meeting of the N. W. B. K. Associa- 

 tion in Chicago, Nov. 19 and 30. 

 Chicago, 111., Nov. .5. Herman F. Moore. 



[Yes, we have been well pleased in the way 

 we have been treated by Mr. Ripley. In the 

 back numbers of the current volume it will be 

 seen that he has endeavored to be fair and lib- 

 eral with bee-keepers. We are very glad that 

 you invited him to attend the meeting of the 

 Noi'thvvestern Association, as we are sure he 

 will be welcomed by its members at their next 

 convention. It is a big thing to be on the right 

 side of railroad officials; and it is not a pleasant 

 thing to be on t'other side of 'em. Hellol here 

 is soinetliing more on the same subject. It 

 must be tiro have had their fingers in the pie. 

 If so we are under obligations to both the par- 

 ties.] 



COMB HONEY ; HOW TO CRATE IT. 



A RECENT RULING BY WHICH BEE-KEEPEKS 

 ARE FAVORED AGAIN BY MR. lilPLEY. 



Friend Root: — You will see from the inclosed 

 correspondence that I have secured from the 

 Western Classification Committee a ruling al- 

 lowing comb honey in glassed cases to be ship- 

 ped in crates. I called on J. H. Ripley three 

 times in relation to the matter, and finally, at 

 his request, laid the facts in the case before the 

 committee in writing, having previously sent 

 Mr. R. one of my crates filled ready for ship- 

 ment. The ruling takes immediate effect. Tlie 

 crate I use is made, with the exception of ends, 

 almost entirely of lath, which work up without 

 waste in crating small single-tier cases. A 

 crate that will hold a hundred pounds costs only 

 about l.T cents, at the outside. If you think 

 it worth while, you are at liberty to make use 

 of the correspondence for publication. 



Byron Walker. 



Glen Haven, Wis., Nov. 10. 



We take pleasure in reproducing tlie corres- 

 pondence. 



Mr. J. H. Ripley: — Agreeable to request I 

 write you in relation to a recent ruling of the 

 committee of which you are chairman, requir- 

 ing comb honey in cases with glass fronts to be 

 boxed where received for shipment. I have de- 

 livered to you one of my small crates of honey 

 as prepared for shipment, and wish to call your 

 attention to several reasons, suggested by my 

 experience, why such crates are preferable to 

 boxes for the safe carriage of these goods. 



1. Comb honey in glassed cases always has 

 the glassed side or sides parallel with the comb 

 surfaces. 



3. The attachment of the combs to the small 

 sections that fill the case are alioays of such a 

 nature that a comparatively slight jar in a di- 

 rection at right angles to these comb surfaces 

 will cause the combs to break loose from these 

 attachments. Hence the necessity of these 

 goods being at all times so handled as to forbid 

 such jarring. 



3. The only way of readily showing the direc- 

 tion of the combs in a package of honey offered 

 for shipment is to make use of a strip of glass. 

 Now, while it is admitted that it is desirable to 

 have the glass protected, I venture to say that, 

 even where the glass is fully exposed in such 

 packages, not one glass is broken where a hun- 

 dred combs are broken in handling as freight. 

 It is a matter of common remark among honey- 

 shippers, that nearly all the cases of breakage 

 of combs occur where no glass is used. 



